LA Times Book Prize Finalists Include Cross-Genre Winner
The 46th annual Los Angeles Times Book Prizes released their shortlist, with Stephen Graham Jones's *The Buffalo Hunter Hunter* earning nominations in both Science Fiction/Fantasy and Fiction categories. Other genre finalists include *Luminous* by Silvia Park, *Esperance* by Adam Oyebanji, and *Death of the Author* by Nnedi Okorafor. The cross-listing signals broad critical appeal for Jones's latest work.
- The Los Angeles Times Book Prizes have been awarded annually since 1980, with the winners of the 46th awards to be announced at a ceremony on April 17, 2026, the eve of the L.A. Times Festival of Books. - Stephen Graham Jones's nominated book, *The Buffalo Hunter Hunter*, is a historical horror novel that uses a vampire narrative to explore themes of colonialism, genocide, and revenge related to the real-life 1870 Marias massacre of the Blackfeet people. - Fellow science fiction finalist Nnedi Okorafor's *Death of the Author* tells the story of a disabled Nigerian-American writer and includes chapters of her own bestselling Africanfuturist novel, *Rusted Robots*, within the main narrative. - *Luminous*, the debut novel from finalist Silvia Park, is set in a near-future, reunified Korea and follows three estranged siblings—two human and one robotic—exploring the nature of humanity and consciousness. - Finalist Adam Oyebanji's *Esperance* blends the police procedural and speculative fiction genres, centering on a detective investigating a series of impossible murders where victims are found drowned in seawater hundreds of miles from the ocean. - At the awards ceremony, author Amy Tan, celebrated for works like *The Joy Luck Club*, will be honored with the Robert Kirsch Award for lifetime achievement, which recognizes a writer with a substantial connection to the American West. - The prizes recognize outstanding literary works across more than 10 categories, including Fiction, Biography, History, Mystery/Thriller, and Graphic Novel/Comics. - The book prizes were established by Art Seidenbaum, a *Los Angeles Times* book editor, and the award for first fiction, established in 1991, is named in his honor.
