Books
Publishing, authors, literary prizes, and book-market trends.
Virginia Evans and Lyse Doucet win Women's Prize book awards
Virginia Evans won the 2026 Women's Prize for Fiction for her debut novel The Correspondent, and Lyse Doucet won the nonfiction prize for The Finest Hotel in Kabul at a London ceremony on June 11.
Authors Lyse Doucet and Virginia Evans win the 2026 Women's Prizes
Lyse Doucet won the 2026 Women's Prize for Non-Fiction for The Finest Hotel in Kabul, and Virginia Evans won the fiction prize for The Correspondent. Each winner receives £30,000 after the June 11 announcement in London.
Virginia Evans wins Women’s Prize for Fiction, Lyse Doucet wins nonfiction prize
Virginia Evans won the 2026 Women’s Prize for Fiction for The Correspondent, while Lyse Doucet won the nonfiction prize for The Finest Hotel in Kabul. The winners were announced in London on June 11, with each award carrying £30,000.
Amazon Names Tayari Jones' 'Kin' Its Top Book of 2026 So Far
Amazon Books has named Tayari Jones' 'Kin' the No. 1 book on its 2026 midyear list, giving the February novel a major retail endorsement and fresh visibility.
Diana Evans wins 2026 Jhalak Prose Prize
Diana Evans has won the 2026 Jhalak Prose Prize for I Want to Talk to You. The prize, which celebrates books by writers of colour in the UK and Ireland, carries £1,000 and was announced on June 10, 2026.
Bournemouth University student wins Orwell Award
Bournemouth University says student Katie O’Donnell has won the Orwell Society/NUJ Young Journalist’s Award 2026 in the Reviews category, becoming the first BU student to win an Orwell award.
J.P. Morgan unveils 2026 Summer Reading List and NextList series
J.P. Morgan released its 2026 Summer Reading List, its 27th annual edition, with 14 titles spanning leadership, AI, geopolitics, performance and longevity. The bank also brought back its NextList Summer Series for a second year.
Storm Publishing expands into German and Spanish with in-house translation initiative
Storm Publishing plans to launch its first German and Spanish editions in the second half of 2026, adding in-house translation to its growing international expansion.
Publishers saw small sales gains in Q1
AAP StatShot data showed U.S. publisher revenue rose 0.9% in the first quarter of 2026 to about $2.9 billion, with gains in children’s/YA, professional, university press and education categories offset by declines in adult books and religion.
Clare Wright wins top prize at NSW Literary Awards
Clare Wright’s Näku Dhäruk The Bark Petitions has won Book of the Year and the Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction at the 2026 NSW Literary Awards, according to the State Library of NSW and ABC News.
Strokestown poetry prize shortlist revealed
The 2026 Strokestown International Poetry Competition shortlist has been announced, with five poets in contention for the prize.
Book Deals: Week of April 6, 2026
Publishers Weekly’s April 3 rights roundup highlights several book deals, including Kensington’s move on Melissa K. Roehrich’s series, Spiegel & Grau’s deal for Hannah Morrish and Mira’s preempt of Brooke Shaden’s debut duology.