Celebrate the achievements of Northern California authors and California translators at the 45th Annual Northern California Book Awards. This annual ceremony honors outstanding books published in 2025 by Northern California authors and California translators. Winning authors will accept their awards and present remarks on their books. Finalists and honored books will be available for purchase and signing. A reception follows in the San Francisco Main Library’s Latino/Hispanic Community Room.
The ceremony will also recognize recipients of the Fred Cody Award for Lifetime Achievement and Service, the NCBA Recognition Award, the NCBA Groundbreaker Award and the California Translation Awards in Poetry and Prose.
The Northern California Book Awards are presented by the Northern California Book Reviewers, Poetry Flash and the San Francisco Public Library, with community partners Women’s National Book Association–San Francisco Chapter and Mechanics' Institute Library. All nominated books on the Northern California Book Reviewers Recommended Reading List will be acknowledged and celebrated. Award categories include Fiction, Poetry, Creative Nonfiction, General Nonfiction, Children’s Literature and the California Translation Awards in Poetry and Prose.
Since 1981, the Northern California Book Reviewers have honored the work of Northern California authors and celebrated literary achievement throughout the region.
The Fred Cody Award for Lifetime Achievement and Service will be presented for lifetime achievement and distinguished service to the literary community. This year’s Fred Cody Award goes to Amy Tan. She is the author of novels, short stories, essays, memoir, children’s books, libretto, film/television adaptations, and illustrated nature journals. Her acclaimed works, including The Joy Luck Club, The Kitchen God’s Wife, and The Bonesetter’s Daughter, explore the immigrant experience and family bonds. Born in Oakland to immigrant parents, Tan gives voice to the Chinese American experience and the American story. Amy Tan will accept by video.
The NCBA Groundbreaker Award will be presented to: This Unruly Witness: June Jordan’s Legacy, edited by Lauren Muller, Becky Thompson, Dominique C. Hill, and Durell M. Callier, Haymarket Books. The Award is for a book or literary figure representing pioneering and innovative work.
The NCBA Recognition Award will be presented to: The Portrait Gallery Called Existence, by Neeli Cherkovski, City Lights Books. This award recognizes an outstanding literary figure or project that falls outside of NCBA categories.
THE NOMINEES:
POETRY
Mud in Our Mouths, Luiza Flynn-Goodlett, Curbstone Books/Northwestern University Press
Lullaby for the Sixth Extinction, Julia B. Levine, Wolfson Press
Birds at Night, Ibe Liebenberg, Texas Tech University Press
Mothersalt, Mia Ayumi Malhotra, Alice James Books
All the Words I Can Remember Are Poems, Michelle Peñaloza, Persea Books
Smother, Rachel Richardson, W.W. Norton & Company
FICTION
Moderation, Elaine Castillo, Viking
The Wayfinder, Adam Johnson, MCD
Awake in the Floating City, Susanna Kwan, Pantheon
The Girls Who Grew Big, Leila Mottley, Knopf
The Antidote, Karen Russell, Knopf
CREATIVE NONFICTION
Entwined: Dispatches from the Intersection of Species, Bridget A. Lyons, Texas A&M University Press
Immemorial, Lauren Markham, Transit Books
Connecting Dots: A Blind Life, Joshua A. Miele, with Wendell Jamieson, Grand Central Publishing
Sing Me a Circle: Love, Loss, and a Home in Time, Samina Najmi, Trio House Press
Coming Up Short: A Memoir of My America, Robert B. Reich, Knopf
GENERAL NONFICTION
A Greek Tragedy: One Day, a Deadly Shipwreck, and the Human Cost of the Refugee Crisis, Jeanne Carstensen, Atria/One Signal Publishers
Water Mirror Echo: Bruce Lee and the Making of Asian America, Jeff Chang, Mariner Books
Empire of Orgasm: Sex, Power, and the Downfall of a Wellness Cult, Ellen Huet, MCD
Autocrats vs. Democrats: China, Russia, America, and the New Global Disorder, Michael McFaul, Mariner Books
The Last Great Dream: How Bohemians Became Hippies and Created the Sixties, Dennis McNally, Da Capo
CALIFORNIA TRANSLATION
Translation in Poetry
Smoke Drifts, Nadia Anjuman, translated from Dari (Afghan Persian) by Diana Arterian and Marina Omar, World Poetry Books
Pirowa Padowa, Lee Jenny, translated from Korean by Archana Madhavan, Saturnalia Books
The Word Turned Butterfly/La Palabra Convertió en Mariposa/Le T’aano’ Suunaj Péepenile’: Mayan Poems from Mexico, a trilingual anthology translated from Mayan and Spanish, Alejandro Murguía and Pedro Uc Be (editors and translators), Last Edition
Elegies of the Earth: Selected Poems, Ahmad Shamlou, translated from Persian by Niloufar Talebi, World Poetry Books
Translation in Prose
Smoke, Gabriela Alemán, translated from Spanish by Dick Cluster, City Lights Books
A Fictional Inquiry, Daniele Del Giudice, translated from Italian by Anne Milano Appel, New Vessel Press
A Man With No Title, Xavier Le Clerc, translated from French by William Rodarmor, Saqi Books
CHILDREN'S LITERATURE
Younger Readers
The Everything Trail, Meg Fleming, illustrated by Chuck Groenink, Beach Lane Books
Let's Be Bees, Shawn Harris, Neal Porter Books
The Day the Books Disappeared, Joanna Ho, Caroline Kusin Pritchard, illustrated by Dan Santat, Disney Hyperion
Middle Grade
Bunns Rabbit, Alan Barillaro, Candlewick Press
Bird of a Thousand Stories, Kiyash Monsef, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
The Peach Thief, Linda Joan Smith, Candlewick Press
Young Adult
Trans History: From Ancient Times to the Present Day, Alex L. Combs and Andrew Eakett, Candlewick Press
Island Creatures, Margarita Engle, Atheneum
The Lost Queen, Aimee Phan, G.P. Putnam's Sons
Author Readings & Lectures
Engage with your favorite writers and discover your next read.