The Washington Center for the Book has announced this year’s finalists for the 2026 Washington State Book Awards, which recognize works published by Washington residents in 2025.
A total of 308 books were considered for this year’s awards. Forty-one finalists were ultimately selected across seven categories. Winners will be announced Sept. 15.
Here is the full list of finalists, according to a Washington Center for the Book release:
Creative Nonfiction/Memoir
- “Alterations” by Cori Winrock of Bellingham
- “Authentic: The Myth of Bringing Your Full Self to Work” by Jodi-Ann Burey of Seattle
- “Deciding to See: The View from Nathan’s Bus” By Nathan Vass of Seattle
- “My Animal Kingdom” By Rebecca Brown of Seattle
- “Positively Uncivilized” by Rena Priest of Bellingham
- “We Survived the Night” by Julian Brave NoiseCat of Bremerton
Fiction
- “Dungeon Crawler Carl” by Matt Dinniman of Gig Harbor
- “Intemperance” by Sonora Jha of Seattle
- “The Possession of Alba Díaz” by Isabel Cañas of Seattle
- “Sinkhole, and Other Inexplicable Voids” by Leyna Krow of Spokane
- “So Far Gone” by Jess Walter of Spokane
- “When We Were Real” by Daryl Greagory of Seattle
General Nonfiction/Biography
- “The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech’s Hype and Create the Future We Want” by Emily M. Bender of Seattle and Alex Hanna
- “Black Gold: The Rise, Reign, and Fall of American Coal” by Bob Wyss of West Seattle
- “Close to Home: The Wonders of Nature Just Outside Your Door” by Thor Hanson of San Juan Island
- “A Dumb Birds Field Guide to the Worst Birds Ever” by Matt Kracht of Tacoma
- “Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution” by Cat Bohannon of Seattle
- “Wards of the State: The Long Shadow of American Foster Care” by Claudia Rowe of Seattle
Poetry
- “Cold Thief Place” by Esther Lin of Seattle
- “Forty Bouts in the Wilderness” by Katy E. Ellis of Vashon
- “I’ve Never Loved Somebody and Made Them Worse” by Mia Nelson of Seattle
- “Let the Moon Wobble” by Ally Ang of Seattle
- “Recovery Commands” by Abby E. Murray of Tacoma
- “Shiny City” by Ching-In Chen of Lake Forest Park
Picture Books
- “Are You a Friend of Dorothy?: The True Story of an Imaginary Woman and the Real People She Helped” by Kyle Lukoff, illustrated by Levi Hastings of Seattle
- “Blue” by Suzanne Kaufman of Seattle
- “Cranky, Crabby Crow (Saves the World)” by Corey R. Tabor of Tacoma
- “Fierce Aunties!” by Laurel Goodluck, illustrated by Steph Littlebird of Vancouver
- “A Gift of Dust: How Saharan Plumes Feed the Planet” by Martha Brockenbrough of Seattle, illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal
- “Poo Pile on the Prarie” by Amy Hevron of Seattle
Books for Young Readers
- “Busted” by Dan Gemeinhart of Cashmere
- “Jazzy the Witch in Broom Doom” by Jessixa Bagley of Seattle
- “Rabbit Rabbit” by Dori Hillestad Butler of Seattle and Sunshine Bacon of Seattle
- “Unlikely Aventuras of Ramón and El Cucuy” by Donna Barba Higuera of Poulsbo, illustrated by Juliana Perdomo
- “Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest for Kids” by Ashley Erdely of White Salmon
- “XOLO” by Donna Barba Higuera of Poulsbo, illustrated by Mariana Ruiz Johnson
Young Adult Lit
- “Bingsu for Two” by Sujin Witherspoon of Seattle
- “Climate of Chaos” by Cassandra Newbould of Camano Island
- “Eve (Adapted for Young Adults): How the Female Body Shaped Human Evolution” by Cat Bohannon of Seattle
- “King of the Neuro Verse” by Idris Goodwin of Seattle
- “On the Wings of la Noche” by Vanessa L. Torres of Olympia
Submissions are now open for books published in 2026. Find guidelines here.