SUZANNE COLLINS’ SUNRISE ON THE REAPING RECEIVED
AUDIOBOOK OF THE YEAR AT THE AUDIO PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION’S 31ST ANNUAL AUDIE AWARDS® GALA
Kristin Atherton Received Best Fiction Narrator Award;
Blair Underwood Won Best Non-Fiction Narrator Award
Tina Knowles, Beyoncé, Solange, Kelly Rowland, Reese Witherspoon,
Kate McKinnon, John Green, and Alton Brown Among this Year’s Winners
George Guidall, Hillary Huber, January LaVoy, Robin Miles, and Simon Vance Named Inaugural Audio Publishers Association Hall of Fame Inductees
NEW YORK, NY, March 2, 2026–Tonight, the Audio Publishers Association (APA) unveiled the winners of the 31st Annual Audie Awards®, the premier awards program which recognizes distinction in audiobooks and spoken-word entertainment. Suzanne Collins’ Sunrise on the Reaping (narrated by Jefferson White), earned the top honor of the evening, Audiobook of the Year. The annual ceremony took place at Pier 60 at Chelsea Piers in New York City.
Additionally, the APA honored the inaugural Audio Publishers Association Hall of Fame inductees: legendary narrators George Guidall, Hillary Huber, January LaVoy, Robin Miles, and Simon Vance. The APA Hall of Fame honors the most accomplished narrators and pioneers in audiobook history. This distinction recognizes those whose exceptional work has shaped the art of narration, expanded the reach of audiobooks, and helped propel the industry forward.
Presenters included Adam Lazarre-White (Actor), Corinne Bailey Rae (Grammy-nominated Artist); Edoardo Ballerini (multi Audie Award-winning Narrator); Gabra Zackman (Actor, Narrator); Jason Reynolds (MacArthur Fellow and New York Times bestselling author); Jeremy Carlisle Parker (Narrator); Jennifer Jill Araya (multi Audie Award-winning Narrator); Karen Murray (Narrator); Morgan Radford (NBC News anchor, Author); Neil Hellegers (Narrator); Saskia Maarleveld (Audie-Nominated Narrator); Thérèse Plummer (Audie Award-winning Narrator), and more.
31ST ANNUAL AUDIE AWARD WINNERS
AUDIOBOOK OF THE YEAR
Sunrise on the Reaping
By Suzanne Collins
Narrated by Jefferson White
Published by Scholastic Audio
ADAPTATION/ORIGINAL WORK
The Big Fix: A Jack Bergin Mystery
By John Mankiewicz, Jamie Napoli, Daniel Pyne, Katie Pyne, and Aaron Lipstadt
Narrated by Jon Hamm, Ana de la Reguera, Alia Shawkat, Omar Epps, Erin Moriarty, Sosie Bacon, John Slattery, and a full cast
Published by Audible Originals
AUTOBIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
Matriarch
By Tina Knowles
Narrated by Tina Knowles, Beyoncé, Solange, Kelly Rowland, and Angie Beyincé
Published by Penguin Random House Audio
BEST FICTION NARRATOR
Kristin Atherton
for Outlander
By Diana Gabaldon
Published by Recorded Books, a division of RBmedia
BEST NON-FICTION NARRATOR
Blair Underwood
for Truly
By Lionel Richie
Published by HarperAudio
BUSINESS/PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
The Next Conversation
Written and narrated by Jefferson Fisher
Published by Penguin Random House Audio
ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE
The Correspondent
By Virginia Evans
Narrated by Maggi-Meg Reed, Jane Oppenheimer, Carly Robins, Jeff Ebner, David Pittu, Chris Andrew Ciulla, Mark Bramhall, Petrea Burchard, Robert Petkoff, Kimberly Farr, Jim Seybert, Cerris Morgan-Moyer, Jade Wheeler, Peter Ganim, and Steve West
Published by Penguin Random House Audio
EROTICA
American Queen
By Sierra Simone
Narrated by Sophie Eastlake, Teddy Hamilton, Rex Rhys, Shane East, and Valerie Azlynn
Published by Audiobrary
ESPAÑOL – SPANISH LANGUAGE
Apocalipsis Z - El principio del fin
By Manel Loureiro
Narrated by Javier Rey, Maggie Civantos, José María de Tavira, Manuel Chacón, Oleg Kricunova, Marta Barriuso, Peter Nikolas, Rosalía Castro, Mercedes Castro, Manuel de Andrés, David García Palencia, Oscar Goikoetxea, Sabela Mascuñana, Daniel Méndez
Published by Audible Originals
FAITH-BASED FICTION OR NON-FICTION
Silent Horizons
By Chad Robichaux and Jack Stewart
Narrated by Ray Porter
Published by Tyndale Fiction
FANTASY
Anima Rising
By Christopher Moore
Narrated by Mary Jane Wells
Published by HarperAudio
FICTION
Atmosphere
By Taylor Jenkins Reid
Narrated by Kristen DiMercurio, Julia Whelan, and Taylor Jenkins Reid
Published by Penguin Random House Audio
HISTORY/BIOGRAPHY
Baldwin: A Love Story
By Nicholas Boggs
Narrated by Ron Butler
Published by Macmillan Audio
HORROR
The Buffalo Hunter Hunter
By Stephen Graham Jones
Narrated by Shane Ghostkeeper, Marin Ireland, and Owen Teale
Published by Simon & Schuster Audio
LITERARY FICTION & CLASSICS
The Director
By Daniel Kehlmann
Narrated by Nicholas Boulton
Published by Simon & Schuster Audio
MIDDLE GRADE
All the Blues in the Sky
By Renée Watson
Narrated by Bahni Turpin
Published by Bloomsbury PLC
MYSTERY
Gone Before Goodbye
By Reese Witherspoon and Harlan Coben
Narrated by Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine, Kiff VandenHeuvel, Suehyla El-Attar Young, Peter Ganim, Saskia Maarleveld, and James Fouhey
Published by Hachette Audio
NARRATION BY THE AUTHOR
Everything Is Tuberculosis
Written and narrated by John Green
Published by Penguin Random House Audio
NEW VOICE AWARD: JUDGES CATEGORY
Gem Carmella
for The River Has Roots
By Amal El-Mohtar
Published by Macmillan Audio
NON-FICTION
Separation of Church and Hate
Written and narrated by John Fugelsang
Published by Simon & Schuster Audio
PRODUCTION & SOUND DESIGN
Dragon Day
By Bob Proehl
Narrated by Hayley Atwell, Michael Chiklis, Aldis Hodge, Greta Lee, Jimmi Simpson, and a full cast
Published by Audible Originals
ROMANCE
King of Envy
By Ana Huang
Narrated by Jason Clark and Nia Serge
Published by One Night Stand Studios x Ana Huang
SCIENCE FICTION
Simultaneous
By Eric Heisserer
Narrated by Ray Porter, Marin Ireland, and Stephanie Sheh
Published by Macmillan Audio
SHORT STORIES/COLLECTIONS
Food for Thought
Written and narrated by Alton Brown
Published by Simon & Schuster Audio
THRILLER/SUSPENSE
Don't Let Him In
By Lisa Jewell
Narrated by Richard Armitage, Joanne Froggatt, Tamaryn Payne, Gemma Whelan, Louise Brealey, and Patience Tomlinson
Published by Simon & Schuster Audio
YOUNG ADULT
Under the Same Stars
By Libba Bray
Narrated by Jeremy Carlisle Parker, January LaVoy, and Major Curda
Published by Macmillan Audio
YOUNG LISTENERS
Secrets of the Purple Pearl
By Kate McKinnon
Narrated by Kate McKinnon and Emily Lynne
Published by Hachette Audio
The APA received a record-breaking number of submissions this season totaling more than 2,300 entries, a 42% increase over the last five years.
Last year, the APA released its Annual Sales Survey, conducted by Toluna, which spotlighted a return to double digit growth for the industry with an increase in audiobook sales revenue to $2.22 billion in 2024, 13% over the previous year. Sales increases continue to be driven by digital audiobooks, which accounted for 99% of revenue in 2024 and grew year over year by 14%.
Additionally, the APA’s 2025 Consumer Survey, conducted by Edison Research, found 51% of Americans aged 18 and older, an estimated 134 million people, have listened to an audiobook. There is a notable increase in interest among non-listeners: 38% say they are interested in audiobooks, up from 32% last year, with the number of those very interested nearly doubling from 10% to 18%.
Audio Publishers Association Hall of Fame Inductees Bios:
George Guidall is one of the most prolific and celebrated audiobook narrators with more than 2,000 titles to his credit spanning literary classics and bestselling contemporary fiction. His audiobook career began with the Library of Congress’s Talking Books program and expanded with Recorded Books, where he became the definitive voice of Tony Hillerman’s Navajo mysteries, launching a decades-long run as one of the medium’s most trusted storytellers. Guidall has brought to life iconic works including Don Quixote, Les Misérables, Crime and Punishment, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, as well as beloved modern series such as Craig Johnson’s Longmire novels, Daniel Silva’s spy thrillers, Vince Flynn’s Mitch Rapp series, and Stephen King’s The Dark Tower. Over his extraordinary career, he has received numerous industry accolades and Audie Awards.
Hillary Huber is an award winning narrator, VO actor and acclaimed audiobook coach. She was recently named a Golden Voice by AudioFile magazine, is a multi-Audie Award finalist, has earned numerous Earphones and SOVAS Awards, and was just inducted into Audible’s Hall of Fame. Hillary has voiced thousands of commercials, live announced award shows like The Emmys and People’s Choice Awards and has performed in cartoons and video games. Having narrated over 800 audiobooks across a wide range of genres, she is especially acclaimed for her work in gritty thrillers and emotional literary fiction like The Neopolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante. Drawn to stories of redemption and emotional depth — particularly those centered on women’s resilience — Huber brings a compelling, nuanced, and instantly engaging narration style that has made her one of the industry’s most respected voices.
January LaVoy is an award-winning actor, narrator, and director. Her voiceover work includes national commercial campaigns, documentaries, podcasts (including The Daily’s Sunday Read) and over 500 audiobooks. She has received nine Audie Awards, is an AudioFile Golden Voice, was named Publishers Weekly Narrator of the Year, and shares a GRAMMY nomination with Meryl Streep and the cast of the Charlotte’s Web audiobook. Her narration work has been highlighted in articles in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and Slate. LaVoy has been an acclaimed stage actor for over twenty years, performing on and Off-Broadway and receiving the 2023 Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lead Performer, and she is well known by daytime television fans for her years spent playing Noelle Ortiz on the classic ABC soap opera, One Life to Live.
Robin Miles is an acclaimed producer, director, and actor with more than 25 years of experience in theater and audio performance. She has earned many of the industry’s highest honors, including Audie Awards for Best Solo Performance and across multiple genres, Publishers Weekly and AudioFile Voice of the Year awards, AudioFile’s Golden Voice designation, a GRAMMY nomination, induction into the Audible Hall of Fame, and numerous Earphones Awards. Her work spans Broadway, television, audiobooks, documentary film, The Smithsonian Institution, ADR, commercials, and announcing for PBS in NYC. Miles holds a BA from Yale University, an MFA from the Yale School of Drama, and trained at the British American Drama Academy at Oxford. Miles also teaches acting at Pace University and is the founder of Voxpertise®, a New York City-based production and training studio.
Simon Vance is one of audiobook narration’s most accomplished voices, with a career spanning more than 40 years recording for every major publisher. A 17-time Audie Award winner, he has also earned nearly 80 AudioFile Earphones Awards, multiple SOVAS Voice Arts Awards, an Independent Audiobook Award, and has been honored as an AudioFile Golden Voice, Booklist’s inaugural Voice of Choice, and an early inductee into the Audible Narrator Hall of Fame. He began narrating in the early 1980s while working at the BBC and recording for the Royal National Institute of Blind People’s Talking Book Service, laying the foundation for a career defined by literary excellence and versatility. He’s also proud to have served for more than a decade on the Audiobook Steering Committee of SAG-AFTRA, contributing his expertise to advancing the industry. Despite the devastating loss of his home and studio in the Eaton Fire of January 2025, Vance returned to the studio within days, demonstrating his perseverance and dedication to the work.
ABOUT THE AUDIE AWARDS®
The Audie Awards® is the premier awards program in the United States recognizing distinction in audiobooks and spoken-word entertainment. Publishers and rights holders enter titles in various categories for recognition of achievement. Finalists are selected, and from that group of finalists one winner is awarded. The Audie Awards® is a registered trademark of the Audio Publishers Association. To learn more about the 2026 finalists visit www.audiopub.org/2026audies.
ABOUT THE AUDIO PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION
The Audio Publishers Association (APA) is a not-for-profit trade organization whose primary goals are to promote awareness of the audiobook industry, gather and disseminate industry statistics, encourage high production standards and represent the interests of audiobook publishers. Since 1986, the APA has worked to bring audio publishers together to increase interest in audiobooks. For more information about the APA, please visit https://www.audiopub.org/.
ASSETS
Audie Awards logo here
Arrivals: here
Show: here
Hall of Fame/Backstage: here
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MEDIA CONTACT:
The Samonte Group