International Booker shortlist
The 2026 International Booker Prize shortlist of six novels was announced today—women dominate the list with works spanning post‑revolution Iran, a penal colony, Albanian cross‑dressing survival tales, Japanese‑ruled Taiwan and 1990s France to Tehran (nytimes.com). Judges praised the selection for its ‘hope, insight and burning humanity’ as the prize marks its 10th anniversary (theguardian.com).
The six shortlisted books, with their translators, are: The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran (Shida Bazyar; trans. Ruth Martin), She Who Remains (Rene Karabash; trans. Izidora Angel), The Director (Daniel Kehlmann; trans. Ross Benjamin), On Earth As It Is Beneath (Ana Paula Maia; trans. Padma Viswanathan), The Witch (Marie NDiaye; trans. Jordan Stump) and Taiwan Travelogue (Yáng Shuāng‑zǐ; trans. Lin King). (thebookerprizes.com) The 2026 judging panel was chaired by Natasha Brown and included Marcus du Sautoy, Sophie Hughes, Troy Onyango and Nilanjana S. Roy. (thebookerprizes.com) Chair Natasha Brown said the judges found “hope, insight and burning humanity” in the selection when announcing the shortlist on 31 March 2026. (weaa.org) The winner will be announced on 19 May 2026 at a ceremony at Tate Modern in London, where the £50,000 prize will be split equally between author and translator. (thebookerprizes.com) Five of the six authors and four of the six translators on this year’s list are women, and the books were originally published in five languages: Bulgarian, French, German, Mandarin Chinese and Portuguese. (thebookerprizes.com) Two titles on the shortlist are debuts (The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran and She Who Remains), and the list includes previous International Booker nominees — Daniel Kehlmann and Ross Benjamin were shortlisted in 2020, while Marie NDiaye and Jordan Stump were longlisted in 2016. (thebookerprizes.com) The six were chosen from a longlist of 13 that the judges selected from 128 books submitted by publishers, and shortlisted authors and translators will take part in the International Booker Shortlist Readings at Bristol Beacon’s Lantern Hall on 15 May 2026. (thebookerprizes.com)
