The week of February 17, 2026
The 2026 Southern Book Prize Winners
The winners of the 2026 Southern Book Prize were announced the past weekend on Valentine’s Day.Saturday, February 14.
“I have never received an award that specifically recognized my personal and very emotional ties to the South, as well as my commitment to stories that feature our rich and complicated history. This award is meaningful to me in ways I cannot adequately express.”
—Dolen Perkins-Valdez, author of Happy Land
The Winners:
- Fiction: Dolen Perkins-Valdez for Happy Land (Berkley, April 2025)
- Nonfiction: Silas House for All These Ghosts (Blair, September 2025)
- Young Readers: Christy Mandin for Millie Fleur Saves the Night (Orchard Books, July 2025)
Read more about the winning authors and their books at The Southern Bookseller Review website.
Featuring reviews of:
- How to Commit a Postcolonial Murder by Nina McConigley, reviewed by Jenny, E. Shaver, Booksellers in Savannah, Georgia
- Honey Bee Mine by Sarah T. Dubb, reviewed by Nichole, Bodacious Bookstore and Cafe in Pensacola, Florida
- The Typewriter and the Guillotine by Mark Braude, reviewed by Amanda, Pearl’s Books in Fayetteville, Arkansas
- Love Me Tomorrow by Emiko Jean, reviewed by Amy, The Snail on the Wall in Huntsville, Alabama
- Yulu’s Linen by Cao Wenxuan, reviewed by Kimberly, Square Books in Oxford, Mississippi
- Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz, reviewed by Gabriela, Epilogue: Books Chocolate Brews in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
- Raising Hare by Chloe Dalto, reviewed by Cathy, Copperfish Books in Punta Gorda, Florida
- Bookseller Buzz: The Lion’s Run by Sara Pennypacker, reviewed by Susan, M Judson, Booksellers, Greenville, South Carolina; Amy, The Snail on the Wall, Huntsville, Alabama; Mary, The Little Bookshop, Midlothian, Virginia; Shree, Hills & Hamlets Bookshop, Chattahoochee Hills, Georgia