Here’s the longlist for the 2026 National Book Award for Poetry.

The National Book Foundation has unveiled the longlist for the 2026 National Book Award for Poetry. This year, ten books have been selected from an initial pool of 285 submissions submitted by publishers. The judges for this year's Poetry category are Rob Arnold, Aracelis Girmay (Chair), Jon Pineda, Roger Reeves, and Rosanna Warren.

The final round of selections will be announced on October 6, with the winners revealed at the prestigious 77th National Book Awards Ceremony on November 18. Below is the 2026 Poetry longlist: Victoria Chang's "Tree of Knowledge" from Farrar, Straus and Giroux / Macmillan Publishers; Carolina Ebeid's "Hide" from Graywolf Press; Brenda Hillman's "Still House in the Desert: An eco-contemplation" from Wesleyan University Press; Richie Hofmann's "The Bronze Arms" from Knopf / Penguin Random House; Fady Joudah's "Exhibit G: Poems, Essays, and Photographs of Gaza" from Milkweed Editions; Layli Long Soldier's "We" from Graywolf Press; Jonah Mixon-Webster's "Promise/Threat" from Knopf / Penguin Random House; Jake Rose's "JOAN" from University of Chicago Press; Jake Skeets' "Horses" from Milkweed Editions; and Susan Stewart's "Bramble" from University of Chicago Press.