Barbra Streisand’s My Name Is Barbra won audiobook of the year at the 2025 Audie Awards, which were presented on Tuesday (March 4) at Pier Sixty in New York.
Streisand’s audiobook won a second award, autobiography/memoir. Karen Dziekonskiof Penguin Random House Audio accepted on Streisand’s behalf. “Every recording session with Barbra was an absolute open door into her process,” Dziekonski said. “It showed what a steadfast and committed artist that she is. And a remarkable human being.”
These wins help make up for Streisand’s recent Grammy loss for best audio book, narration and storytelling recording. The award went (inevitably) to Jimmy Carter’s Last Sundays in Plains: A Centennial Celebration. The former president died at age 100 on Dec. 29, near the end of the Grammy voting period.
Streisand’s audiobook competed in the autobiography/memoir category with a work by another certified music legend, Elton John. Unlike Streisand, John didn’t narrate his own memoir (Farewell Yellow Brick Road).
Whoopi Goldberg won the award for narration by the author. Goldberg, who was present to accept, expressed her gratitude to all the narrators in the room. She then jokingly said, “You all should know that I probably have each and every one of you in my phone because I have 10,000 audiobooks.” She added, “I grew up dyslexic so hearing things read to me is heaven.”
Kate McKinnon won in the humor category for The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science. She narrated the audiobook with Emily Lynne.
Stephen King won the award for short stories/collections for You Like It Darker: Stories. King narrated the audiobook with Will Patton.
Here are the nominees in selected categories for the 2025 Audie Awards, with winners marked.
The awards are voted on by members of the Audio Publishers Association (APA), which bills itself as the premier awards program recognizing distinction in audiobooks and spoken-word entertainment.
Audiobook of the Year
George Orwell’s 1984; By George Orwell, adapted by Joe White; Performed by Andrew Garfield, Cynthia Erivo, Andrew Scott, Tom Hardy, Chukwudi Iwuji, Romesh Ranganathan, Natasia Demetriou, Francesca Mills, Alex Lawther, and Katie Leung; Published by Audible Originals
WINNER: My Name Is Barbra; Written and narrated by Barbra Streisand; Published by Penguin Random House Audio
Playground: A Novel; By Richard Powers; Narrated by Edoardo Ballerini, Robin Siegerman, Eunice Wong, Pun Bandhu, Krys Janae, and Kevin R Free; Published by Spotify Audiobooks
Poor Deer; By Claire Oshetsky; Narrated by Sophie Amoss; Published by HarperAudio
The Sing Sing Files; Written and narrated by Dan Slepian; Published by Macmillan Audio
Autobiography/Memoir
Farewell Yellow Brick Road; By Elton John, foreword by David Furnish; Narrated by Richard Armitage, Vikas Adam, Daniel Henning, Ray Porter, Jesse Einstein, Fred Berman, Edoardo Ballerini, Mark Boyett, Kevin T. Collins, Peter Ganim, Mike Cooper, John Lee, and Oliver Wyman; Published by Audible Studios
In My Time of Dying: How I Came Face to Face with the Idea of an Afterlife; Written and narrated by Sebastian Junger; Published by Simon & Schuster Audio
Knife; Written and narrated by Salman Rushdie; Published by Penguin Random House Audio
WINNER: My Name Is Barbra; Written and narrated by Barbra Streisand; Published by Penguin Random House Audio
The Third Gilmore Girl: A Memoir; Written and narrated by Kelly Bishop; Published by Simon & Schuster Audio
Audio Drama
Brokedown Prophets; By S.A. Cosby, Kevin Hart, Charlamagne Tha God, and SBH Productions;
Performed by Jonathan Majors, Brian Tyree Henry, Dasha Polanco, Jeremy Jordan and a full cast
Published by Audible Originals and SBH Productions
The Coldest Case: The Past Has a Long Memory; By James Patterson, Aaron Tracy, and Ryan Silbert; Performed by Aaron Paul, Krysten Ritter, Beau Bridges, Greta Lee, Kevin Pollak, Jordan Bridges, Terrence Terrell, Patton Oswalt, and a full cast; Published by Audible Originals
WINNER: George Orwell’s 1984; By George Orwell, adapted by Joe White; Performed by Andrew Garfield, Cynthia Erivo, Andrew Scott, Tom Hardy, Chukwudi Iwuji, Romesh Ranganathan, Natasia Demetriou, Francesca Mills, Alex Lawther, and Katie Leung; Published by Audible Originals
Journey’s End; By R.C. Sherriff; Performed by James Callis, Josh Cole, Jack Cutmore-Scott, Tobias Echeverria, Adam Godley, Ian Ogilvy, Darren Richardson, Simon Templeman, and Matthew Wolf; Published by L.A. Theatre Works
Wild with Happy; By Colman Domingo; Performed by Colman Domingo, Alex Newell, Sharon Washington, Tyler James Williams, and Oprah Winfrey; Published by Audible Originals
Business/Personal Development
And Then We Rise; Written and narrated by Common; Published by HarperAudio
WINNER: Come Together; Written and narrated by Emily Nagoski, PhD; Published by Penguin Random House Audio
Fluke: Chance, Chaos, and Why Everything We Do Matters; Written and narrated by Brian Klaas; Published by Simon & Schuster Audio
Humans Who Teach: A Guide for Centering Love, Justice, and Liberation in Schools; Written and narrated by Shamari Reid; Published by Heinemann
Women Money Power: The Rise and Fall of Economic Equality; Written and narrated by Josie Cox; Published by Recorded Books, Inc., a division of RBmedia
Fantasy
Black Shield Maiden; By Willow Smith and Jess Hendel; Narrated by Willow Smith; Published by Penguin Random House Audio
WINNER: Bookshops & Bonedust; Written and narrated by Travis Baldree; Published by Macmillan Audio
The Bright Sword; By Lev Grossman; Narrated by Nicholas Guy Smith and Lev Grossman; Published by Penguin Random House Audio
Goddess of the River; By Vaishnavi Patel; Narrated by Sneha Mathan; Published by Hachette Audio
Someone You Can Build a Nest In; By John Wiswell; Narrated by Carmen Rose; Published by Tantor Audio, a division of RBMedia
Humor
Erasure: A Novel; By Percival Everett; Narrated by Sean Crisden; Published by Tantor Audio, a division of RBMedia
Glory Days; By Simon Rich; Narrated by John Mulaney; Published by Hachette Audio
Joyful Recollections of Trauma; Written and narrated by Paul Scheer; Published by HarperAudio
WINNER: The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science; By Kate McKinnon; Narrated by Kate McKinnon and Emily Lynne; Published by Hachette Audio
Wilder Widows Walk on the Wilder Side; By Katherine Hastings; Narrated Pamela Dillman; Published by Flyte Publishing
Multi-Voiced Performance
Anita de Monte Laughs Last; By Xochitl Gonzalez; Narrated by Stacy Gonzalez, Jonathan Gregg, and Jessica Pimentel; Published by Macmillan Audio
Butcher; By Joyce Carol Oates; Narrated by Amy Shiels, Edoardo Ballerini, Cassandra Campbell, Robert Fass, Tavia Gilbert, Jeremy Carlisle Parker, Danny Campbell, and Max Meyers; Published by Penguin Random House Audio
Five Broken Blades; By Mai Corland; Narrated by Greg Chun, Zion Jang, Roger Yeh, Donald Chang, Jaine Ye, and Sophie Oda; Published by Recorded Books, Inc., a division of RBmedia
From Here to the Great Unknown; By Lisa Marie Presley and Riley Keough; Narrated by Julia Roberts and Riley Keough; Published by Penguin Random House Audio
Snake Oil; By Kelsey Rae Dimberg; Narrated by Kristen Sieh, Andi Arndt, and Renata Friedman; Published by HarperAudio
WINNER: When the Sea Came Alive: An Oral History of D-Day; By Garrett M. Graff; Narrated by Edoardo Ballerini and Garrett M. Graff, with a full cast; Published by Simon & Schuster Audio
Narration by the Author(s)
The 23rd Hero; Written and narrated by Rebecca Anne Nguyen; Published by Castle Bridge Media
WINNER: Bits and Pieces; Written and narrated by Whoopi Goldberg; Published by Blackstone Publishing
Bookshops & Bonedust; Written and narrated by Travis Baldree; Published by Macmillan Audio
Knife; Written and narrated by Salman Rushdie; Published by Penguin Random House Audio
Sorry for the Inconvenience; Written and narrated by Farah Naz Rishi; Published by Brilliance Publishing
Original Work
The Boar’s Nest; By Rachel Bonds, Holly Gleason and Dub Cornett; Narrated by Mandy Moore, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, W. Earl Brown, Stephen Louis Grush, John Hoogenakker, TJ Osborne, and a full cast; Published by Audible Originals
Casanova LLC; By Julia Whelan; Performed by Sebastian York, Julia Whelan, Edoardo Ballerini, and Johnathan McClain; Published by Audiobrary
Earthlight; By J. Michael Straczynski; Narrated by Erik Braa, Pete Bradbury, Jonathan Davis, William DeMeritt, Robert Fass, Jeff Gurner, Ryan Haugen, David Lee Huynh, Mars Lipowski, Saskia Maarleveld, Kathleen McInerney, Brandon McInnis, Sean Kenin Elias Reyes, Stefan Rudnicki, Salli Saffioti, Kristen Sieh, Christopher Smith, Marc Thompson, and Will Watt; Published by Penguin Random House Audio
WINNER: Hellboy and the BPRD: The Goddess of Manhattan [Dramatized Adaptation]; By Christopher Golden and Thomas E. Sniegoski; Performed by Tim Carlin, Rob McFadyen, Nora Achrati, Scott McCormick, Eric Messner, Lydia Kraniotis, Ken Yatta Rogers, Michael John Casey, Amanda Forstrom, Marni Penning, Steven Carpenter, and a full cast; Published by GraphicAudio, a division of RBmedia
Two Can Play; By Ali Hazelwood; Narrated by Kelsey Navarro Foster; Published by Spotify Audiobooks
Short Stories/Collections
Glory Days; By Simon Rich; Narrated by John Mulaney; Published by Hachette Audio
The History of Sound; By Ben Shattuck; Narrated by Ben Shattuck, Zachary Chastain, Paul Mescal, Dion Graham, Ellen Adair, Steven Jay Cohen, Jim Seybert, Dawn Harvey, Chris Cooper, Rebecca Lowman, Jenny Slate, Ed Helms, and Nick Offerman; Published by Penguin Random House Audio
Letters from Klara; By Tove Jansson and Thomas Teal – Übersetzer; Narrated by Indira Varma; Published by Saga Egmont
What If We Get It Right?; Written and narrated by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson; Published by Penguin Random House Audio
WINNER: You Like It Darker: Stories; By Stephen King; Narrated by Will Patton with Stephen King; Published by Simon & Schuster Audio
