Booker Prize longlist names 13 nominees

The Booker Prize Foundation published its 2026 longlist on July 28, naming 13 novels for this year’s prize. The field was selected from 163 submissions, according to the official Booker Prize announcement, and includes past winners Marlon James and Douglas Stuart as well as previous shortlistee Elizabeth Strout. Mary Beard, who chairs this year’s judging panel, said the list features writers who “brilliantly muster the power of words” and rewards books that take readers to “new places” and “old places from new angles.” ### Which writers are on the list readers are likely to recognize? Marlon James, Douglas Stuart and Elizabeth Strout are among the best-known names on the longlist. The Booker Prize site said James and Stuart are both previous winners, while Strout was previously shortlisted. The official prize page also says 10 of the 13 authors are appearing on the Booker longlist for the first time, including three debut novelists. (thebookerprizes.com) That mix of established names and newer writers is part of how the Booker organization framed the list in its own announcement. ### How large was the field, and what makes this year’s lineup distinctive? (thebookerprizes.com) The 2026 longlist was chosen from 163 submissions, all written in English and published in the UK and/or Ireland between Oct. 1, 2025, and Sept. 30, 2026, the Booker Prize Foundation said. The longlist is often called the “Booker Dozen,” even though it contains 13 books. (thebookerprizes.com) The Booker organization said the longlisted authors represent seven nationalities and three continents, with a majority from the UK. It also described the books as spanning humour, heartbreak, satire and surreality, with stories that revisit genres including dystopian science fiction, the campus novel and the crime thriller. (thebookerprizes.com) ### What did the judges say about the books themselves? Mary Beard said the selected novelists “brilliantly muster the power of words to take the reader to new places, to see old places from new angles, to change minds,” according to the Booker Prize press release. The same release described the longlist as one that “rewards risk.” (thebookerprizes.com) The Booker Prize page says the books move across a wide range of settings, including Mexico City, post-apocalyptic Kent, Zurich, the Outer Hebrides, West Dublin, Kingston in the late 1980s and coastal Massachusetts before the 2024 U.S. election. The judges also highlighted themes including memory, mortality, metamorphosis, murder, reconciliation and retribution. (thebookerprizes.com) ### Who are the judges making the decisions this year? Mary Beard is chairing the 2026 panel. The Booker Prize Foundation said she is joined by poet and educator Raymond Antrobus, musician and broadcaster Jarvis Cocker, journalist and critic Rebecca Liu, and novelist, poet and essayist Patricia Lockwood. The judges read and debated the 163 submitted books before narrowing the field to 13, according to the Booker materials. (thebookerprizes.com) That panel will also appear together when the shortlist is announced in London. ### When are the next dates in the prize calendar? The Booker Prize Foundation said the shortlist will be announced on Sept. 22, 2026, at a public event at the Southbank Centre in London. (thebookerprizes.com) The winning book is scheduled to be announced on Nov. 9, 2026, at a ceremony at Old Billingsgate in London. The winner will receive £50,000, while each shortlisted author will receive £2,500, according to the official prize page. (thebookerprizes.com)