Ruth Martin's 'The Nights' shortlisted

Shida Bazyar’s *The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran*, translated by Ruth Martin, is one of six books shortlisted for the 2026 International Booker Prize. (thebookerprizes.com) The shortlist was announced on March 31, 2026, by the Booker Prize Foundation. The winning book will be named on May 19 at Tate Modern in London. (thebookerprizes.com) (scribepublications.co.uk) Bazyar’s novel was originally written in German, and Martin’s English translation was published by Scribe. The International Booker awards £50,000, divided equally between author and translator. (thebookerprizes.com) (publishersweekly.com) The book follows one family across four decades, from the 1979 Iranian Revolution to 2009. The Booker Prize site describes it as a polyphonic novel about flight from and return to Iran. (thebookerprizes.com) The shortlist puts Bazyar and Martin alongside Daniel Kehlmann and Ross Benjamin for *The Director*, Marie NDiaye and Jordan Stump for *The Witch*, and three other author-translator pairs. (thebookerprizes.com) (thebookseller.com) This year’s shortlist includes two debut novels, including *The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran*. Martin was previously longlisted for the International Booker in 2020. (thebookerprizes.com) Natasha Brown chaired the 2026 judging panel, which also included translator Sophie Hughes, writer Troy Onyango, novelist Nilanjana S Roy, and mathematician Marcus du Sautoy. The Booker Foundation said the six shortlisted books “reverberate with history.” (thebookerprizes.com) (thebookseller.com) For Bazyar and Martin, the nomination brings an Iranian family story of revolution, exile and return into one of translated fiction’s biggest English-language prize races. (thebookerprizes.com) (scroll.in)