The Bukhman International Booker Prize and its history

The Booker Prizes exist to reward the finest in fiction. The symmetrical relationship between the Booker Prize and the Bukhman International Booker Prize ensures that the Booker honours fiction on a global basis: world-class fiction is highlighted by the prizes for English-speaking readers, whether that work was originally written in English (the Booker Prize) or translated into English (the Bukhman International Booker Prize). 

The International Booker Prize began life in 2005 as the Man Booker International Prize. It was initially a biennial prize 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 Man Booker 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. 

The Man Group continued to sponsor both prizes until 2019, when Crankstart became the funder, and the prize names reverted to the ‘Booker’ name alone. 

As of 2026, the International Booker Prize has been supported by Bukhman Philanthropies, and in recognition of their decade-long commitment to funding the prize, the 2027 award will be the first to be named the Bukhman 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, with sales of translated fiction up 31 per cent over the last decade. The vital work of translators is celebrated each year, with the prize money – which increased from £50,000 to £100,000 for the 2027 prize thanks to the support of Bukhman Philanthropies – divided equally between the author and translator. Each shortlisted author and translator also receives £2,500. 

Novels and collections of short stories are both eligible.