Celebrate the best books of last year at the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes. Act fast, limited public tickets are available.
Bovard Auditorium (USC Campus)
3551 Trousdale Parkway, Los Angeles, CA, 90089
Prize Presenters
Amy Tan
Acclaimed author Amy Tan is 2025’s Robert Kirsch Award winner which recognizes a writer with a substantial connection to the American West. Her expansive work, including “The Joy Luck Club,” “The Kitchen God’s Wife” and “The Bonesetter’s Daughter,” explores the immigrant experience and family bonds. Born in Oakland to immigrant parents, Tan gives voice to the Chinese American experience and the American story. In “The Backyard Bird Chronicles,” she turns her observational eye to nature, chronicling her foray into birding through daily entries and sketches. Her accolades, including the National Humanities Medal and the 2026 Preston Award, solidify her legacy as a titan of literary excellence and cultural impact.
We Need Diverse Books
The 2025 Innovator’s Award winner is We Need Diverse Books (WNDB), a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing diversity and inclusion in publishing. What began in 2014 as a trending hashtag on social media, has expanded into organized mentorships, workshops, grants and professional development programs. WNDB supports writers, illustrators and publishing professionals to ensure better representation on the bookshelves, and also works closely with educators and libraries to drive systemic change across the publishing ecosystem. This work continues to foster a more equitable literary landscape for all readers.
Playworld: A Novel
Adam Ross
Alfred A. Knopf
Adam Ross is the winner of the Christopher Isherwood Prize for Autobiographical Prose for “Playworld,” a coming-of-age story set in New York City in the 1980s. Inspired by his own childhood, the novel follows teenager Griffin Hurt through formative relationships and family issues, as he bridges between youth and maturity, and grapples with life. Sponsored by the Christopher Isherwood Foundation, the award honors exceptional work and encompasses fiction, travel writing, memoir and diary.
Judges: Dinah Lenney, Deesha Philyaw, Rick Whitaker
Andy Anderegg
Hub City Press
Krystelle Bamford
Scribner
Addie E. Citchens
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Justin Haynes
Harry N. Abrams
Saou Ichikawa translated by Polly Barton
Hogarth
Art Seidenbaum was the founder of the Book Prizes. At The Times from 1962 until his death in 1990, Seidenbaum was successively a columnist, book editor and opinion editor. The award recognizing debut works of fiction was established in his honor in 1991.
Judges: Natashia Deón, Scott O’Connor, Amy Wallen
Molly Jong-Fast (Narrator), Matie Argiropoulos (Producer)
Penguin Audio
Jason Mott, Ronald Peet, and JD Jackson (Narrators), Diane McKiernan (Producer)
Penguin Audio
James Aaron Oh (Narrator), Linda Korn (Producer)
Penguin Audio
Imani Perry (Narrator), Suzanne Mitchell (Producer)
Ecco
Maggi-Meg Reed, Jane Oppenheimer, Carly Robins, Jeff Ebner, David Pittu, Chris Andrew Ciulla, Mark Bramhall, Petrea Burchard, Robert Petkoff, Kimberly Farr, Cerris Morgan-Moyer, Peter Ganim, Jade Wheeler, Steve West, and Jim Seybert (Narrators), Kelly Gildea (Producer)
Random House Audio
The Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Achievement in Audiobook Production is given in collaboration with Audible. Established in 2023, the prize focuses on performance, production and innovation in storytelling, and recognizes a person or an ensemble cast.
Judges: Kerry Donahue, Diana Wagman, Ronald Young Jr.
Joe Dunthorne
Scribner
Ekow Eshun
Harper
Ruth Franklin
Yale University Press
Beth Macy
Penguin Press
Amanda Vaill
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Judges: Leah Redmond Chang, Thomas Curwen, Diane Smith
Jeanne Carstensen
One Signal Publishers
Stefan Fatsis
Atlantic Monthly Press
Brian Goldstone
Crown
Gardiner Harris
Random House
Jordan Thomas
Riverhead Books
Judges: Susan Brenneman, Frances Dinkelspiel, Miriam Pawel
Tod Goldberg
Thomas & Mercer
Stephen Graham Jones
Saga Press
Mia McKenzie
Random House
Andrés Felipe Solano translated by Will Vanderhyden
Counterpoint Press
Bryan Washington
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Judges: Natashia Deón, Scott O’Connor, Amy Wallen
Eagle Valiant Brosi
Drawn & Quarterly
Jaime Hernandez
Fantagraphics
Michael D. Kennedy
Drawn & Quarterly
Lee Lai
Drawn & Quarterly
Carol Tyler
Fantagraphics
Judges: Andrew Neal, Audra Stang, Angie Wang
Char Adams
Tiny Reparations Books
Bench Ansfield
W. W. Norton & Company
Jennifer Clapp
The MIT Press
Eli Erlick
Beacon Press
Aaron G. Fountain Jr.
University of North Carolina Press
Judges: Andrew Aydin, Anna-Lisa Cox, Andrea Freeman
Megan Abbott
G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Ace Atkins
William Morrow
Lou Berney
William Morrow
Michael Connelly
Little, Brown and Company
S.A. Cosby
Flatiron Books: Pine & Cedar
Judges: Colette Bancroft, Oline Cogdill, Alex Segura
Gabrielle Calvocoressi
Copper Canyon Press
Chet’la Sebree
Tin House
Richard Siken
Copper Canyon Press
Devon Walker-Figueroa
Milkweed Editions
Allison Benis White
Four Way Books
Judges: Remica Bingham-Risher, John Evans, Airea D. Matthews
Stephen Graham Jones
Saga Press
Jordan Kurella
Lethe Press
Nnedi Okorafor
William Morrow
Adam Oyebanji
DAW Books
Silvia Park
Simon & Schuster
Judges: Maurice Broaddus, S. B. Divya, Maryelizabeth Yturralde
Mariah Blake
Crown
Peter Brannen
Ecco
Karen Hao
Penguin Press
Laura Poppick
W. W. Norton & Company
Jordan Thomas
Riverhead Books
Judges: Jia Rui Cook, Kate Gammon, Stephen R. Sparks
K. Ancrum
HarperCollins
Idris Goodwin
Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Jamie Jo Hoang
Crown Books for Young Readers
Trung Le Nguyen
Random House Graphic
Hannah V. Sawyerr
Amulet Books
Judges: Aracely Menendez, Guia Serrano, Julia Torres