Marie NDiaye shortlisted

Marie NDiaye’s *The Witch*, translated by Jordan Stump, is one of six books on the 2026 International Booker Prize shortlist. (thebookerprizes.com) The shortlist was announced on March 31, 2026, and the winner is due on May 19 at Tate Modern in London. The prize awards £50,000, split equally between the winning author and translator. (thebookerprizes.com) *The Witch* was first published in French in 1996, making it the oldest original publication on this year’s shortlist by a wide margin. The Booker Prize organizers said the gap between first publication and shortlist recognition is 30 years. (thebookerprizes.com) The International Booker Prize is for fiction translated into English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland during the eligibility window, which this year runs from May 1, 2025, to April 30, 2026. Publishers submitted 128 books, and judges cut that list to 13 on February 24 before naming the final six. (thebookerprizes.com) NDiaye is a major French novelist with more than 20 books, but this is her first time on the International Booker shortlist. Stump has reached the prize before with NDiaye’s *Ladivine*, which was longlisted in 2016. (thebookerprizes.com) The novel centers on Lucie, a suburban witch in an unhappy marriage who tries to pass her powers to twin daughters whose abilities exceed her own. The Booker Prize site describes the book as a family story built around inheritance, power, and unease. (thebookerprizes.com) The English edition is being published by MacLehose Press in Britain, and U.S. listings show the paperback edition released in April 2026. Penguin Random House lists the U.S. edition at 144 pages and a price of $18.00. (penguinrandomhouse.com) This year is also the 10th anniversary of the current International Booker Prize format, which honors a single translated book and shares the award between author and translator. On the 2026 shortlist, five of the six authors and four of the six translators are women. (thebookerprizes.com) For NDiaye, the shortlist puts a 1996 novel into a 2026 prize race without changing the book’s original publication date. For the prize, it is another reminder that translated fiction often arrives in English on a different timeline than literary reputation does. (thebookerprizes.com)