The National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) is an organization of over 700 book review editors and critics nationwide. The NBCC has been operating since 1974, hoping to advance a national conversation around critically discussing and sharing literature. What the NBCC is most well-known for are its annual awards, the National Book Critics Circle Awards.

Last year, the NBCC shared their longlists for each category for the first time in their 50 years of presenting the awards. They’re continuing the tradition this year. Throughout this week, we’ll be treated to an array of finalists in the six categories of criticism, fiction, autobiography, biography, poetry, and nonfiction. There are two additional categories awarded annually as well, as voted on by members: the John Leonard Prize for the best debut book in any genre and the Gregg Barrios Book in Translation Prize, for the best book of any genre translated into English and published in the United States.

Today, the NBCC announced their Longlist for fiction. It is an array of titles which have peppered the “best of 2025” lists, as well as a number of books which haven’t seen as much attention–at least not yet.

Here’s the National Book Critics Circle Longlist in Fiction:

• The Antidote by Karen Russell
• Audition by Katie Kitamura
• The Book of Records by Madeline Thien
• Heart the Lover by Lily King
• Long Distance by Aysegül Savas
• On The Calculation of Volume III by Solvej Balle, translated by Sophia Hersi Smith & Jennifer Russell
• Sea, Poison by Caren Beilin
• The South by Tash Aw
• We Do Not Part by Han Kang, translated by e. yaewon and Paige Aniyah Morris
• The Wilderness by Angela Flournoy

The National Book Critics Circle will share their winners in an awards ceremony on March 26, 2026. You can learn more about the NBCC and about how to get involved here, as well as keep an eye on the lists as they release the rest of the week.

Find more news and stories of interest from the book world in Breaking in Books.