Haitian American writer Edwidge Danticat is a finalist for the 2026 National Book Award for Fiction with her novel “Dèy,” the National Book Foundation announced on Tuesday, October 6.

“Dèy,” whose title means mourning in Kreyòl, tells the story of a mass shooting and its aftermath, moving between Miami, Haiti and Brooklyn. Its main character is a Haitian American real estate agent in Miami who survives the attack and hides the truth from her family.

The other fiction finalists are Valeria Luiselli for “Beginning Middle End,” Hannah Lillith Assadi for “Paradiso 17,” Julián Delgado Lopera for “Pretend You're Dead and I Carry You” and Morgan Thomas for “Mad Eden.”

Winners in the five categories will be announced on November 18 at a ceremony in Manhattan. Each winner receives $10,000. Salman Rushdie and Perri Klass will receive honorary medals.

Danticat, born in Port-au-Prince and raised partly in Brooklyn, has been a National Book Award finalist before, including for “Brother, I'm Dying.” She lives in Miami and teaches at Columbia University.