Marie NDiaye makes Booker list

Marie NDiaye is on the 2026 International Booker Prize shortlist for *The Witch*, a novel she first published in French three decades ago. (thebookerprizes.com) The Booker Prize Foundation announced the six-book shortlist on March 31, 2026. *The Witch* appears there in Jordan Stump’s English translation, published in the United Kingdom by MacLehose Press. (thebookerprizes.com) The prize covers fiction translated into English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland between May 1, 2025, and April 30, 2026. This year’s judges chose the shortlist from 128 submissions after first naming a 13-book longlist on February 24, 2026. (thebookerprizes.com) For readers who do not follow the award, the International Booker honors both the novelist and the translator. The winner receives £50,000 split equally, and each shortlisted book brings £2,500 for the author and £2,500 for the translator. (thebookerprizes.com; lithub.com) NDiaye’s shortlist spot also puts an older French novel into a prize cycle usually driven by recent English-language publication dates. The Booker organizers said *The Witch* was originally published in French in 1996, creating a 30-year gap before this Booker recognition. (thebookerprizes.com; leseditionsdeminuit.fr) The book centers on Lucie, a suburban witch who feels inadequate in both marriage and magic while trying to pass her powers to her twin daughters. The Booker site describes the daughters’ abilities as quickly surpassing their mother’s. (thebookerprizes.com) Stump is a longtime English-language translator of NDiaye’s work, and this is not their first Booker connection. The Booker Foundation says NDiaye’s *Ladivine*, also translated by Stump, was longlisted for the prize in 2016. (thebookerprizes.com) NDiaye is already one of France’s most decorated novelists. Hachette says she won the Prix Femina for *Rosie Carpe* in 2001 and the Prix Goncourt for *Three Strong Women* in 2009. (hachette.com.au) The 2026 shortlist is dominated by women writers and independent presses. Booker said five of the six shortlisted authors are women, and four of the six translators are women. (thebookerprizes.com) The winner is scheduled to be announced on May 19, 2026, at Tate Modern in London. Until then, *The Witch* sits in a field of six that has already given NDiaye her first place on the International Booker shortlist. (publishersweekly.com; thebookerprizes.com)