The Booker Prize Foundation has unveiled the six books shortlisted for the 2026 International Booker Prize. This follows a longlist of 13 titles announced in February. The winner will be revealed on May 19.
The International Booker Prize celebrates the finest works of long-form fiction or short story collections translated into English and published in the UK or Ireland between May 1, 2025, and April 30, 2026. Organizers narrowed the February longlist to these six finalists on March 31. The winning author and translator will share £50,000, while each shortlisted work receives £5,000, split between its author and translator. The shortlisted books are: - Taiwan Travelogue by Yáng Shuāng-zǐ, translated from Mandarin Chinese by Lin King: “A bittersweet story of love between two women, nested in an artful exploration of language, history and power.” - The Witch by Marie NDiaye, translated from French by Jordan Stump: “A mediocre witch, in a mediocre marriage, tries to pass on her gifts to her twin daughters, who, it becomes apparent, have skills far beyond her own.” - On Earth As It Is Beneath by Ana Paula Maia, translated from Portuguese by Padma Viswanathan: “An unsettling novel that sets us among an isolated group of men whose bonds break down in ways both hard to comprehend and impossible to look away from.” - The Director by Daniel Kehlmann, translated from German by Ross Benjamin: “An artist’s life and a pact with the devil: this is a novel about the dangerous illusions of the silver screen.” - She Who Remains by Rene Karabash, translated from Bulgarian by Izidora Angel: “A dark and poetic novel about identity, gender, love, freedom, and societal norms.” - The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran by Shida Bazyar, translated from German by Ruth Martin: “Set across four decades, from 1979 to 2009, this is a polyphonic novel of one family’s flight from and return to Iran.”
