National Book Award 2023: Complete list of winners

The 2023 National Book Award brought fresh voices and urgent perspectives to one of America’s most prestigious literary honors. Craig Santos Perez took home the poetry prize for from unincorporated territory, a collection that interrogates colonialism, identity, and belonging through a distinctly Pacific Islander lens. The award, which has championed American writers since 1950, continues its tradition of recognizing work that challenges and expands our literary landscape.

Perez’s win is particularly significant for a poetry category that has increasingly centered marginalized voices and decolonial thinking in recent years. from unincorporated territory doesn’t just document the poet’s Chamorro heritage and Guam’s complicated political status—it fundamentally questions who gets to tell stories about dispossessed lands and peoples. His victory underscores how the National Book Award has evolved into a platform for literature that grapples with power, history, and resistance.

The full slate of 2023 National Book Award winners across all categories demonstrates the breadth of contemporary American letters:

Poetry

• from unincorporated territory by Craig Santos Perez