The literary landscape for 2026 is set to be dominated by a compelling array of nonfiction, from deeply personal memoirs to incisive cultural investigations. Following a year of high-profile celebrity life stories, the upcoming titles promise a mix of raw testimony, sharp observation, and historical insight.
Personal Stories: From Trauma to Triumph
The year begins with a powerful testimony from Gisèle Pelicot. Her book, A Hymn to Life (Bodley Head, February), emerges from the aftermath of a trial that saw her husband and fifty others convicted of rape or sexual assault. Pelicot, who never sought the spotlight, aims to foster "strength and courage" in other survivors, insisting that "shame has to change sides".
In Ghost Stories (Sceptre, May), novelist Siri Hustvedt pens a memoir of her final years with her late husband, the author Paul Auster, who died in 2024. Meanwhile, Emmanuel Carrère turns his focus inward for Kolkhoze (Fern, September), examining his relationship with his mother to weave a complex history of France, Russia, and Ukraine.
Hollywood tales include Sylvester Stallone's first autobiography, The Steps (Seven Dials, May), tracing his journey from homelessness in 1970s New York to Oscar glory with Rocky. Lena Dunham offers a typically frank account in Famesick (4th Estate, April), exploring how early dramatic success led to debilitating chronic illness.
Sharp Observations and Political Insights
Acutely observed wit will be found in Alan Bennett's diaries, Enough Said (Faber, March), covering 2016 to 2024. The entries span momentous national events from Brexit to the death of Queen Elizabeth II, alongside more domestic issues like a plague of molehills in his garden.
In the political sphere, a major new biography of former Prime Minister Gordon Brown (Bloomsbury, February) by James Macintyre promises unique access to personal archives. Following her cabinet departure, Angela Rayner will release an as-yet untitled memoir (Bodley Head) in the second half of 2026, reflecting on her upbringing and political path.
Essayist David Sedaris returns with The Land and Its People (Abacus, July), featuring dispatches from his life in Sussex, while Gillian Anderson follows her bestselling anthology Want with More (Bloomsbury, September), another collection focused on women's sexual experiences.
Cultural Icons and Big Ideas
Show business legend Liza Minnelli will tell her story in Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!, authored with friend Michael Feinstein. The memoir promises to dispel tabloid myths and set the record straight on a life filled with both spotlights and heartache.
A decade after his death, the enigmatic genius of George Michael is explored by journalist Sathnam Sanghera in Tonight the Music Seems So Loud (Picador, June). The book investigates the singer's enduring cultural influence.
Major thinkers will tackle significant themes. Michael Pollan (A World Appears, Allen Lane, February) grapples with the nature of consciousness, while Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor examine the threat of End Times Fascism (Allen Lane, September). Patrick Radden Keefe turns his investigative skills to a mysterious London death in London Falling (Picador, April).
Finally, actor Stephen Graham and psychologist Orly Klein compile Letters to Our Sons (Bloomsbury, October), a collection of fathers' reflections on masculinity, featuring a contribution from Graham himself.
