Finalists have been selected for the 2026 Golden Poppy Awards, sponsored by the California Independent Booksellers Alliance and representing "the best of the best from California creators."
For the first time, CALIBA will celebrate the Golden Poppy Award finalists and committee members during an in-person award ceremony at its Fall Fest. That will take place on September 15 in San Diego, and the winners in each category will be announced.
The 2026 categories include Fiction, Nonfiction, Mystery, Octavia E. Butler Award (Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror), Poetry, Romance, Glenn Goldman: California Lifestyle and Cooking, and the Martin Cruz Smith Award for Emerging Diverse Voices. In Children's Literature, the committees read for the following categories: Picture Book, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Children's Nonfiction, and the Mirrors & Windows Award for Excellence in Children's Literature.
To see all the finalists, click here.