Beginning life in 2005, The International Booker Prize is awarded annually for a single book, translated into English and published in the UK or Ireland.
The prize was initially a biennial award for a body of work, and there was no stipulation that the work should be written in a language other than English. Early winners of the International Prize therefore include Alice Munro, Lydia Davis and Philip Roth, as well as Ismail Kadare and Laszlo Krasznahorkai.
In 2015, after the rules of the original Booker Prize expanded to allow writers of any nationality to enter - as long as their books were written in English and published in the UK - the International Prize evolved to become the mirror image of the English-language prize. Since then it has been awarded annually for a single book, written in another language and translated into English. Unlike the original Booker Prize, short stories are eligible for the International Booker Prize.
This prize aims to encourage more reading of quality fiction from all over the world, and has already had an impact on those statistics in the UK. The vital work of translators is celebrated, with the £50,000 prize money divided equally between the author and translator. Each shortlisted author and translator also receives £2,500.
Most recently, Geetanjali Shree and Daisy Rockwell won the International Booker Prize 2022 for Tomb of Sand.
In March 2023, the next longlist of 12 or 13 books will be announced and the shortlist of six books will follow in April 2023. The winning title of the International Booker Prize 2023 will be announced in May 2023.