Author Judith Fanto won the NS Publication Prize 2026 for her novel Narcissus, capturing roughly a third of all votes cast by readers nationwide.
The victory for her second historical novel was announced on the television program EenVandaag, besting five other nominated bestsellers selected by the book marketing bureau CPNB. Fanto received 34 percent of the more than 131,000 votes cast during the 25th edition of the annual public prize.
Saskia Noort was nominated for her thriller Adam, while Adriaan van Dis competed with his memoir-novel Everything for the trip. Herman Koch entered with the crime comedy The superfluous ones, Francine Oomen with How do I survive everything that goes differently than expected?, and Simone van der Vlugt with the historical novel A Queen’s Crusade, according to NRC – News, backgrounds and investigative journalism.
Organized collaboratively by the Stichting Collectieve Propaganda van het Nederlandse Boek (CPNB) and Nederlandse Spoorwegen, the popularity contest tracks the biggest bestsellers from July 1 of the previous year to July 1 of the award year. Narcissus sold more than 70,000 copies since its publication early last year, staying near the top of the bestseller lists.
Narcissus traces a group of friends in Vienna from the First World War up to the Second World War. The protagonist, Manno, is a Dutch boy from Haarlem who spends his youth in Vienna and befriends five peers at a summer camp.
The rise of the Nazis and the German annexation of Austria fracture the group, leading one friend to join the regime, another to die in Dachau, and a surviving Jewish friend to seek post-war vengeance. CPNB director Janneke Staarink highlighted reader feedback from the community platform Hebban regarding the book’s exploration of friendship and its limits.
The writer from Oeken heard that her book Narcis has won the NS Public Prize. Bookshop Bosman and Jan Nathan Rozendaal had actively campaigned to encourage local and national voting for the novel, according to Brummens Nieuws.
“This appreciation from the readers is the exuberant culmination of years of work in silence. Wonderful!” said Judith Fanto, author, to NOS News. Fanto receives a cash prize of 7,500 euros, a sculpture created by artist Jeroen Henneman, and promotional displays across NS trains in the week following the ceremony, according to Tzum | literair weblog.
The novel Narcissus was published in early 2025 by Judith Fanto as her second historical novel following her 2020 debut Viktor, according to NRC – News, background and investigative journalism.
Last year’s award went to Paulien Cornelisse for her book The confused guinea pig: Back at the office, while other recent winners include Adriaan van Dis and Anya Niewierra, as reported by NRC – Nieuws,achtergronden en onderzoekjournalistiek.
Judith Fanto’s legal name is Geertje Judith Wermenbol, and she works as a medical jurist and a manager in the healthcare sector, according to NRC – Nieuws,achtergronden en onderzoekjournalistiek.