from the National Book Awards

Over the past decade, short novels have held their own against major contenders. From Colson Whitehead to Yoko Towada, check out the recently nominated short novels.

What's the big deal?

• The National Book Award is one of the majors, a distinguished award for the "best literature in America."
• The award recognizes several categories, including nonfiction, poetry, young people's literature and books in translation, as well as fiction. (There is no separate category for short novels.)
• Leading authors are judges, usually serving for a single year, allowing for diverse views year after year.

A little history...

• The award was founded in 1936 and, since its start, is administered by the nonprofit National Book Foundation.
• Over the years, the award's foundation has launched several programs designed to encourage reading in underserved and under-recognized communities.
• Awards were paused during WWII.
• Nominees are limited to US authors.

Here's the 19 short novels nominated for the National Book Award over the past decade (with short descriptions and purchase options for each).

The Shortish Project is an evolving database of new and classic short novels from publishers big and small. Find the latest. Discover hidden gems. Search by author, book title or ISBN here.

Or lean in and do a random scroll through the full Shortish database (600 titles or so)!