The longlist has been announced for the $35,000 2026 Aspen Words Literary Prize, honoring "a work of fiction that illuminates a vital contemporary issue" and is sponsored by Aspen Words, a program of the Aspen Institute. Five finalists will be announced on March 11, 2026, and the winner on April 23, 2026. The longlist:
The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother) by Rabih Alameddine (Grove Press)
King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby (Flatiron Books)
The Wilderness by Angela Flournoy (Mariner Books)
Culpability by Bruce Holsinger (Spiegel & Grau)
Intemperance: A Novel by Sonora Jha (HarperVia)
The River Is Waiting by Wally Lamb (Marysue Rucci Books)
Ring: A Novel by Michelle Lerner (Bancroft Press)
A Family Matter by Claire Lynch (Scribner)
Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy (Flatiron Books)
These Heathens: A Novel by Mia McKenzie (Random House)
Happy Land by Dolen Perkins-Valdez (Berkley)
This Here Is Love by Princess Joy L. Perry (W.W. Norton)
Endling by Maria Reva (Doubleday)
Behind the Waterline by Kionna Walker LeMalle (Blair)
So Far Gone: A Novel by Jess Walter (Harper)
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The longlist has been selected for the £4,000 (about $5,260) 2026 Wingate Literary Prize, which is awarded to "the best book, fiction or non-fiction, to convey the idea of Jewishness to the general reader." The shortlist will be announced in mid December and the winner early next year. The longlist:
The Einstein of Sex by Daniel Brook
Chopping Onions on My Heart by Samantha Ellis
Chutzpah! A Memoir of Faith, Sexuality and Daring to Stay by Yehudis Fletcher
City of Laughter by Temim Fruchter
Berlin Atomized by Julia Kornberg
Fear No Pharaoh by Richard Kreitner
Nothing Vast by Moshe Zvi Marvit
Ripeness by Sarah Moss
Letters by Oliver Sacks, edited by Kate Edgar
Vera, or Faith by Gary Shteyngart
Family Romance by Jean Strouse
The Gates of Gaza by Amir Tibon