--- title: How to Read the Five Translated Books Shortlisted for This Year's National Book Award description: "The five 2026 National Book Award finalists for Translated Literature: what each book is about, who it suits and where to buy it before 18th November." author: Dr Marina Nani (Editor-in-Chief) date: 2026-11-01T09:55:22.034Z updated: 2026-11-01T09:55:22.057Z canonical: https://richbooksmagazine.com/article/national-book-award-2026-translated-literature image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/pexels-14436278.webp categories: Reading Lists, Literary Fiction content_type: Guide publication: Rich Books schema_type: Article about: - type: Thing name: National Book Awards description: "The National Book Awards are annual American literary prizes presented by the National Book Foundation in five categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Translated Literature and Young People's Literature. Winners receive $10,000, a bronze medal and a statue." url: https://www.nationalbook.org --- On Wednesday 18th November, the National Book Foundation will name the winner of the 2026 National Book Award for Translated Literature at its 77th awards ceremony in New York. Publishers submitted 159 translated books this year, and five judges chaired by Christopher Merrill have narrowed them to five finalists. The five come from five languages: Norwegian, Spanish, Indonesian, French and Arabic. Four are novels and one is a book of testimony. In this category the prize is shared equally between author and translator, so the winning pair splits $10,000 and each finalist pair splits $1,000. If you have already worked through [this year's Booker shortlist](https://richbooksmagazine.com/article/booker-prize-2026-shortlist), these five books take you into languages that prize never considers. ## The School of Night by Karl Ove Knausgaard follows a photographer whose past catches up with him in New York Translated from the Norwegian by Martin Aitken. Kristian Hadeland is young, ambitious and newly arrived in London to study photography. He falls in with an enigmatic Dutch artist and a woman staging Marlowe's Doctor Faustus. Years later his work earns a retrospective in New York, and his success brings his past back with it. The Faust story runs under every chapter: an ambitious young man, a bargain and a price that comes due. ### Book: The School of Night By Karl Ove Knausgaard A young Norwegian, Kristian Hadeland, moves to London to study photography and falls in with an enigmatic Dutch artist and a woman staging Marlowe's Doctor Faustus. Years later, a New York retrospective brings success and the return of his past. Translated from the Norwegian by Martin Aitken. Finalist, 2026 National Book Award for Translated Literature. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=9780593832806) **Give it to:** a friend who works in the arts and has ever asked what success costs. **Buy it:** [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=9780593832806) | [Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/9780593832806) ## Centroeuropa by Vicente Luis Mora begins with a widower digging up soldiers in his own field Translated from the Spanish by Rahul Bery. In the early 1800s, Redo Hauptshammer arrives in a small European town to claim a piece of land. He plans to bury his wife there and farm it. When he starts to dig, he finds the bodies of Prussian soldiers, and he turns to his eccentric neighbours for help. What comes out of the ground is the long aftermath of war and the secrets kept by families and by states. ### Book: Centroeuropa By Vicente Luis Mora In the early 1800s a widower, Redo Hauptshammer, arrives in a small European town to claim land where he plans to bury his wife and farm. Digging the field, he uncovers the bodies of Prussian soldiers and enlists his eccentric neighbours to help. Translated from the Spanish by Rahul Bery. Finalist, 2026 National Book Award for Translated Literature. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=9781954276529) **Give it to:** a friend who loves a historical novel with a mystery at its centre. **Buy it:** [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=9781954276529) | [Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/9781954276529) ## Night of a Thousand Hells by Intan Paramaditha follows two sisters after the youngest becomes a suicide bomber Translated from the Indonesian by Stephen J. Epstein and Tiffany Tsao. The youngest of three sisters becomes a suicide bomber. The two who survive her go back through their family's turbulent history and a prophecy their grandmother once made. The novel draws on Indonesian folklore and Islamic mysticism and moves between Indonesia, the United States and Australia, taking in migration, money and what sisters owe one another. ### Book: Night of a Thousand Hells By Intan Paramaditha When the youngest of three sisters becomes a suicide bomber, the two who survive her go back through their family history and a prophecy made by their grandmother. Drawing on Indonesian folklore and Islamic mysticism, the novel moves between Indonesia, the United States and Australia. Translated from the Indonesian by Stephen J. Epstein and Tiffany Tsao. Finalist, 2026 National Book Award for Translated Literature. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=9781787706637) **Give it to:** a friend who reads family sagas and wants one that travels. **Buy it:** [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=9781787706637) | [Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/night-of-a-thousand-hells-intan-paramaditha/1149401991) ## Pure Men by Mohamed Mbougar Sarr starts with a viral video of a crowd at a grave in Senegal Translated from the French by Lara Vergnaud. A literature professor in a conservative Islamic community watches a video of a crowd digging up the body of a queer man. The footage stays with him. He goes back over his religious upbringing, finds his way into the queer community of Dakar and soon faces public scrutiny of his own life. ### Book: Pure Men By Mohamed Mbougar Sarr A literature professor in a conservative Islamic community watches a viral video of a crowd exhuming the body of a queer man. Shaken, he re-examines his religious upbringing, finds his way into Dakar's queer community and comes under public scrutiny himself. Translated from the French by Lara Vergnaud. Finalist, 2026 National Book Award for Translated Literature. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=9781635424706) **Give it to:** a friend who reads to understand lives very different from their own. **Buy it:** [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=9781635424706) | [Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/9781635424706) ## Your Presence Is a Danger to Your Life by Samar Yazbek is the only nonfiction book on the list Translated from the Arabic by Leri Price. In 2024, Samar Yazbek met hundreds of Palestinians who had travelled to Doha for medical treatment and recorded how their lives had changed since 7th October 2023. The book sets down their testimony of loss and survival in the words they used to tell it. ### Book: Your Presence Is a Danger to Your Life *Voices of Survival and Witness in Gaza* By Samar Yazbek In 2024 the writer met hundreds of Palestinians receiving medical treatment in Doha and recorded how their lives had changed since 7th October 2023. The book sets down their testimony in their own words. Translated from the Arabic by Leri Price. Finalist, 2026 National Book Award for Translated Literature. [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=9781635426120) **Give it to:** a friend who would rather hear from the people living through the news than from commentators. **Buy it:** [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=9781635426120) | [Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/9781635426120) ## If you read one before 18th November, start with Centroeuropa Centroeuropa gives you the greatest pleasure of discovery on this list. It opens with one man and one shovel in one field and grows into a story about how a continent buries its wars. If you have room for a second, The School of Night carries the most famous name here and is the easiest to find in any bookshop. Rich Books will report on the winners after the ceremony on 18th November.