In a gala event at Chelsea Piers's Pier Sixty, the Audio Publishers Association announced the winners of the 2023 Audie Awards. Audiobook of the Year went to Finding Me by Viola Davis, which also won for Best Narration by the Author. Audible Originals and Studios titles picked up four awards, including Best Original Work for Sarah Page's Mrs. Wickham.
In addition to our own Best of the Year, the Audies are the most eagerly anticipated honors among us audiophiles! If you're searching for your next great listen, look no further than this list. Each winner is a standout listening experience.
Winner: Audiobook of the Year
Winner: Narration by the Author
Written and narrated by Viola Davis
In this book, you will meet a little girl named Viola who ran from her past until she made a life-changing decision to stop running forever. This is her story, from a crumbling apartment in Central Falls, Rhode Island, to the stage in New York City, and beyond.
Winner: Audio Drama
Written by Dominique Morisseau
Narrated by Sophina Brown, Eugene Byrd, Demetrius Grosse, Sharon Lawrence, X Mayo, Uyoata Udi, Karen Malina White
Nya, a dedicated teacher at an inner-city school, is desperate to give her only son opportunities that her own public high school students will never have. When a controversial incident at his private school threatens to get Omari expelled, Nya must confront her own deepest fears to give her son a future.
Winner: Autobiography/Memoir
Written and narrated by Billy Porter
From the incomparable Emmy, Grammy, and Tony award winner, Unprotected is the story of a singular artist in his own words—a powerful and revealing autobiography about race, sexuality, and art.
Winner: Female Narrator
Written by Robert Jordan
Narrated by Rosamund Pike
Moiraine Damodred arrives in Emond’s Field on a quest to find the one prophesized to stand against The Dark One, a malicious entity sowing the seeds of chaos and destruction—marking the start of an epic fantasy series.
Winner: Male Narrator
Written by Stephen King
Narrated by Seth Numrich
Legendary storyteller Stephen King goes into the deepest well of his imagination in this spellbinding novel about a 17-year-old boy who inherits the keys to a parallel world where good and evil are at war, and the stakes could not be higher.
Winner: Business/Personal Development
Written and narrated by Terry Crews
From Brooklyn Nine-Nine star Terry Crews, the deeply personal story of his lifelong obsession with strength—and how, after looking for it in all the wrong places, he finally found it.
Winner: Erotica
Written by Adriana Herrera
Narrated by Lola James, Sean Crisden
Alba Duarte is the queen of the side hustle. As the eldest daughter in her crisis-prone family, she’s always stepped up to help. Her favorite gig is doing Instagram-worthy, bookish-themed bedroom makeovers for friends. Her most hated? Working as the assistant to the most gorgeous—and most infuriating—man on earth.
Winner: Español/Spanish Language
Written by Diego Mejía Eguiluz
Narrated by Noé Velázquez
Desde su debut, el Conde de Terciopelo se ha empeñado en demostrar que no hay luchador más rudo que él. El ring no es un lugar para débiles, el chiste es apabullar a todos para llegar al estrellato.
Winner: Faith-Based Fiction or Nonfiction
Written by Brian Andrews, Jeffrey Wilson
Narrated by MacLeod Andrews
Former Navy SEAL Jedidiah Johnson returns to Nashville to begin his training with the elite warriors known as the Shepherds. Arriving at the state-of-the-art facility, he quickly realizes he’ll have to find his place as the rookie leader of a new team. Then he starts hearing whispers of a threat that raises fear among the Shepherds.
Winner: Fantasy
Written by Leslye Penelope
Narrated by Shayna Small
Weaving together African American folk magic, history, and romance, this dazzling historical fantasy, set in DC during the Jazz Age, centers on Clara, a woman able to communicate with spirits, who must assemble a ragtag crew to pull off a daring heist to save her community.
Winner: Fiction
Written by Jodi Picoult, Jennifer Finney Boylan
Narrated by Carrie Coon, Key Taw, Jodi Picoult, Jennifer Finney Boylan
Olivia McAfee's picture-perfect life—living in Boston, married to a brilliant surgeon, raising their beautiful son—was upended when her husband revealed a darker side. But she never dreamed starting over would mean moving back to her childhood home in New Hampshire and taking over her father's beekeeping business.
Winner: History/Biography
Written by Chris Morrow, Kevin Hart, Charlamagne Tha God, SBH Productions
Narrated by Kevin Hart
Kevin Hart, a Philadelphia native, narrates Summer of '85, the first attempt to connect two historic events and detail the incredible irony (and tragedy) of Philadelphia hosting a benefit for Africa the same summer it bombed a thriving African American neighborhood.
Winner: Humor
Written and narrated by David Sedaris
Back when restaurant menus were still printed on paper, and wearing a mask—or not—was a decision made mostly on Halloween, David Sedaris spent his time doing normal things. As Happy-Go-Lucky opens, he is learning to shoot guns with his sister, visiting muddy flea markets in Serbia, buying gummy worms to feed to ants, and telling his nonagenarian father wheelchair jokes. Then, the world changes, and so does he.
Winner: Literary Fiction and Classics
Written by Leo Tolstoy
Narrated by Thandiwe Newton
Some call it the greatest novel ever written. Whether it’s your first time, or you’re ready to dive back in, what better way to experience this epic novel than in this exquisite unabridged reading by Thandiwe Newton?
Winner: Middle Grade
Written by Jason Reynolds
Narrated by Guy Lockard, Nile Bullock, Angel Pean, James Fouhey, Soneela Nankani, Leon Nixon, Chanté McCormick, Lamarr Gulley, DePre Owens
Portico Reeves’s superpower is making sure all the other superheroes—like his parents and two best friends—stay super. And safe. Super safe. And he does this all in secret. No one in his civilian life knows he’s actually … Stuntboy! But his regular Portico identity is pretty cool too.
Winner: Multi-Voiced Performance
Written by John Grisham
Narrated by Jeff Daniels, Ethan Hawke, January LaVoy, John Grisham
John Grisham is the acknowledged master of the legal thriller. In his first collection of novellas, law is a common thread, but America’s favorite storyteller has several surprises in store—all performed by an all-star cast.
Winner: Mystery
Written by Don Winslow
Narrated by Ed Harris
“The Heron” is the nickname a big-city accountant has attached to himself in his new home near San Diego, where he’s using the alias to avoid a hit man who may be after him. It seems a former client believes that The Heron has skipped town with several million dollars not his own ... Twists, dark and comical, ensue.
Winner: Nonfiction
Written by Renee Dudley, Daniel Golden
Narrated by BD Wong
Scattered across the world, an elite team of code crackers is working tirelessly to thwart the defining cyber scourge of our time. You’ve probably never heard of them. But if you work for a school, a business, a hospital, or a municipal government, or simply cherish your digital data, you may be painfully familiar with the team’s sworn enemy: ransomware.
Winner: Original Work
Written by Sarah Page
Narrated by Jessie Buckley, Johnny Flynn and a full cast
Imagine if you made one little mistake when you were young and were punished for it for the rest of your life. Well, that’s what happened to Lydia (yes, that Lydia, the youngest Bennet sister from Pride and Prejudice), and she’s here to set the record straight.
Winner: Romance
Written by Ashley Herring Blake
Narrated by Kristen DiMercurio
Delilah Green swore she would never go back to Bright Falls—nothing is there for her but memories of a lonely childhood feeling like a burden to her stepfamily. Her life is in New York, with her photography career finally gaining steam and her bed never empty. Sure, it’s a different woman every night, but that’s fine with her—until she goes back to Bright Falls and falls for a local single mom.
Winner: Science Fiction
Written by Ash Bishop
Narrated by Scott Brick, Suzanne Elise Freeman
When Russ Wesley finds an unusual artifact in his grandfather’s collection of rare antiquities, the last thing he expects is for it to draw the attention of a ferocious alien from a distant planet. Equally surprising is the adventurous team of intergalactic exterminators dispatched to deal with the alien threat.
Winner: Short Stories/Collections
Written by Sally Hepworth, Zakiya Dalila Harris, Catherine Steadman, Luanne Rice, Jess Lourey, Rumaan Alam
Narrated by Candice Moll, Shayna Small, Samara Naeymi, Jennifer Jill Araya, Carly Robins, Fajer Al-Kaisi
Perfect vacations or last resorts? In this collection of short psychological thrillers, bestselling authors bring trouble to paradise. Today’s itinerary: surfing, sailing, hiking, and facing your worst fears. Most dream vacations never live up to expectations—but few cause this many nightmares.
Winner: Thriller/Suspense
Written by Katherine Faulkner
Narrated by Laura Kirman
Helen’s idyllic life—handsome architect husband, gorgeous Victorian house, and cherished baby on the way (after years of trying)—begins to change the day she attends her first prenatal class and meets Rachel, an unpredictable single mother-to-be whose behavior becomes more and more unsettling.
Winner: Young Adult
Written by Leigh Bardugo
Narrated by Ben Barnes, Benjamin Valic, Cassandra Morris, Eason Rytter, James Fouhey, Mary McCartney, Matt Leisy, Salli Saffioti, Sean Gormley, Tom Bromhead
Discover the origin story of the Darkling in this first-ever Grishaverse graphic novel for the ears. Before he led Ravka’s Second Army, before he created the Fold, and long before he became the Darkling, he was just a lonely boy burdened by an extraordinary power.
Winner: Young Listeners
Written and narrated by Tyler Merritt
Based on the author's childhood, this emotional and honest book explores a racist encounter from the perspective of a young Black boy, while offering a message of unconditional love and acceptance to soothe the pain of blind prejudice.
