Booker shortlist drops
The 2026 International Booker Prize shortlist was announced March 31 — six novels and novellas translated from four continents made the cut. Marie NDiaye is among the finalists for The Witch, and the list ranges from 1930s Japanese‑ruled Taiwan to Tehran in 1979, plus entries from France and Nazi‑occupied Europe (npr.org) (nytimes.com).
Shortlist names and translator credits: Shida Bazyar, The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran (Ruth Martin); Rene Karabash, She Who Remains (Izidora Angel); Daniel Kehlmann, The Director (Ross Benjamin); Ana Paula Maia, On Earth As It Is Beneath (Padma Viswanathan); Marie NDiaye, The Witch (Jordan Stump); Yáng Shuāng‑zǐ, Taiwan Travelogue (Lin King). (thebookerprizes.com) The 2026 judging panel is chaired by novelist Natasha Brown and includes Marcus du Sautoy, translator Sophie Hughes, Lolwe editor Troy Onyango and novelist Nilanjana S. Roy. (thebookerprizes.com) The six‑book shortlist was selected from 128 submissions by publishers and covers books published in the UK and/or Ireland between 1 May 2025 and 30 April 2026. (thebookerprizes.com) The overall prize remains £50,000 to be split equally between winning author and translator, shortlisted titles each receive £5,000 (£2,500 each to author and translator), and the winner will be announced at a ceremony at Tate Modern on 19 May 2026. (thebookerprizes.com) The list features demographic and linguistic variety: five of the six authors are women, four of the six translators are women, the books were originally written in five languages and the authors and translators represent eight nationalities across four continents; the shortlist also includes two debut novels and one book first published over 30 years ago. (thebookerprizes.com) Several shortlisted pairings have prior recognition by the prize: Daniel Kehlmann and Ross Benjamin were shortlisted together in 2020, Marie NDiaye and Jordan Stump appeared on a previous longlist, and translator Ruth Martin was longlisted in 2020. (thebookerprizes.com)
