Contact:
Candice Wing-yee Mack
LitAwards@apalaweb.org
Release Date:
January 26, 2026
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2026 Asian Pacific American Awards for Literature Winners
CHICAGO – The Asian Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA), an affiliate of the American Library Association (ALA), announced the 2026 winners of its Asian Pacific American Awards for Literature today at 10 a.m. CT.
The Asian Pacific American Award for Literature honors and recognizes individual works by Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pasifika authors that highlight Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pasifika cultures and experiences.
To help to fulfill those goals, APALA is excited to announce one new category – Poetry – and 5 new subcategories highlighting Pasifika creators and cultures!
Winner and Honor titles were chosen from titles by and about Asian American and Pasifika creators published between September 2024 through August 2025. Please note that not all categories featured Pasifika winner and honor titles, often due to lack of access to eligible titles. The awards are based on literary and artistic merit in the following categories: Adult Fiction Pasifika, Adult Fiction Asian American, Adult Non-Fiction, Poetry, Young Adult Literature, Children’s Literature, and Picture Book Pasifika and Picture Book Asian American.
The 2026 Asian Pacific American Awards for Literature are:
Pasifika Adult Fiction Winner: Extinction Capital of the World written by Mariah Rigg, and published by Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. 9780063419971.
A collection of ten stories illuminating some of the diverse voices of Hawai’i, deftly weaving together the vast and varied cultural and environmental histories of those who call it home. Mariah Rigg’s Extinction Capital of the World captivates with its melancholy prose, exploring a complex, vibrant place that contrasts beauty with harsh realities, and resilience with vulnerability.
Asian American Adult Fiction Winner: Awake in the Floating City written by Susanna Kwan, and published by Pantheon, an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC, New York. 9780593701409.
Bo, an artist tethered to a deserted and flooded San Francisco where her mother disappeared, works as a caretaker for Mia, her supercentenarian neighbor. In this post-climate catastrophe near future, Susanna Kwan captures the depth of human bonds that push us through loss and toward hope. Awake in the Floating City is an emotionally charged, yet contemplative, character-driven novel that explores how memory is preserved through history, art, and community, and connects people through time and place.
Asian American Adult Fiction Honor: Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng written by Kylie Lee Baker, and published by MIRA Books, an imprint of Harlequin Enterprises. 9780778368458.
Asian American Adult Fiction Honor: Indian Country, written by Shobha Rao, and published by Crown, an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC, New York. 9780593798959.
Adult Non-Fiction Winner: Pieces You’ll Never Get Back: A Memoir of Unlikely Survival written by Samina Ali, and published by Catapult, an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC, New York. 9781646222612.
Samina Ali’s harrowing memoir recounts her traumatic journey giving birth to her first child, leaving her without memory and movement, only able to speak her native language, Urdu. Written in a style that parallels how she had to put the pieces of her life back together, she seamlessly weaves in her Islamic upbringing while she learns to walk, talk, write, and redeem herself again.
Adult Non-Fiction Honor: The Wanderer’s Curse written by Jennifer Hope Choi, and published by WW Norton & Company. 9781324035510.
Adult Non-Fiction Honor: Brown Women Have Everything: Essays on (Dis)comfort and Delight written by Sayantani Dasgupta, and published by The University of North Carolina Press. 9781469681771.
Pasifika Poetry Winner: Mele written by Kalehua Kim, and published by Trio House Press. 9781949487367.
Borrowing from the rich traditions of Hawaiian song structure and interweaving English, ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i, and Hawaiian Creole English, Mele is a luminous collection that explores themes of ancestral memory, grief, family, and love in all its forms. Rooted deeply in land, body, and relationship, this work speaks with intimate specificity while offering a universal emotional resonance. Innovative, purposeful, and profoundly lyrical, it is a collection that doesn’t just speak—it sings.
Asian American Poetry Winner: Becoming Ghost written by Cathy Linh Che, and published by Washington Square Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. 9781668088920.
In Becoming Ghost, Cathy Linh Che tells the story of her parents—Vietnamese refugees who escaped war only to find themselves reliving it as extras on the set of Apocalypse Now, their real experiences reduced to a Hollywood backdrop. Through intimate persona poems and the golden shovel form, Che brings her parents’ voices to the center, honoring stories that both history and film had pushed aside. But telling these stories comes with a cost of family estrangement for Che as she wrestles with sharing others’ trauma with the world.
Asian American Poetry Honor: Water Guest, written by Caroline M. Mar, and published by University of Wisconsin Press. 9780299352646.
Asian American Poetry Honor: Cold Thief Place, written by Esther Lin, and published by Alice James Books. 9781949944709.
Young Adult Winner: The Red Car to Hollywood written by Jennie Liu, and published by Carolrhoda Lab, an imprint of Lerner Publishing Group. 9781728493213.
With a meticulously researched and tightly paced plot set in 1924, Los Angeles’s Chinatown comes to life around sixteen-year-old Ruby Chan’s and rising star Anna May Wong’s friendship. This novel blends suspense with emotional depth while navigating intricate themes of self-determination, familial expectations, and assimilation amidst systemic racism and sexism.
Young Adult Honor: Tall Water written by SJ Sindu, illustrated by Dion MBD, and published by HarperAlley, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. 9780063090156.
Children’s Winner: Hungry Bones written by Louise Hung, and published by Scholastic, Inc. 9781338832587.
Trapped in a house for over 100 years and unable to move on to the afterlife, Jade is resigned to a ghostly eternity of hunger, barely surviving off the crumbs that people leave. That is, until a Chinese family finally moves in, and one of them can see Jade. For the first time that she can remember, Jade believes that with the help of Molly, the curse that has trapped her could be broken! Alternating between Jade and Molly’s points of view, this haunting tale blends culture and mystery, resulting in a powerful story of family, history, and what it means to remember and honor the pain of the past, even as we move forward into a brighter future.
Children’s Honor: The Queen Bees of Tybee County written by Kyle Casey Chu, and published by Quill Tree Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. 9780063326958.
Children’s Honor: Fresh Start written and illustrated by Gale Galligan, and published by Scholastic, Inc. 9781338045840.
Pasifika Picture Book Winner: Kaho’olawe: The True Story of an Island and Her People written by Kamalani Hurley, illustrated by Harinani Orme, and published by Millbrook Press, an imprint of Lerner Publishing Group. 9798765605011.
Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of its fight for reclamation, Kahoʻolawe: The True Story of an Island and Her People tells the story of Kaho’olawe’s importance in historical Pasifika migration to Hawaiʻi, her near devastation by American militarism, and her position as the inspiration for the Hawaiian Sovereignty movement and Renaissance.
Pasifika Picture Book Honor: Filo’s Butterflies written by Litea Fuata, illustrated by Myo Yim, and published by Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing, an imprint of Hardie Grant Publishing. 9781761212697.
Pasifika Picture Book Honor: White Sunday written by Litea Fuata, illustrated by Myo Yim, and published by Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing, an imprint of Hardie Grant Publishing. 9781760509873.
Asian American Picture Book Winner: Many Things at Once written by Veera Hiranandani, illustrated by Nadia Alam, and published by Random House Studio, an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC, New York. 9780593643907.
Drawing on her own family background, Veera Hiranandani beautifully conveys the complex experience of being biracial and from an interfaith family. Pencil and digital illustrations show the narrator’s evolving sense of self while evoking the feel of a scrapbook in scenes depicting her grandparents’ history in India and Poland.
Asian American Picture Book Honor: Every Peach Is a Story, written by David Mas Masumoto and Nikiko Masumoto, illustrated by Lauren Tamaki, and published by Abrams Books for Young Readers, an imprint of ABRAMS. 9781949480290.
Asian American Picture Book Honor: A Vaisakhi to Remember, written by Simran Jeet Singh, illustrated by Japneet Kaur, and published by Kokila, an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC, New York. 9780593859087.
Each title will be presented and given the award seal during the annual APALA Literature Award Ceremony taking place during the 2026 ALA Annual Conference and Exhibition in Chicago, IL.
For a complete list of Asian Pacific American Awards for Literature, including awardees from previous years, please visit http://www.apalaweb.org/awards/literature-awards/.
The 2026 Asian Pacific American Awards for Literature committee members include:
Award Committee Co-Chairs: Jamie Kurumaji, Fresno County Public Library, Fresno, CA; Candice Wing-yee Mack, Los Angeles Public Library, Los Angeles, CA; Zoë McLaughlin, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI.
Adult Fiction Award Jury: Co-Chair Monica Shin, Boston Public Library, Boston, MA; Co-Chair Loren Pelegrina, Fresno County Public Library, Fresno, CA; Kevin Chung, Newark Public Library, Newark, NJ; Kate Pham, California State University – East Bay, Hayward, CA; Mariana “Mari” Prestigiacomo, Auraria Library, Denver, CO; Jie Tian, California State University – Fullerton, Fullerton, CA.
Adult Non-Fiction Award Jury: Chair, Nisha Mody, Los Angeles, CA; Shabrina McPherson, Greensboro, NC; Kimber Van Heukelom, Adel, IA.
Poetry Jury: Chair Paul Lai, University of Minnesota Libraries, Minneapolis, MN; Neil Aitken, Vancouver, BC, Canada; Danilo Madayag Baylen, University of West Georgia, Carrollton, GA; Nicole Marconi, Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn, NY; Cristina Mitra, San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco, CA.
Youth/Young Adult Literature Award Jury: Chair Jerry Dear, San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco, CA; Celina Tirona, Daly City Public Library, Daly City, CA; Tiffani Lewis-Lockhart, Charlottesville, VA; Irene Zapata, Los Angeles County Library, Gardena, CA; Xuemin Zhong, Los Angeles County Library, Rowland Heights, CA.
Children’s Literature Award Jury: Co-Chair Julia Wright, San Mateo County Libraries, San Mateo, CA; Co-Chair Jenny Yap, Berkeley City College, Berkeley, CA; Erika Fitzpatrick, Central Rappahannock Regional Library, Stafford, VA; Cathy Lin, Los Angeles County Library, Pico Rivera, CA; Hannah Park, American University, Arlington, VA; Yun Ji (Angie) So, Loyola Marymount University – Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, CA.
Picture Book Award Jury: Chair Joy Shioshita, El Cerrito, CA; Caroline Chow, Menlo Park Library, Menlo Park, CA; Christopher Hosler, San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco, CA; Catherine Pyun, Berkeley Public Library, Berkeley, CA; Danica Ronquillo, Union City, CA.
APALA’s Literature Award Committee is currently accepting submissions published between September 1, 2025 through August 31, 2026 for consideration for the 2027 Asian Pacific American Award for Literature. More information may be found by contacting LitAwards@apalaweb.org and on APALA’s Literature Award Guidelines & Submissions page (https://www.apalaweb.org/awards/literature-awards/literature-award-guidelines/).
The Asian Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA) was founded in 1980 by librarians of diverse Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pasifika (AAHHPI) ancestries committed to working together toward a common goal: to create an organization that would address the needs of AANHPI staff and those who serve AANHPI communities.
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