National Book Awards adds Young Adult, Gastronomy categories for 44th edition

Nominations are open until August 31.

Teenage romances and food narratives will now find a place in the broader landscape of Philippine letters, as the National Book Awards added Young Adult and Gastronomy categories for its 44th edition.

On Aug. 1, The National Book Development Board and the Filipino Critics Circle, which co-organize the awards, announced that it’s already accepting nominations until Aug. 31.

The new Young Adult category under the Literary Division will recognize books “primarily written for readers ages 12 to 18 whose main characters fall within the audience’s age range.” The category requires works to be “told from a teen perspective and focuses on the experiences and challenges of adolescence.”

The Gastronomy category under the Non-Literary Division will recognize books that “[highlight] culinary arts, culinary history, and other related areas.”

The two new categories may have separate awards for works in English and Filipino.

Their addition is significant.

For years, young adult literature—often centered on teenage experiences and romance—has often been looked down on by traditional literary circles, particularly in the academe.Critics have long accused such “elitists” and “snubs” as reflecting a lingering superiority complex among literary circles over what is considered “serious” literature.

Yet Filipinos have always had a deep love for the genre, from the popularity of romance pocketbooks in the ’80s to the rise of platforms like Wattpad, where many young adult and romance authors have built communities of millions of readers. Several of these works have also crossed into mainstream culture through film and television adaptations.

The Gastronomy category, meanwhile, recognizes a field that has often received less attention in publishing. In recent years, more books have explored Filipino cuisine beyond recipes—documenting the histories, traditions, and identities shaped by food.

The 44th NBA also merged the previous Business category with Humor, Sports, and Lifestyle, creating the expanded Humor, Sports, Lifestyle, and Business category.

The awards will also feature Ilokano literary works under its language-specific category. Last year’s awards featured Hiligaynon and Kinaray-a literary works.

The awards will cover books published in 2025. Eligible titles must be published for the first time by a Philippine publisher or an individual registered with the NBDB.

Books may be authored by Filipino or non-Filipino writers, living or deceased, provided they meet the awards’ eligibility requirements.

The NBA recognizes books across Literary, Non-Literary, and Design divisions. Literary categories include Fiction, Young Adult, Nonfiction Prose, Anthology, Drama and Film, Literary Criticism and Cultural Studies, Literary History, Poetry, Graphic Novel and Comics, Translation, and Ilokano.

Non-Literary categories include Art, Professions, Social Sciences, History, Journalism, Humor, Sports, Lifestyle, and Business, Gastronomy, Science, Spirituality and Theology, and Philosophy.

Here are links to the NBDB’s guidelines and nomination submissions.

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