Translator lands Booker nod

Jordan Stump’s English translation of Marie NDiaye’s *The Witch* is one of six books on the 2026 International Booker Prize shortlist. (thebookerprizes.com) The shortlist was announced on March 31, 2026, by the Booker Prize Foundation, which gives the award each year to a work of fiction translated into English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. (thebookerprizes.com) Stump is a professor of French at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, and the university said this is his latest major translation credit. (news.unl.edu) NDiaye’s novel follows Lucie, a witch in a small French town, as she passes family powers to her twin daughters and collides with a controlling husband. (thebookerprizes.com) The International Booker Prize splits its £50,000 award equally between author and translator, putting the translator’s name on the same shortlist line as the novelist’s. (thebookerprizes.com) That structure has helped turn translators into prize-season figures in their own right since the award adopted its current format in 2016. The Booker Prize Foundation said 2026 marks 10 years of the prize in that form. (thebookerprizes.com) This year’s shortlist includes books translated from five original languages and authors and translators representing eight nationalities across four continents, according to the foundation. (thebookerprizes.com) For *The Witch*, the judges pointed to Stump’s role directly, saying the novel’s language “twist[s] and transform[s] in unexpected ways” in his translation. (thebookerprizes.com) The United States edition of *The Witch* was published on April 7, 2026, by Vintage, while the Booker listing names Charco Press as the United Kingdom publisher eligible for the prize. (penguinrandomhouse.com, thebookerprizes.com) The 2026 winner is scheduled to be announced on May 19 at Tate Modern in London, leaving Stump and NDiaye in the final month of this year’s translated-fiction race. (publishersweekly.com)