What We Inherit

Join 2026 National Book Award Fiction Finalists Hannah Lillith Assadi (Paradiso 17) and Julián Delgado Lopera (Pretend You’re Dead and I Carry You) for readings and conversation about the power of multigenerational gifts, and curses, found in their fiction. From Palestine and Colombia to the United States, Assadi and Delgado Lopera’s novels explore what it means to be exiled––from one’s home and from one’s own identity––through the lens of a father’s flawed life, and what a daughter then carries forward.

Moderated by Ruth Dickey, Executive Director of the National Book Foundation. Presented in partnership with the National Book Foundation and Literary Arts’ Portland Book Festival.

The 2026 National Book Award Winners will be announced live on stage at the 77th National Book Awards Ceremony on Wednesday, November 18 at 8:00pm EST. Readers everywhere are invited to tune in; register for the livestream here!