Nights are Quiet in Tehran shortlisted

Shida Bazyar’s *The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran*, translated from German 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 winner is scheduled to be named on May 19 at Tate Modern in London. (thebookerprizes.com) (scroll.in) The novel follows four members of an Iranian family across four years: 1979, 1988, 1999 and 2009. The Booker Prize site says the book centers revolution, repression, resistance and freedom. (thebookerprizes.com) Those dates map onto major political ruptures in modern Iran, from the 1979 revolution to the 2009 Green Movement. Scroll described the book as a story about “life after the revolution” as it moves across generations and exile. (thebookerprizes.com) (scroll.in) Bazyar is a German writer of Iranian descent, and Martin had previously been longlisted for the International Booker Prize in 2020. The 2026 shortlist includes two debut novels, and *The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran* is one of them. (thebookerprizes.com) Each shortlisted title receives £5,000, split equally between author and translator. The overall prize awards £50,000, also divided equally between the winning author and translator. (scroll.in) (thebookerprizes.com) The 2026 judging panel is chaired by novelist Natasha Brown. The Booker Prize Foundation said this year marks 10 years of the prize in its current form for translated fiction published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. (thebookerprizes.com 1) (thebookerprizes.com 2) For Bazyar and Martin, the shortlist puts a family novel about Iran’s upheavals into one of translated fiction’s biggest English-language prize races. The next date is May 19. (thebookerprizes.com)