To celebrate the announcement of the International Booker Prize 2025 shortlist, we are giving you the chance to win a set of all six titles that are in contention for this year’s prize.

• The shortlisted books are:
  On the Calculation of Volume I by Solvej Balle, translated from Danish by Barbara J. Haveland 
• Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix, translated from French by Helen Stevenson
• Under the Eye of the Big Bird by Hiromi Kawakami, translated from Japanese by Asa Yoneda 
• Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico, translated from Italian by Sophie Hughes 
• Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq, translated from Kannada by Deepa Bhasthi 
• A Leopard-Skin Hat by Anne Serre, translated from French by Mark Hutchinson 

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. 

‘This shortlist is the result of a life-enhancing conversation between myself and my fellow judges,’ Chair of judges Max Porter said. ‘Reading 154 books in six months made us feel like high-speed Question Machines hurtling through space. Our selected six awakened an appetite in us to question the world around us: How am I seeing or being seen? How are we translating each other, all the time? How are we trapped in our bodies, in our circumstances, in time, and what are our options for freedom? Who has a voice? In discussing these books we have been considering again and again what it means to be a human being now.’     

To be in with a chance of winning one set of books, simply enter your details below by 12:00 BST on Monday, May 5, 2025. This competition is open to readers anywhere in the world.

Entrants should note that some of the titles on the shortlist have not yet been published in the UK. As a result, prize bundles may include bound proofs, and some books may be dispatched separately. 

Read more about the International Booker Prize 2025. 

This 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):

• There will be five winners, selected at random from entries received before 12:00 BST on Monday, May 5, 2025. Entries received after this time will not be eligible.  
• Each winner will receive the six titles (as current UK editions or bound proofs) on the International Booker Prize 2025 shortlist.
• Entrants must be 18 or over, and we reserve the right to ask for proof of age at any point in the competition; prize-winners should be aware of adult themes within the shortlisted titles, particularly if sharing it with other readers. 
• The competition is open to those resident in or outside the UK subject to the proviso that an entry is not eligible if it is from a resident in a country or jurisdiction where this free draw may breach any local law or regulation.    
• Winners will be notified by email no later than 12:00 BST (UK time) on Monday, May 12, 2025, and must promptly provide a fully operative postal address for delivery of their prize. If we have not received this within 7 days of us notifying a winner, we will have no obligation to deliver the prize and at our sole discretion, we may select a further winner to receive the prize concerned or simply decide not to give it.  
• We can only undertake to do what is reasonable in all the circumstances to deliver the prize to a location outside the UK.
• We cannot ship to PO Box addresses; winners are required to provide a bricks-and-mortar/physical address for prize(s) to be dispatched to. 
• Bearing in mind, among other things, the value of the prize itself in relation to cost of delivery, we reserve the right (and this is determined at our sole discretion) to ask a winner to provide an alternative address for delivery to a person/location where the cost is proportionate.  
• Winners are responsible for any taxes or duties they may have to pay in order to take receipt of their prize.  
• While we will use our best endeavours to despatch prizes as soon as possible once all titles have been received from the publishers. No responsibility can be accepted for entries delayed or lost.
• We are not responsible for any damage to the prize in the course of delivery; while we will consider a request for a replacement (if available) if the prize arrives in a seriously damaged state, this is solely in our discretion depending on the particular circumstances.
• These terms and conditions are governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of England & Wales, and the courts of England & Wales shall have exclusive jurisdiction in relation determining any question or issue in relation to them.
• We may in due course and at our sole discretion publicise the names of the winners and their location (in general terms, not specific addresses) on our website and/or social media channels and by entering the competition an entrant agrees to this publicity should they be a prize-winner.

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.’

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?’ 

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.’ 

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.’ 

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.’