International Booker Prize Longlist Announced
The International Booker Prize released its 2026 longlist featuring 13 acclaimed works in translation. The longlist honors literary excellence from around the globe and provides a diverse cross-section of voices and styles for spring reading.
- The winning author and translator will share a £50,000 prize, while each of the six shortlisted authors and translators will receive £2,500. - This year's longlist was selected by a judging panel chaired by author Natasha Brown, which also includes mathematician Marcus du Sautoy, translator Sophie Hughes, writer Troy Onyango, and novelist Nilanjana S. Roy. - The 13 longlisted books were chosen from 128 submissions and feature works translated from 11 languages, including Bulgarian, Danish, and Mandarin Chinese. - This marks the 10th anniversary of the prize being awarded to a single translated work; submissions for this year's prize were originally written in a record 34 languages. - The shortlist of six books is scheduled to be announced on March 31, 2026, with the winner revealed at a ceremony on May 19, 2026. - Among the nominated authors are several who have been previously shortlisted, including Olga Ravn, Daniel Kehlmann, Ia Genberg, Mathias Énard, and Gabriela Cabezón Cámara. - The longlist includes Shahrnush Parsipur's "Women Without Men," a book that is currently banned in Iran and whose author was previously imprisoned for her writing. - With the nomination of "The Deserters" by Mathias Énard, Fitzcarraldo Editions becomes the most-nominated publisher in the prize's history with 17 nods.
