Join National Book Foundation Executive Director Ruth Dickey and The Stacks creator and host Traci Thomas to kick off the 2026 season of Read with NBF! Ruth and Traci will chat about the newest cohort of National Book Award Winners, take you behind-the-scenes at Team Book, and map out their 2026 reading goals—and learn about yours.

This is a virtual-only event; register here for the Zoom link.

Join us live for an exclusive conversation with Daniel Nayeri, Winner of the 2025 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, alongside National Book Foundation Executive Director Ruth Dickey.

In February, Read with NBF dives into Daniel’s middle-grade novel The Teacher of Nomad Land: A World War II Story. Daniel will take us behind-the-scenes of his writing and research process, and chat with Ruth about working on both sides of publishing, why everyone should read young people’s literature, and the impact of the National Book Awards.

Daniel will answer questions from the audience, and then readers will have a chance to debrief with Ruth and fellow Read with NBF community members.

This is a virtual-only event; register here for the Zoom link.

Join us live for an exclusive conversation with author Gabriela Cabezón Cámara and translator Robin Myers, Winners of the 2025 National Book Award for Translated Literature, alongside National Book Foundation Executive Director Ruth Dickey.

In March, Read with NBF dives into We Are Green and Trembling, a “queer baroque satire” translated from the Spanish. Gabriela and Robin will take us behind-the-scenes of their writing and translating processes, and chat with Ruth about collaboration, why everyone should read translated literature, and the impact of the National Book Awards.

Gabriela and Robin will answer questions from the audience, and then readers will have a chance to debrief with Ruth and fellow Read with NBF community members.

This is a virtual-only event; register here for the Zoom link.

Join us live for an exclusive conversation with Patricia Smith, Winner of the 2025 National Book Award for Poetry, alongside National Book Foundation Executive Director Ruth Dickey.

In April, Read with NBF dives into The Intentions of Thunder: New and Selected Poems, a culmination and celebration of three decades of Patricia’s work. Patricia will take us behind-the-scenes of collecting past work alongside new poems, and chat with Ruth about writing community, why everyone should read poetry, and the impact of the National Book Awards.

Patricia will answer questions from the audience, and then readers will have a chance to debrief with Ruth and fellow Read with NBF community members.

This is a virtual-only event; register here for the Zoom link.

Join us live for an exclusive conversation with Omar El Akkad, Winner of the 2025 National Book Award for Nonfiction, alongside National Book Foundation Executive Director Ruth Dickey.

In May, Read with NBF dives into One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This, a moral grappling of US complicity in the destruction of Gaza and the Palestinian people. Omar will take us behind-the-scenes of his approach in interweaving his own story amidst this historical moment, and chat with Ruth about writing influences, why everyone should read nonfiction, and the impact of the National Book Awards.

Omar will answer questions from the audience, and then readers will have a chance to debrief with Ruth and fellow Read with NBF community members.

This is a virtual-only event; register here for the Zoom link.

Join us live for an exclusive conversation with Rabih Alameddine, Winner of the 2025 National Book Award for Fiction, alongside National Book Foundation Executive Director Ruth Dickey.

In June, the Read with NBF season concludes with Rabih’s The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother). Rabih will take us behind-the-scenes of writing mother-son relationships with humor and heart, and chat with Ruth about Lebanon’s storytelling traditions, why everyone should read fiction, and the impact of the National Book Awards.

Rabih will answer questions from the audience, and then readers will have a chance to debrief with Ruth and fellow Read with NBF community members.

This is a virtual-only event; register here for the Zoom link.