2026 Maya Angelou Book Award Short List Announced

The Maya Angelou Book Award reading committee has selected five finalists for the sixth annual national award, which is presented by the Kansas City Public Library, the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and five other Missouri universities. The UMKC Cockefair Chair is also a co-sponsor of the award, and the winner will be the 2027 Cockefair Chair Writer-In-Residence.

The finalists, chosen from more than 120 submitted books of fiction, are:

• Casualties of Truth by Lauren Francis-Sharma is a literary novel with the sharp edges of a thriller about the abuses of history and the costs of revenge, set between Washington, D.C., and Johannesburg, South Africa.
• The Disappearers by Marlon James tells the story of a group of gay men in 1980s Jamaica and the tragic consequences after one is murdered.
• Desperate Bodies: Stories by Lydia Mathis depicts the fragility, strength, and unruliness of Black women and girls’ bodies and the power in being honest about their desires.
• Make Your Way Home: Stories is Carrie R. Moore’s debut collection set across the American South, featuring characters who struggle to find love and belonging in the wake of painful histories.
• Mariah Rigg’s Extinction Capital of the World is a portrait of Hawai’i and a powerful meditation on family, queer love, and community amid imperialism and environmental collapse.

This year’s guest judge is Jamel Brinkley, whose short story collection, Witness, won the 2024 Maya Angelou Book Award for fiction.

The 2026 winner will be announced at the annual Writers for Readers fundraising banquet on Friday, November 20, 2026, at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. The recipient receives $10,000 and conducts a book tour of the participating universities.

Named for acclaimed, Missouri-born memoirist, poet, and civil rights activist Maya Angelou, the prize celebrates contemporary writers whose work demonstrates their commitment to social justice. The award alternates annually between poetry and fiction, and this year, it goes to the author of a work of fiction.

The award was established in 2020 by the Kansas City Public Library, UMKC, the University of Missouri-Columbia, Missouri State University, and Northwest Missouri State, Truman State, and Southeast Missouri State universities.

Buy a ticket to the Writers for Readers event on Friday, November 20, 2026, at 6 p.m.