Literary Awards Finalists 2024
If you are looking for incredible books to read, lists of literary awards finalists are a great place to start your search. In this post, I have collected links to lots of 2024 literary awards results to help get you started.
I have included results from 2024 awards for literary fiction, popular fiction, nonfiction, genre fiction, children’s books, manga, webtoons, comics, and graphic novels. There are international awards, national awards, and regional awards. There are famous awards and not widely known awards. And there are awards granted by a variety of types of entities. So, hopefully, whatever your reading preferences are, you will be able to find some literary awards through this post that interest you.
Many literary awards organizations start by announcing a longlist of books that they are considering. That way interested readers can read those books along with the judges and form strong opinions of their own about which books they think should win. It builds excitement and can make the rest of the process a bit like a spectator sport. Next, the shortlist of finalists is announced to build up even more drama. And only at long last, after more anticipation has time to build, do the winners finally get announced. You can get a sense of some of the drama surrounding awards announcements by watching the BookTube videos that I include below.
Making it onto a literary prize longlist is a huge honor in itself. And being shortlisted is an even bigger honor. And of course, winning is … well, winning.
Not all awards organizations use this anticipation-building process, or the same terminology, however. Some awards organizations select “nominees” and/or “finalists” instead of “longlisted” and “shortlisted” books. And some organizations just make one or two announcements, rather than have a three-stage, anticipation-building extravaganza. Sometimes the awards decisions are made by a small committee of people, while at other times large groups of people participate in voting for winners.
It is unlikely that your reading tastes will exactly match the reading tastes of any particular set of judges. Plus, judges are often changed from year to year, making it hard to predict in advance how closely any year’s results will align with your preferences. I often end up enjoying longlisted and shortlisted books more than I do award winners.
Because many of the longlisted books that you will find through the 2024 announced awards listed below were either published in 2023 or in the first half of 2024, you may be able to borrow many of them for free from your library (either via library apps or in person) without needing to wait on hold for them. Hurrah!
The process of preparing this post (and its upcoming companion post that contains my own recommendations from the below longlists) inspired me to explore many more literary prizes than I have in the past and to explore all of them more deeply than I probably otherwise would have. Trying lots of the awards recognized books of 2024 greatly contributed to my having had an incredible reading year. I hope that this post (and its upcoming companion) can help you find some incredible reads as well.
How to use this post
Skim through the list of awards to see if there are any whose results you want to explore. Click on the links after the awards names to find their 2024 results. Depending on your preferences, you can just focus on award winners, or you can focus on shortlisted or longlisted titles too.
In addition (or instead), you can read my companion post and find my recommendations from among the longlisted books that I read myself. I organize my own recommendations by genre.
And/or you can watch the BookTube 2024 literary awards reaction videos that you can find near the bottom of this post. They are videos made by readers who closely follow the literary awards that they discuss. Those BookTubers can walk you through their favorite 2024 literary awards finalists.
If you prefer to follow literary awards news yourself, you can also check out the news and commentary sources that I list below.
As this post contains links to A LOT of great bookish information, you may want to treat it as a reference source and revisit it again and again to digest in small amounts. I spent time with each of the longlists, one by one, over the course of months. You may want to dig into them slowly over time as well.
One tip that may help you manage the large number of great reading ideas that you can find through the links in this post, is to create a separate To Be Read (TBR) list just for 2024 awards recognized books (which is what I did, by creating a new tag on the Libby app). If you have not already read my post full of tips for how to use the Libby app to manage TBR lists, you might find it to be helpful. Or, of course, you can just add whatever books of interest you find through the below links to your existing TBR list if you have a system that is working well for you.
Literary awards longlists, shortlists, and/or winners that were announced in 2024
I include a brief description of the awards (in parentheses) when the names of the awards do not make their scope fairly obvious. A subset of the awards announced in 2024 that focus on books published in 2023 are labeled by their organizations as 2023 awards. The awards are arranged alphabetically by award name.
2024 Agatha Awards nominees and winners (mysteries)
2024 American Library Association’s Notable Children's Books (this list includes all of this organization’s 2024 children’s and YA award-winning books, plus some other notable children’s and YA books; although this list is not called an awards longlist, I think of it as theirs)
2024 Américas Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature commended books, honor books, and winners (children’s and YA books about Latin America, the Caribbean, or the Latinx community in the US)
2024 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction longlist, finalists, and winners (fiction and nonfiction published in the US for adult readers)
2024 An Post Irish Book Awards winners
2024 Arab American Book Award winners
2024 Arthur C. Clarke Awards shortlist and winner (science fiction published in the UK)
2023-2024 Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature winners
2024 Aspen Words Literary Prize longlist and winner (“fiction that illuminates a vital contemporary issue”)
2024 Audies Awards finalists and winners (audiobooks)
2023 Australian Romance Readers Awards finalists and winners
2024 Banff Centre Mountain Book Competition winners (mountain literature)
2024 Bank Street College of Education Children’s Book Committee Awards winners (children’s books). You can find a link to their more extended list of 2023 children’s and YA book recommendations in a previous post of mine.
2024 Barnes & Noble Book of the Year finalists and winners
2024 Barnes & Noble Children’s and YA Awards shortlist and winners
2024 Barry Awards nominees and winners (mysteries/thrillers)
2024 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize shortlist and winner (humor writing)
2024 Book Links Award for Children’s Historical Fiction longlist, finalists and winner (awarded by an Australian nonprofit)
2024 BookTube Prize finalists and winner
2024 Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards honor books and winners for picture books, fiction, and nonfiction and poetry (children’s literature)
2023 Bram Stoker Awards finalists and winners (horror)
2024 Carter G. Woodson Book Award honorees and winners (“the most distinguished books appropriate for young readers that depict ethnicity in the United States”)
2024 CCBC (The Canadian Children’s Book Centre) Book Awards shortlists and winners
2024 Cercador Prize finalists and winner (translated into English, chosen by US independent booksellers)
2024 Charlotte Zolotow Award highly commended books, honor books, and winner (“outstanding writing in a picture book”)
2024 Children’s Africana Book Awards honor books and winners (picture and chapter books about African societies and issues)
2024 CLEL (Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy) Bell Award shortlist and winners (“picture books that exemplify the early literacy practices READ, WRITE, SING, TALK, and PLAY”)
2024 Cundill History Prize shortlist, finalists, and winner (history writing)
2024 Dagger Awards winners (British crime writing)
2024- 2025 Delaware Diamonds nominees and winners (these children’s books winners are chosen by school children in the state of Delaware)
2024 Dublin Literary Award longlist, shortlist, and winner (world literature written in, or translated into, English; and nominated by public libraries)
2024 Edgar Allan Poe Award finalists and winners (mysteries)
2024 Eisner Award nominees and winners (comics/graphic novels)
2024 First Novel Prize longlist, shortlist, and winner (debut novel)
2023 Freeman Book Award winners (East and Southeast Asian children’s and YA books)
2024 Golden Kite and Sid Fleischman Award honor books and winners (children’s book awards decided by children’s book illustrators)
2024 Good Housekeeping’s Kids’ Book Awards winners
2024 Goodreads Choice Awards nominees and winners in fiction, historical fiction, mystery & thriller, romance, romantasy, fantasy, science fiction, horror, debut novel, audiobook, young adult fantasy, young adult fiction, nonfiction, memoir, and history & biography
2024 Gotham Book Prize finalists and winner (books about, or set in, NYC)
2024 Governor General’s Literary Awards finalists and winners (“remarkable literary works published in Canada, in both official languages, across seven categories, and include books for readers of all ages”)
2024 High Plains Book Awards finalists and winners (“literary works which examine and reflect life in the High Plains region, which includes the states of Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, Colorado and Kansas, and the Canadian Provinces of Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan”)
2024 Hugo Awards finalists and winners (science fiction and fantasy)
2024 Ignyte Awards finalists and winners (BIPOC speculative fiction)
2024 International Literacy Association New Voices in Children’s and Young Adult Literature Awards winners
2024 Jane Addams Children’s Book Award honor books and winners (books that “engage children in thinking about peace, social justice, global community, and equity for all people”)
2024 J. Anthony Lukas Prize winners (US nonfiction)
2024 Kirkus Prize finalists and winners (fiction, nonfiction, and books for young readers; works that have been reviewed by Kirkus)
2024 Kodansha Manga Awards nominees and winners (Japanese manga awards)
2024 LAMBDA Literary Awards “Lammy” finalists and winners (LGBTQ+ literature published in US)
2024 Left Coast Crime “Lefty” Awards finalists and winners (mysteries published in the US and Canada)
2024 Libro.fm Bookseller Choice Awards winners (audiobooks)
2024 Locus Awards finalists and winners (science fiction, fantasy, and horror)
44th Los Angeles Times Book Prizes finalists and winners
2023 Middle East Book Award winners (children’s and YA books about the Middle East)
2024 Minnesota Book Awards winners
2024 National Book Awards for Fiction longlist, finalists, and winner (fiction published in the US)
2024 National Book Awards for Nonfiction longlist, finalists, and winner (nonfiction published in the US)
2024 National Book Awards for Poetry longlist, finalists, and winner (poetry published in the US)
2024 National Book Awards for Translated Fiction longlist, finalists, and winner (translated fiction published in the US)
2024 National Book Awards for Young People’s Literature longlist, finalists, and winner (young people’s literature published in the US)
2023 National Book Critics Circle Awards finalists and winners (fiction, nonfiction, autobiography, biography, criticism, poetry, and books in translation)
2023 National Jewish Book Awards finalists and winners
2024 National Outdoor Book Awards winners
2024 NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English) Charlotte Huck Award® Outstanding Fiction for Children recommended books, honor books, and winners (transformative children’s books “inviting compassion, imagination, and wonder”)
2024 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award® for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children recommended books, honor books, and winner (“excellence in the writing of nonfiction for children”)
2023 Nebula Awards finalists and winners (science fiction and fantasy)
2023 Nero Awards shortlists, category winners, and gold prize winner
(UK/Irish children’s fiction, debut fiction, fiction, and nonfiction)
2024 New England Book Awards finalists and winners
2024 New York Public Library’s Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism finalists and winner
2024 Notable Children’s Books in the Language Arts Award Books list
2024 O. Henry Prize for Short Fiction winners
2024 Old Peculier Crime Novel of the year longlist, shortlist, and winner
2024 Oregon Book Award finalists and winners in the genres of fiction, literary nonfiction, young readers, and graphic literature
2024 Polari Prize longlist, shortlist, and winners (British LGBTQ+ books)
2024 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards shortlist and winners (Australian authors)
34th Reading the West Book Award winners (chosen by the US Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association)
2024 Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize shortlist and winner (science nonfiction)
2023 Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation shortlist and winner
2023 Shirley Jackson Awards winners (horror)
2024 Sierra Club’s Rachel Carson Award winner (environmental writing)
2023 Sigurd Olson Nature Writing Awards notable books, honorable mention books, and winners
2024 South Asia Book Award winners in young readers, middle grade, and older readers categories
2024 Southern Book Prize winners
2024 Stonewall Book Awards winners (LGBTQ+ literature)
2024 The American Library in Paris Book Award longlist, shortlist, and winner (“a title that best realizes new and intellectually significant ideas about France, the French people, or encounters with French culture”)
2024 The Baillie Gifford Prize for Nonfiction longlist, shortlist, and winner (nonfiction, UK-based award)
2024 The Booker Prizes longlist, shortlist, and winner (written in English, published in the UK and Ireland, a book “that not only speaks to our current times, but also one that will endure and join the pantheon of great literature”)
2024 The Bookseller’s Diagram Prize for Oddest Title of the Year shortlist and winner
2024 The British Book Awards shortlists and winners
2024 The Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize longlist, shortlist, and winners
2024 The Carnegies shortlist and winners for writing and illustration (children’s books awards judged by UK librarians)
2024 The Carol Shields Prize for Fiction longlist, shortlist, and winner (fiction by American and Canadian women and non-binary writers)
2024 The Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Award hounor books and winners
2024 The Doug Wright Awards nominees and winners (Canadian graphic comics/graphic novels/picture books)
2024 The Goldsmiths Prize shortlist and winner (“fiction that breaks the mould or extends the possibilities of the novel form”)
2024 The Harvey Awards nominees and winners (comics, graphic novels, and manga)
2024 The International Booker Prize longlist, shortlist, and winner (translated into English)
2024 Theodore A. Sturgeon Memorial Award finalists and winners (science fiction short stories)
2024 The Orwell Prizes for Political Writing and Political Fiction winners
2024 The Pulitzer Prizes winners
2024 The Saltires: Scotland’s National Book Awards longlist, shortlist, and winners
2023 The Sunday Times Charlotte Aitken Young Writer of the Year Award shortlist and winner (British author under 35)
23rd The Thurber Prize for American Humor semi-finalists and winner
2024 The Walter Dean Myers Awards for Outstanding Children’s Literature winners (diverse experiences in children’s and YA books)
2024 The Walter Scott Prize longlist, shortlist, and winner (historical fiction published in the UK/Ireland/Commonwealth)
2024 Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award winners
2024 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction shortlist and winner (imaginative fiction)
2024 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards winners (Australian fiction, children’s fiction, YA, nonfiction, indigenous writing, and poetry)
2024 Wainwright Prize longlists, shortlists and winners (nature writing)
2024 Waterstones Book, Novel, and Gift of the Year shortlists and winners (awarded by the British bookseller)
2024 Waterstones Children’s Book Prize shortlists and winners (children’s literature, awarded by the British bookseller)
2024 Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize shortlist and winner (awarded by the British bookseller)
2024 William Hill Sports Book of the Year shortlist and winner
2023 Wolfson History Prize shortlist and winner (UK history writing)
2024 Women’s Prize for Fiction longlist, shortlist, and winner
2024 Women’s Prize for Nonfiction longlist, shortlist, and winner
2024 World Webtoon Awards winners
2024 Writers’ Trust of Canada Awards finalists and winners (Canadian fiction, nonfiction, and poetry)
2024 W.Y. Boyd Literary Novel Award for Excellence in Military Fiction winner
2024 Youth Media Award honor books and winners (Caldecott, Coretta Scott King, Newbery, Printz Awards, etc. for children’s and YA literature awarded by the American Library Association)
I focused on including awards for works published in, or translated into, English as that is the language in which I most often read. You can find a list that mentions even more literary prizes, from even more countries (and in more languages), here. There are some extremely interesting literary prizes that I did not list above because the longlisted titles on them that most intrigued me were not available to me on the library apps that I use in the US when I looked for them. I also rarely included short-story-only awards, poetry-only awards, and person-only (rather than specific work-focused) achievement awards. Additionally, I did not include the 2024 Canadian Giller Prize (which was mired in controversy), nor the 2024 PEN America Literary Awards (which were also mired in controversy).
My process for finding some of the less well-known awards to include was fairly haphazard. Many times, I found awards by simply paying more attention to the promotional book summaries that I was already reading (on the Goodreads and Libby apps)—as many book summaries mention awards that their books have won. I am sure that there are lots of interesting awards that I missed. You are welcome to recommend your favorites in the comment section below.
You can also find a helpful roundup of the finalists and winners of some of the most prestigious 2024 literary fiction awards in the Book Marks post “The Award-Winning Novels of 2024: THE BOOKS THAT TOOK HOME THIS YEAR'S BIGGEST LITERARY PRIZES.”
Literary awards news and commentary
If you are interested in literary awards, you may enjoy following news and commentary about them via one or more of the following online publications. Click on the publications’ names to visit their websites.
Book Riot (an example post: “An Honour to Be Nominated: A Guide to Major Book Awards”)
Five Books (an example post: “The Best Novels of 2024: The Booker Prize Shortlist”)
Literary Hub (an example post: “Meet the 2024 National Book Award Finalists”)
Locus Magazine’s website’s awards news page (an example post: “2024 Prix ActuSF de l’Uchronie Winners”)
Literary awards news and commentary on Substack
You may also enjoy reading the posts on, or subscribing to, one or more of the following Substacks. Click on the names of the Substacks to visit those Substacks.
Carbon-Based Bipeds (written by
) is the official Substack of the science fiction (published in the UK) Arthur C. Clarke Awards.Deedi Reads is the Substack of
. She often reads (and writes about) literary prize longlisted books. She also runs a book club that reads the books on The Booker Prize longlist.(written by
staff) is the official Substack of The Orwell Prizes.(written by
staff) is the official Substack of The Booker Prizes.is the Substack through which
shares his thoughts as he reads through books that have been longlisted by the National Book Awards. You may know Hunter from his appearances on the From the Front Porch podcast.
If you are interested in learning about more literary prizes for poetry and short works of fiction and nonfiction, author/MFA professor
posted an interesting list of them in her Substack post “Poetry, Fiction, Nonfiction Book Prizes.” While her post is written to advise writers about how to compete for those prizes, it can be helpful for readers too. It is a great companion read to my post; as poetry, short story, and essay awards are underrepresented in my above list of literary awards.Other Substacks that discuss literary prizes to some extent or another include:
Auraist: picking the best-written books of the month (written by a number of authors, including
)FictionMatters (written by
)(written by
)an example post: “75th National Book Awards Q & A”
Traci also runs her own literary award—The Stackies (which is voted on by her Substack’s paid subscribers). You can read about The Stackies in her post “The Stackies 2024 Finalists.”
Some BookTube literary awards reaction videos
If you want to watch some commentary about 2024 book prize announcements, you may enjoy watching one or more of the below BookTube videos. And if you enjoy watching the videos, you can subscribe to the BookTube channels they come from on YouTube.
Thanks so much for including me and The Stackies here! The best literary award ever made!
Thanks for including me! Yay for prize list love 🫶🏼🤓