Events: What’s on and dates for your diary
Events: What’s on and dates for your diary
From intimate gatherings to bustling festivals, we celebrate the best in contemporary fiction at these UK events and pop-ups featuring our prizes’ authors and books
The Booker Prize 2026 shortlist at The Times and Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival
Gaby Wood, Chief Executive of the Booker Prize Foundation will host the Cheltenham Literature Festival’s annual introduction to the six shortlisted books and their authors, who will join the event both in-person and virtually.
Where: Cheltenham Literature Festival
When: 2.30pm BST on Saturday, 10 October 2026
Tickets: On sale via cheltenhamfestivals.org
Iris, the Booker Prize trophy
© David Parry for the Booker Prize Foundation
The Booker Prize 2026 shortlist readings
The prize’s annual shortlist readings, which feature the six authors reading from and discussing their books, are returning for the 2026 prize season and will take place on Sunday, 8 November in the Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, as part of its 75th anniversary programme. Sara Collins, novelist, literary critic, screenwriter, broadcaster and former Booker Prize judge, will chair the event.
Where: Southbank Centre, London
When: 7.30pm GMT on Sunday, 8 November 2026
Tickets: On sale via southbankcentre.co.uk
Booker Prize 2025 Shortlist Readings event at Southbank Centre, London
© Dave Parry for Booker Prize Foundation