The 25 judges (five each in five categories) for the 2026 National Book Awards were named last week and include four booksellers:
In fiction, Danielle King, general manager of Left Bank Books, St. Louis, Mo., where she earlier worked as a part-time bookseller, full-time used books buyer, and assistant manager. She is a member of the American Booksellers Association's Booksellers Advisory Council.
In nonfiction, Audrey I-Wei Huang, a frontline bookseller at Belmont Books, Belmont, Mass. She's served on the American Booksellers Association's Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Committee, the New England Independent Booksellers Association Advisory Council and as a judge for several awards. In 2024, she was named Handseller of the Year by the Book Publisher Representatives of New England.
Also in nonfiction, Eve L. Ewing, who besides being an author, cultural organizer, and professor at the University of Chicago, is co-owner of Build Coffee & Books, Chicago, Ill.
In translated literature, Javier García del Moral, founder of The Wild Detectives, Dallas, Texas, the bookstore-bar that opened in 2014. He also coordinates the Hay Festival Forum Dallas, helping position the city as an international meeting point for contemporary literature and ideas.