Competition
We’re offering you the chance to win one of five bundles made up of all 13 longlisted titles in contention for this year’s International Booker Prize
This competition has now closed.
To celebrate the announcement of the International Booker Prize 2025 longlist, we are giving you the chance to win a set of all 13 titles that are in contention for this year’s prize.
The list celebrates the best works of long-form fiction or collections of short stories translated into English and published in the UK and/or Ireland.
‘As we searched for our longlist amongst the 154 books submitted, we marvelled at what the world was thinking,’ said Chair of judges Max Porter. ‘How are people making sense of these times using the novel as a vehicle for thought and feeling? And how are translators taking these books and – in English – making them sing or scream? The books on our unconventional longlist provide a wildly energising and surprising range of answers. We hope they will exhilarate and engage a worldwide community of readers,’ he added.
To be in with a chance of winning one set of books, simply enter your details below by 12:00 GMT on Friday, March 28, 2025. This competition is open to readers anywhere in the world.
Entrants should note that some of the titles on the longlist have not yet been published in the UK. As a result, prize bundles may include bound proofs, and some books may be dispatched separately.
The International Booker Prize 2025 longlist
© Yuki Sugiura for the Booker Prize FoundationThis competition is a free draw, with only one entry allowed per person, and we reserve the right to disqualify any entries where we suspect one person has used a number of different email addresses. Use or attempted use of any automated or other non-manual entry methods is prohibited.
The draw is governed by our general rules for competitions, available here, but the following specifics also apply (and take precedence should there be any contradiction or ambiguity):
The Book of Disappearance by Ibtisam Azem, translated from Arabic by Sinan Antoon
‘Speculative and haunting, this is an exceptional exercise in memory-making and psycho-geography. The premise – the overnight disappearance of all Palestinians – is audacious and shocking.’
On the Calculation of Volume I by Solvej Balle, translated from Danish by Barbara. J Haveland
‘It takes a familiar narrative trope – a protagonist inexplicably stuck in the same day – and transforms it into a profound meditation on love, connectedness and what it means to exist.’
There’s a Monster Behind the Door by Gaëlle Bélem, translated from French by Karen Fleetwood and Laëtitia Saint-Loubert
‘In prose that throbs with verve, humour and pain, this story set on the island of Réunion brings to life a narrator beset with the history of her family and her people.’
Solenoid by Mircea Cărtărescu, translated from Romanian by Sean Cotter
‘A mind-boggling and ceaselessly entertaining book that seems to be about everything. It transports us from Communist Romania to the far sci-fi reaches of the imagination.’
Reservoir Bitches by Dahlia de la Cerda, translated from Spanish by Heather Cleary and Julia Sanches
‘A blisteringly urgent collection of interconnected stories about contemporary Mexican women. Extremely funny but deadly serious, it absolutely bangs from the first page to the last.’
Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix, translated from French by Helen Stevenson
‘After 27 people die when their dinghy capsizes in the Channel, the book’s French narrator attempts to clear her conscience. A gut-punch of a novel that asks: could we all do better?’
Gaëlle Bélem
© Francesca MantovaniHunchback by Saou Ichikawa, translated from Japanese by Polly Barton
‘Featuring a protagonist who lives in a care home near Tokyo, this unashamed, unflinching and subversive novel defiantly dismantles assumptions about disability and desire.’
Under the Eye of the Big Bird by Hiromi Kawakami, translated from Japanese by Asa Yoneda
‘With crystalline clarity, it tells the story of humanity’s evolution on an epic scale, travelling as far into the future as our imagination could possibly allow.’
Eurotrash by Christian Kracht, translated from German by Daniel Bowles
‘The bitterly funny account of a writer driving his crotchety, senile mother through the landscape outside Zurich. One of the most entertaining and moving stories we read.’
Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico, translated from Italian by Sophie Hughes
‘An astute, cringe-making and often laugh-out-loud funny portrait of everyday privilege and modern aspirations, following an expat couple in Berlin. Startlingly refreshing.’
Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq, translated from Kannada by Deepa Bhasthi
‘Exploring the lives of those often on the periphery of society – girls and women in Muslim communities in southern India – these vivid stories hold immense emotional and moral weight.’
On a Woman’s Madness by Astrid Roemer, translated from Dutch by Lucy Scott
‘A modern classic set in Suriname, and a testament to the resilience of queer lives everywhere. A story of love, survival and freedom, woven with an artistically accomplished touch.’
A Leopard-Skin Hat by Anne Serre, translated from French by Mark Hutchinson
‘A deeply romantic yet platonic love story between the narrator and his complicated childhood friend, a story so beautifully realised that the pair become part of the life of the reader.’
Hiromi Kawakami
© Rinko Kawauchi