International Booker winner due May 19

The Booker Prize Foundation is due to name the 2026 International Booker Prize winner on Tuesday, May 19, at Tate Modern in London, capping a shortlist that organizers unveiled on March 31. The six-book list spans fiction set in Iran, France, Nazi Germany, Brazil, Taiwan and the Albanian Alps, according to the prize website. The award carries £50,000, split equally between the winning author and translator. The announcement will be livestreamed from 10:05 p.m. BST on the Booker Prize’s YouTube, Instagram and TikTok accounts, organizers said. ### Which books are still in contention? The 2026 shortlist includes *The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran* by Shida Bazyar, translated by Ruth Martin; *She Who Remains* by Rene Karabash, translated by Izidora Angel; *The Director* by Daniel Kehlmann, translated by Ross Benjamin; *On Earth As It Is Beneath* by Ana Paula Maia, translated by Padma Viswanathan; *The Witch* by Marie NDiaye, translated by Jordan Stump; and *Taiwan Travelogue* by Yáng Shuāng-zǐ, translated by Lin King. (thebookerprizes.com) The Booker Prize website lists all six titles as finalists for this year’s award. The shortlist was chosen by a five-member panel chaired by novelist Natasha Brown. The other judges are Marcus du Sautoy, Sophie Hughes, Troy Onyango and Nilanjana S. Roy, according to the foundation. ### Why has the shortlist drawn attention before the winner is named? (thebookerprizes.com) Five of the six shortlisted authors and four of the six translators are women, the Booker Prize Foundation said when it announced the finalists on March 31. The foundation also said the 2026 prize marks 10 years in the award’s current form. (thebookerprizes.com) Natasha Brown said in the shortlist announcement that the selected books “reverberate with history” and contain “hope, insight and burning humanity.” The official shortlist page says the books were translated from five original languages and that the authors and translators represent eight nationalities across four continents. (thebookerprizes.com) ### What kinds of stories are on the list this year? The Booker Prize Foundation said the shortlist moves across settings that include Japan-ruled Taiwan in the 1930s, Nazi-controlled Europe during World War Two, suburban France in the 1990s, the Iranian Revolution of 1979, a prison colony in Brazil and a patriarchal community in the Albanian Alps. The organizers described the characters as including a suburban witch, a morally compromised filmmaker, a bloodthirsty prison warden, a sworn virgin, a young novelist and interpreter, and a multigenerational family of Iranian emigrants. (thebookerprizes.com) The prize recognizes works of long-form fiction or short-story collections translated into English and published in the U.K. or Ireland between May 1, 2025 and April 30, 2026. The 2026 longlist of 13 books was selected from 128 submissions by publishers, according to the foundation. (thebookerprizes.com) ### How is the money split between writers and translators? The International Booker Prize awards £50,000 to the winning book, with the money divided equally between the author and translator, the foundation said. Each shortlisted title also receives £5,000, split into £2,500 for the author and £2,500 for the translator. (thebookerprizes.com) The foundation says the prize is intended to recognize translation alongside fiction, reflecting the joint credit given to both names on the winning announcement. ### When and where will the winner be announced? Tuesday, May 19, is the date set by the Booker Prize Foundation for the winner announcement at Tate Modern in London. (thebookerprizes.com) The ceremony will be carried live on the organization’s YouTube, Instagram and TikTok channels from 10:05 p.m. BST, according to the official 2026 prize page. The next milestone is the live announcement in London on May 19, when one author-translator pairing will join the prize’s list of winners in its 10th year under the current format. (thebookerprizes.com)