45th ANNUAL
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA BOOK AWARDS
Followed by a Reception
Northern California's vibrant literary scene will celebrate on Saturday, September 19, 2026, 2:00pm, Koret Auditorium, San Francisco Main Library, Civic Center, San Francisco, when the 45th annual Northern California Book Awards will recognize books published in 2025 by Northern California authors and California translators. The NCBAs are presented by the Northern California Book Reviewers, Poetry Flash, and the San Francisco Public Library, with our community partners Women’s National Book Association-San Francisco Chapter and Mechanics' Institute Library. The event is free and open to the public.
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 Fred Cody Award for Lifetime Achievement and Service will be presented for lifetime achievement and distinguished service to the literary community. The NCBA Recognition Award will be presented to a book or literary project that falls outside of NCBA categories. The NCBA Groundbreaker Award will be presented to a literary figure, work, or project representing pioneering and innovative work in the literary community. The California Translation Awards in Poetry and Prose will honor works of translation by translators based anywhere in California.
Northern California reviewers and editors, members of Northern California Book Reviewers, select the awards. Membership is open to eligible Northern California reviewers and editors. All of the nominated books, the NCBR Recommended Reading List, will be acknowledged and celebrated at the ceremony. Jurors’ statements by members of the Northern California Book Reviewers will be available in the event program and after the awards on the NCBA page at Poetryflash.org.
The complete list of honorees and finalists will be posted on Poetryflash.org later this summer.
The categories are: Fiction, Poetry, Creative Nonfiction, General Nonfiction,
Children’s Literature, and the California Translation Awards: Poetry and Prose.
The event is free and open to the public; RSVP at Eventbrite.com. RSVPs are appreciated to help us plan for refreshments, but are not required.
For more information: [email protected], (510) 612.3958.
NOMINEES ANNOUNCED SO FAR:
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
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
History of the Northern California Book Awards
Since 1981, the Northern California Book Reviewers, a volunteer group of book reviewers and book review editors, have honored the work of Northern California authors. One of the group's founders was Fred Cody, proprietor of the late great independent bookstore in Berkeley. The Fred Cody Award for Lifetime Achievement is presented every year to a member of the literary community. Previous recipients include Rebecca Solnit, Jane Hirshfield, Brenda Hillman, Isabel Allende, Juan Felipe Herrera, Daniel Ellsberg, Sandra M. Gilbert, Jack Hirschman, Judy Grahn, Susan Griffin, Willis Barnstone, Adam Hochschild, Kay Ryan, Michael Pollan, Al Young, Tamim Ansary, Andrew Hoyem, Diane di Prima, Orville Schell, Philip Levine, Ronald Takaki, Francisco X. Alarcón, Carolyn Kizer, Ishmael Reed, Maxine Hong Kingston, Robert Hass, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Malcolm Margolin, Adrienne Rich, Wallace Stegner, Kay Boyle, William Everson, Alice Walker, Gary Snyder, Jessica Mitford, Tillie Olsen, M.F.K. Fisher, Robert Duncan, and Nancy J. Peters.
