The Los Angeles Times tonight announced the winners of the 46th annual Book Prizes in a ceremony at USC’s Bovard Auditorium. The Times’ Book Prizes recognize outstanding literary achievements and celebrate the highest quality of writing from authors at all stages of their careers.
Winners were announced in 13 categories for works published last year. Additionally, Amy Tan was honored with the Robert Kirsch Award for lifetime achievement and We Need Diverse Books received the Innovator’s Award for its dedication to increasing diversity and inclusion in publishing. A complete list of this year’s Book Prizes winners follows.
2025 Book Prizes Winners
- Achievement in Audiobook Production (presented by Audible): 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, Jim Seybert (narrators) and Kelly Gildea (producer), “The Correspondent: A Novel,” Random House Audio
- Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction: Justin Haynes, “Ibis: A Novel,” Harry N. Abrams
- Biography: Ekow Eshun, “The Strangers: Five Extraordinary Black Men and the Worlds That Made Them,” Harper
- Christopher Isherwood Prize for Autobiographical Prose: Adam Ross, “Playworld: A Novel,” Alfred A. Knopf
- Current Interest: Brian Goldstone, “There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America,” Crown
- Fiction: Bryan Washington, “Palaver: A Novel,” Farrar, Straus and Giroux
- Graphic Novel/Comics: Jaime Hernandez, “Life Drawing: A Love and Rockets Collection,” Fantagraphics
- History: Bench Ansfield, “Born in Flames: The Business of Arson and the Remaking of the American City,” W. W. Norton & Company
- Mystery/Thriller: Megan Abbott, “El Dorado Drive,” G.P. Putnam’s Sons
- Poetry: Allison Benis White, “A Magnificent Loneliness,” Four Way Books
- Science Fiction, Fantasy & Speculative Fiction: Silvia Park, “Luminous: A Novel,” Simon & Schuster
- Science & Technology: Karen Hao, “Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman’s OpenAI,” Penguin Press
- Young Adult Literature: Trung Le Nguyen, “Angelica and the Bear Prince,” Random House Graphic
For more information about the Book Prizes, including the complete list of 2025 finalists and past winners, and eligibility and judging information, go to latimes.com/BookPrizes.
The Book Prizes ceremony is a prologue to the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, the nation’s largest literary festival, which will bring together more than 550 writers, experts and storytellers, hundreds of exhibitors and an estimated 155,000 attendees. The 31st annual Festival of Books is presented in association with USC. Festival news and updates are available on the event website and Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok profiles (#bookfest).
