Shortlist announced for the International Booker Prize 2026 supported by Bukhman Philanthropies

The shortlist of six books has been chosen by the 2026 judging panel, chaired by award-winning author Natasha Brown. Brown is joined by writer, broadcaster and Oxford University Professor of Mathematics and for the Public Understanding of Science Marcus du Sautoy; International Booker Prize-shortlisted translator Sophie Hughes; writer, Lolwe editor and bookseller Troy Onyango; and award-winning novelist and columnist Nilanjana S. Roy. 

The selection celebrates the best works of long-form fiction or collections of short stories translated into English and published in the UK and/or Ireland between 1 May 2025 and 30 April 2026. The longlist of 13 books was announced on Tuesday, 24 February 2026 and was selected by the panel from 128 books submitted by publishers. 

The International Booker Prize recognises the vital work of translation, with the £50,000 prize money divided equally between the winning author and translator/s. Each shortlisted title will be awarded a prize of £5,000: £2,500 for the author and £2,500 for the translator. In championing works from around the world that have originated in a wide range of languages, the prize fosters an engaged global community of writers and readers whose experiences and interests transcend national borders.   

The announcement of the winning book will take place on Tuesday, 19 May 2026 at a ceremony at Tate Modern in London. The announcement will be livestreamed on the Booker Prizes social media channels. 

Encapsulating a range of international experiences, with many drawing on real moments from history as inspiration, the six books transport readers from Japan-ruled Taiwan in the 1930s to Nazi-controlled Europe during the Second World War, from magic and domesticity in France in the 1990s to the turmoil and after-effects of the Iranian Revolution in 1979, from a brutal prison colony in a remote corner of Brazil to a strict patriarchal community in the Albanian Alps.  

A diverse cast of richly realised characters is captured in the shortlist, including a suburban witch, a morally compromised filmmaker, a bloodthirsty prison warden, a sworn virgin with a new identity, a young novelist and her interpreter who share a passion for food, and a multigenerational family of Iranian emigrants.  

These expansive narratives have been rendered in compact form, with only one title on the list over 300 pages long, and three under 150. The shortest, On Earth As It Is Beneath, is just 101 pages, whilst the longest, The Director, is 328. 

‘Our shortlist offers readers a six-stop tour of highlights from the world of translated fiction.  

‘With narratives that capture moments from across the past century, these books reverberate with history. While there’s heartbreak, brutality, and isolation among these stories, their lasting effect is energising. Rereading each book, we judges found hope, insight and burning humanity – along with unforgettable characters to whom I’m sure readers will return again and again. 

‘Make space on your TBRs; this is an unmissable reading list.’ 

This year’s International Booker Prize campaign is called ‘Fiction beyond borders’. It is a celebration of the way translated fiction opens us up to different experiences and perspectives, creating connections across continents. The campaign, which also celebrates the 10th anniversary of the prize, invites readers around the world to come together and explore this year’s nominated books – and the previous 10 winners – united by a shared love of great fiction. Watch campaign films here. 

Thanks to Bukhman Philanthropies’ generous support for the 2026 prize, the Booker Prize Foundation will be donating 500 sets of the International Booker Prize shortlist to libraries across the UK, in partnership with The Reading Agency. By gifting these six titles and accompanying promotional materials to local communities through library authorities, the aim is to engage more readers with the world’s best translated fiction. Bukhman Philanthropies is a grant-giving organisation that, in addition to supporting literature, focuses on charities working in neonatal and maternal health and mental health and wellbeing.  

As well as two debut novels (The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran by Shida Bazyar and She Who Remains by Rene Karabash), the list features returning International Booker Prize shortlisted author Daniel Kehlmann (for Tyll in 2020) and returning nominated author Marie NDiaye (longlisted in 2016 for Ladivine). Marie NDiaye makes the shortlist for the first time with a book written decades ago – The Witch was originally published in French in 1996, a gap of 30 years between first publication and International Booker Prize recognition.  

This year also sees the first shortlisting for a Taiwanese writer (Yáng Shuāng-zǐ). If Taiwan Travelogue or On Earth As It Is Beneath go on to win they would be the first books from a Taiwanese or Brazilian writer to take the prize. If The Director, The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran or She Who Remains triumph it would be the second time a German or Bulgarian author has won in the last three years.  

The shortlist also features authors who have won and been recognised by the biggest literary prizes in their own countries and beyond. They include:  

• Rene Karabash, who was awarded the 2019 Elias Canetti Prize, Bulgaria’s most prestigious literary award, for her debut novel, She Who Remains, which she wrote in just two months. It has been translated into over a dozen languages, and a film adaptation is set to be released in 2026.
• Daniel Kehlmann, who is the author of 14 novels and has won numerous prizes, including The Kleist Prize and the Thomas Mann Prize. His sixth novel – his second translated into English – Measuring the World was translated into more than 40 languages and is one of the biggest successes in post-war German literature. The Director was featured as a pick for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert Book Club in 2025 and described by the Guardian as ‘Kehlmann’s best work yet’.
• Brazilian writer and scriptwriter Ana Paula Maia, who is the author of seven novels and has won the Prêmio São Paulo de Literatura: Melhor Romance do Ano prize two years in a row; in 2018 for her novel Assim na Terra como embaixo da Terra and in 2019 for Enterre Seus Mortos.
• Playwright and novelist Marie NDiaye who published her first novel at 17 and went on to win the Prix Femina in 2001 (for Rosie Carpe) and the Prix Goncourt in 2009 (for Three Strong Women). She is the author of over 20 works, including short stories and children’s books, and has been recognised for her entire body of work – she was shortlisted for the previous incarnation of the International Booker Prize in 2013 and was awarded the Prix Marguerite Yourcenar in 2020. Vulture described The Witch as ‘NDiaye at her disquieting best’.
• Yáng Shuāng-zǐ, whose shortlisted novel Taiwan Travelogue was a sensation on its first publication in Mandarin Chinese in 2020 and won Taiwan’s highest literary honour, the Golden Tripod Award. The English language translation is already a prize winner, having won the National Book Award for Translated Literature in 2024. 

The authors’ achievements and legacy extend beyond the world of books: German author Shida Bazyar worked in youth education for many years; Bulgaria’s Rene Karabash is the winner of several international acting awards and is also a poet and playwright; and Taiwan’s Yáng Shuāng-zǐ is a writer of manga and video game scripts.  

Two thirds of the titles on the shortlist are from independent publishers from around the UK. Edinburgh-based Charco Press appears on the shortlist for the fourth time with On Earth As It Is Beneath, while Peirene Press, based in Bath, makes its first appearance on the shortlist with She Who Remains. London’s Scribe UK makes its third shortlist appearance with The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran, while Sheffield’s And Other Stories – publishers of last year’s winning book Heart Lamp – is in contention to repeat its 2025 success with Taiwan Travelogue.   

MacLehose Press and riverrun – two imprints of Quercus Books, part of the Hachette group – make up the remainder of the shortlist, with The Witch and The Director respectively. MacLehose Press is shortlisted for the fourth time; riverrun for the first time.  

This year marks 10 years since the announcement of the first winner of the International Booker Prize in its current form; The Vegetarian by Han Kang, translated from Korean by Deborah Smith was awarded the inaugural prize in 2016. 

Since its launch, the prize has promoted 10 winners in 10 languages from Arabic to Polish, Bulgarian to Kannada. Four authors recognised by the International Booker Prize in that time have gone on to win the Nobel Prize in Literature: Han Kang, Jon Fosse, Annie Ernaux and Olga Tokarczuk. Find out more about the winners here. 

The International Booker Prize 10th anniversary celebrations include a one-off public event at London’s Southbank Centre on Friday, 8 May and a readers’ poll to find a favourite winner from the last decade. Readers can vote in the poll until midday on Tuesday, 21 April 2026 here. The winner will be revealed in early May.  

The Booker Prize Foundation is a charity partner of ethical online bookshop BookKind. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the International Booker Prize, readers can enjoy a range of discounts on prize-winning titles at BookKind, including an exclusive International Booker Prize 2026 shortlist bundle offering over 20% off the RRP, which can be purchased here. 10% of every purchase is donated to the Booker Prize Foundation, supporting our work to help readers and writers of the future. 

The International Booker Prize continues to build in global importance each year. The 2026 winners can expect a worldwide readership and a significant increase in profile and sales, including in the author’s home country.   

The announcement of the 2025 winner, Heart Lamp, written by Banu Mushtaq and translated by Deepa Bhasthi – the first collection of short stories to win the prize and the first translated from Kannada – was reported in over 1,826 pieces of media coverage across 60 countries around the world in the week after its win. The winners’ speech had over 30 million views on the Booker Prizes’ social channels. The book rapidly sold out in the UK in the subsequent days, with the UK publisher And Other Stories immediately reprinting 40,000 copies. In December 2025 it was a BBC Radio 4 Book at Bedtime pick.  

According to And Other Stories, sales of the paperback have increased by 527% since it won the International Booker Prize 2025. Prior to the winner announcement in May 2025, it had sold 5,100 copies in the UK; it has now sold over 32,000 copies. Prior to its longlisting, translation rights to Heart Lamp had been sold in eight languages, seven of which were Indian subcontinent languages. It has now sold in a total of 30 languages, 13 of which are Indian subcontinent languages.