Egyptian writer Abdelrahman ElGendy, Senegalese novelist Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, and Togo-born author Delali Adjoa are among the writers featured on the 2026 National Book Awards longlists, appearing across three different categories.

The National Book Foundation announced its longlists for Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Translated Literature, and Young People’s Literature between September 15 and 17, with ten books selected in each category. The awards recognize books published by U.S. publishers, while eligibility for authors varies by category. Authors in Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Young People’s Literature must either be U.S. citizens or maintain their primary, long-term home in the United States, its territories, or Tribal lands. The Translated Literature category has no citizenship or residency requirement for either authors or translators.

ElGendy appears on the Nonfiction longlist for Huna: A Memoir of Revolution, Prison, and Becoming, his debut memoir about growing up in post-revolution Egypt and the six years he spent as a political prisoner. In 2013, when ElGendy was 17, he and his father were arrested amid a protest crackdown. His memoir follows his imprisonment, his education behind bars, and his eventual turn to writing as a means of bearing witness.

In Translated Literature, Sarr is longlisted for Pure Men, translated from French by Lara Vergnaud and published by Other Press. The novel, originally published in French, brings the Senegalese author’s work back to the National Book Awards after his international breakthrough with The Most Secret Memory of Men, which won the 2021 Prix Goncourt. The 2026 Translated Literature longlist includes ten books translated from seven languages, including Arabic, Chinese, French, Indonesian, Norwegian, Russian, and Spanish.

Adjoa’s The Free Verse Society appears on the Young People’s Literature longlist. The YA romance follows Jae, a teen mother who has placed her baby for adoption, and Derek, a teenager struggling to conceal the unraveling of his family. The two meet through their high-school poetry club, where an initially antagonistic relationship develops into a romance shaped by grief, family secrets, and a shared love of poetry.

Born in Togo to Ghanaian parents and raised in Canada, Adjoa writes fiction centered on identity, freedom, and family. The Free Verse Society, published by Peachtree Teen in March 2026, is her debut novel.

The three writers are part of a broader showing of African and diaspora-connected literature across this year’s awards. The Fiction longlist, for instance, includes Jamaican-born novelist Marlon James for The Disappearers and Haitian American writer Edwidge Danticat for Dèy, while the Poetry longlist includes Palestinian American poet Fady Joudah for Exhibit G: Poems, Essays, and Photographs of Gaza.

The 2026 National Book Awards longlists now move into the next stage of judging. Finalists in all five categories will be announced on October 6, with the winners to be revealed at the 77th National Book Awards Ceremony in New York on November 18.