May 28, 2026, Hartford, CT — The Mark Twain House & Museum is pleased to announce the Longlist for the 2026 Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award (MTAVL). Now celebrating its tenth anniversary, the MTAVL is one of the nation’s leading literary honors, recognizing distinguished fiction that tells American stories in a uniquely American voice, one that reflects Mark Twain’s incisive curiosity and humanity.
Established in 2016 with the generous support of novelist and board member David Baldacci and his wife Michelle, the Award includes a $25,000 cash prize and celebrates fiction published in the previous calendar year.
This year marks a milestone: a decade of honoring the writers who carry forward Twain’s legacy of American storytelling. This year’s Longlist, curated by a national community of volunteer readers from across Connecticut and the country, represents a powerful and diverse array of voices and styles. From 127 submissions, the panel curated a 30-book list spanning a wide range of publishers and featuring acclaimed authors and debut writers alike. The list continues the award’s tradition of recognizing fiction by authors celebrated through major literary honors such as the Booker Prize, the Pulitzer Prize, and the National Book Award.
“Once again our at-large readers have helped us fashion a really strong and wildly varied list,” said Rand Richards Cooper, board member and Chair of the Judging Committee. “It includes famous writers with dozens of works to their name, and debut novelists whose first books our readers deemed worthy of consideration. The Longlist books range from slender collections of short fiction to doorstop-sized epic novels. One checks in at over 1,200 pages. Our judges will have their work cut out for them!”
The Shortlist will be announced in August, followed by the Finalists in September, and the winner will be announced on September 30. The winner will be honored at a special celebration in Hartford on Friday, November 6, 2026.
This year, the award celebration expands into a two-day American Voice Weekend. On Saturday, November 7, the Museum will host Creative Writing in the Age of AI, a day-long symposium bringing together authors, scholars, journalists, and educators to explore how artificial intelligence is reshaping storytelling and the future of the written word.
This year’s judging panel includes:
- Adriana Trigiani, bestselling novelist and filmmaker
- Ben Shattuck, 2025 MTAVL recipient
- Michael Gorra, critic and literary scholar
- Laura Pedersen, author and columnist
- Rand Richards Cooper, author and critic
Previous MTAVL winners include:
- The History of Sound by Ben Shattuck
- Absolution by Alice McDermott
- Mercy Street by Jennifer Haigh
- The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton
- The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones
- On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
- Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
- Dodgers by Bill Beverly
- The Harder They Come by T.C. Boyle
Longlist 2026
Are You Happy?: Stories — Lori Ostlund
Atavists: Stories — Lydia Millet
Big Chief — Jon Hickey
Buckeye — Patrick Ryan
Crooks — Lou Berney
Dream State — Eric Puchner
Flashlight — Susan Choi
Fox — Joyce Carol Oates
Heartwood — Amity Gaige
Life, and Death, and Giants: A Novel — Ron Rindo
Maggie; Or, A Man and a Woman Walk Into a Bar — Katie Yee
My Darling Boy: A Novel — John Dufresne
Narrow the Road — James Wade
Old School Indian — Aaron John Curtis
People Like Us — Jason Mott
Sacrament — Susan Straight
So Far Gone — Jess Walter
Stag Dance — Torrey Peters
The Doorman — Chris Pavone
The Emergency — George Packer
The Imagined Life — Andrew Porter
The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny — Kiran Desai
The Savage, Noble Death of Babs Dionne — Ron Currie
The Wilderness — Angela Flournoy
These Heathens — Mia McKenzie
Tom’s Crossing — Mark Z. Danielewski
Vera, or Faith — Gary Shteyngart
What a Time to Be Alive — Jade Chang
What Happened to the McCrays? — Tracey Lange
What Kind of Paradise — Janelle Brown
About The Mark Twain House & Museum
The Mark Twain House & Museum is the restored Hartford, Connecticut home where Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, lived from 1874 to 1891. Twain wrote many of his most iconic works there, including Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. The museum continues to honor Twain’s literary legacy through tours, educational programs, and cultural events.
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Media Contact:
Albinko Hasic
albinko.hasic@marktwainhouse.org
(860) 280-3152
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