Today, the PEN/Faulkner Foundation announced the five finalists for the 2026 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. The judging panel, which this year was comprised of Samantha Hunt, Tania James, and De’Shawn Charles Winslow, selected these finalists from a list of 387 eligible novels and short story collections published by American authors in 2025.

“The five vital, brilliant books on our shortlist draw us into humanity’s complex core of beauty, violence, joy, intelligence, and imagination,” the jury said in a prepared statement. “Families spin; nature embraces life; connections whisper or shout; hearts break then grow while human truths emerge. These books—outstretched hands—verify that the small can consistently counter mighty power structures endangering our earth and that art always stands resilient, emancipating, and essential.”

This year’s finalists are:

Addie E. Citchens, Dominion (FSG)

Quiara Alegría Hudes, The White Hot (One World)

Jonas Hassen Khemiri, The Sisters (FSG)

Lily King, Heart the Lover (Grove Press)

Mahreen Sohail, Small Scale Sinners (A Public Space)

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The winner, announced in April, will receive $15,000, and the remaining four finalists will each receive $5,000.