The 2026 Washington State Book Award finalists are in, and readers may want to clear some space on the nightstand. Judges selected 41 titles from 308 books written by Washington authors and published in 2025. The finalists span fiction, memoir, nonfiction, poetry, picture books, books for young readers, and young adult literature.
Seattle is well represented, with local authors behind 21 of the 41 finalist titles and appearing in every category. Among the Seattle-linked books are Jodi-Ann Burey’s Authentic: The Myth of Bringing Your Full Self to Work, Nathan Vass’ Deciding to See: The View from Nathan’s Bus, Sonora Jha’s Intemperance, Isabel Cañas’ The Possession of Alba Díaz, and Emily M. Bender and Alex Hanna’s The AI Con.
Two authors earned double recognition. Poulsbo’s Donna Barba Higuera is a finalist for both Unlikely Aventuras of Ramón and El Cucuy and XOLO, while Seattle’s Cat Bohannon is nominated for Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution and its adaptation for young adults. The full list includes writers and illustrators from communities across the Evergreen State, including Bellingham, Bremerton, Spokane, Tacoma, Vancouver, Vashon, and San Juan Island.
Now in its 60th year, the program was formerly known as the Governor’s Writers Awards. One winner in each category will be announced Sept. 15.
Creative Nonfiction/Memoir
Alterations (Transit Books) by Cori Winrock of Bellingham
Authentic: The Myth of Bringing Your Full Self to Work (Flatiron Books) by Jodi-Ann Burey of Seattle
Deciding to See: The View from Nathan’s Bus (Chin Music Press) by Nathan Vass of Seattle
My Animal Kingdom (FrizzLit Editions) by Rebecca Brown of Seattle
Positively Uncivilized (Raven Chronicles Press) by Rena Priest of Bellingham
We Survived the Night (Knopf) by Julian Brave NoiseCat of Bremerton
Fiction
Dungeon Crawler Carl (Ace Books) by Matt Dinniman of Gig Harbor
Intemperance (HarperVia) by Sonora Jha of Seattle
The Possession of Alba Díaz (Berkley Publishing) by Isabel Cañas of Seattle
Sinkhole, and Other Inexplicable Voids (Penguin Random House) by Leyna Krow of Spokane
So Far Gone (HarperCollins Publishers) by Jess Walter of Spokane
When We Were Real (Saga Press / Simon & Schuster) by Daryl Gregory of Seattle
General Nonfiction/Biography
The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech’s Hype and Create the Future We Want (HarperCollins) by Emily M. Bender of Seattle and Alex Hanna
Black Gold: The Rise, Reign, and Fall of American Coal (University of California Press) by Bob Wyss of West Seattle
Close to Home: The Wonders of Nature Just Outside Your Door (Basic Books) by Thor Hanson of San Juan Island
A Dumb Birds Field Guide to the Worst Birds Ever (Chronicle Books) by Matt Kracht of Tacoma
Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution (Alfred A. Knopf) by Cat Bohannon of Seattle
Wards of the State: The Long Shadow of American Foster Care (Abrams Press) by Claudia Rowe of Seattle
Poetry
Cold Thief Place (Alice James Books) by Esther Lin of Seattle
Forty Bouts in the Wilderness (Moon Path Press) by Katy E. Ellis of Vashon
I’ve Never Loved Somebody and Made Them Worse (Broadstone Books) by Mia Nelson of Seattle
Let the Moon Wobble (Alice James Books) by Ally Ang of Seattle
Recovery Commands (Ex Ophidia Press) by Abby E. Murray of Tacoma
Shiny City (Airlie Press) by Ching-In Chen of Lake Forest Park
Picture Books
Are You a Friend of Dorothy?: The True Story of an Imaginary Woman and the Real People She Helped (Simon & Schuster) by Kyle Lukoff, illustrated by Levi Hastings of Seattle
Blue (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers) by Suzanne Kaufman of Seattle
Cranky, Crabby Crow (Saves the World) (Greenwillow Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers) by Corey R. Tabor of Tacoma
Fierce Aunties! (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers) by Laurel Goodluck, illustrated by Steph Littlebird of Vancouver
A Gift of Dust: How Saharan Plumes Feed the Planet (Knopf) by Martha Brockenbrough of Seattle, illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal
Poo Pile on the Prairie (Beach Lane Books/Simon & Schuster) by Amy Hevron of Seattle
Books for Young Readers
Busted (Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)) by Dan Gemeinhart of Cashmere
Jazzy the Witch in Broom Doom (Simon & Schuster) by Jessixa Bagley of Seattle
Rabbit Rabbit (Holiday House) by Dori Hillestad Butler of Seattle and Sunshine Bacon of Seattle
Unlikely Aventuras of Ramón and El Cucuy (Abrams) by Donna Barba Higuera of Poulsbo, illustrated by Juliana Perdomo
Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest For Kids (Timber Press) by Ashley Erdely of White Salmon
XOLO (Levine Querido) by Donna Barba Higuera of Poulsbo, illustrated by Mariana Ruiz Johnson
Young Adult Lit
Bingsu for Two (Union Square & Co.) by Sujin Witherspoon of Seattle
Climate of Chaos (Peachtree Teen Publishing) by Cassandra Newbould of Camano Island
Eve (Adapted for Young Adults): How the Female Body Shaped Human Evolution (Bright Matter Books, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books) by Cat Bohannon of Seattle
King of the Neuro Verse (Simon & Schuster / Atheneum) by Idris Goodwin of Seattle
On the Wings of la Noche (Knopf Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Penguin Random House) by Vanessa L. Torres of Olympia
