Marie NDiaye shortlisted
Marie NDiaye’s novel The Witch has made the 2026 International Booker Prize shortlist after earlier reaching February’s longlist, showing a longlisted title has advanced to the final round. (brittlepaper.com) The novel was first published in French in 1996, is translated into English by Jordan Stump, and is published in English by MacLehose Press — details the shortlist coverage highlights. (brittlepaper.com)
Marie NDiaye is on the 2026 International Booker Prize shortlist for *The Witch*, a novel first published in French in 1996. (thebookerprizes.com) The shortlist was announced on March 31, 2026, by the Booker Prize Foundation. *The Witch* is translated by Jordan Stump and published in the United Kingdom and Ireland by MacLehose Press. (thebookerprizes.com) The International Booker Prize awards 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 six finalists from a 13-book longlist and 128 submissions from publishers. (thebookerprizes.com) For NDiaye, the shortlist puts a decades-old French novel into the final round of a prize that now gives equal billing to author and translator. The £50,000 award is split evenly between the winning author and translator or translators. (thebookerprizes.com) The book centers on Lucie, a witch from a family line of witches, trying to pass her powers to twin daughters whose abilities outstrip her own. The Booker Prize site describes the novel as a story of a “suburban witch,” and Penguin Random House lists the English-language edition at 144 pages. (thebookerprizes.com, penguinrandomhouse.com) NDiaye is not new to major literary prizes. Hachette Australia’s author page says she won the Prix Femina for *Rosie Carpe* in 2001, the Prix Goncourt for *Three Strong Women* in 2009, and had *Ladivine*, also translated by Stump, longlisted for the Booker International Prize in 2016. (hachette.com.au) The 2026 shortlist also includes books by Shida Bazyar, Daniel Kehlmann, Ana Paula Maia, Yáng Shuāng-zǐ, and Rene Karabash, according to the Booker Prize Foundation and trade coverage. Publishers Weekly reported that the winner will be announced on May 19 at Tate Modern in London. (thebookerprizes.com, publishersweekly.com) The shortlist gives *The Witch* a new English-language platform 30 years after its first French publication. The next date on the calendar is May 19, when the judges will pick the 2026 winner in London. (thebookerprizes.com)
