Announcing the Shortlist for the 2026 Palestine Book Awards

We are delighted to unveil the shortlist for the 2026 Palestine Book Awards, celebrating outstanding literary and scholarly works that explore and illuminate Palestinian history, culture, identity, and resilience. 

This year, we received an exceptional number of submissions, reflecting the continued and growing global engagement with Palestinian narratives and the diverse range of voices contributing to this important conversation. 

In recognition of the quality, depth, and breadth of the works submitted, the judges have selected 10 books for this year’s shortlist. The shortlist represents a range of categories nominated for the awards, including Academic, Memoir, Edited Books and Anthologies, Global Impact, and Counter-Current. 

The Shortlisted Titles (Alphabetical by First Name) 

• How to sell a genocide: the media’s complicity in the destruction of Gaza
  by Adam Johnson
• When the world sleeps
  by Francesca Albanese
• After savagery: gaza, genocide, and the illusion of western civilisation
  by Hamid Dabashi
• Checkpoint 300: colonial space in Palestine
  by Mark Griffiths
• Resisting erasure: libraries in Palestine and Palestine in libraries
  edited by Mary L. Onorato and Nora Lester Murad
• Plots and deeds: agrarian annihilation and the fight for land justice in Palestine
  by Paul Kohlbry
• Book of Wills
  edited by Reem Ghanayem
• A movement’s promise: the making of contemporary Palestinian theater
  by Samer Al-Saber
• Every moment is a life: Gaza in the time of genocide
  by Susan Abulhawa
• Palestine mapped: from the river to the sea in early geographic thought
  by Thomas Suárez

As we look ahead to the 2026 Palestine Book Awards ceremony, we eagerly anticipate celebrating the exceptional authors and works that have made this year’s shortlist. The winners will be revealed at our awards ceremony later this autumn.

Until then, we invite readers, academics, and all those with an interest in Palestinian history and culture to take the time to discover these remarkable books. Each work offers a meaningful contribution to the literary and scholarly record of Palestine, bringing forward stories, perspectives, and scholarship that deserve to be read, remembered, and shared. 

We extend our deepest thanks to our distinguished panel of judges for their dedication and careful consideration throughout the process, and to every author and publisher who entrusted us with their work. Your contributions continue to enrich the conversation around Palestine and make the Palestine Book Awards a truly meaningful celebration of literature and scholarship.

READ: Palestine Book Awards 2025: Winners Announced in London Ceremony