International Booker Prize announces 2026 longlist

The International Booker Prize has announced its 2026 longlist, while marking the tenth anniversary of the prestigious award.

The International Booker Prize awards the best translated fiction of the year. 

The author and translator of the winning book will receive a prize of £50,000, to be split equally. 

“In championing works from around the world that have originated in a wide range fosters an engaged global community of writers and readers whose experiences and interests transcend national borders,” can be read on the Booker Prizes website. 

Thirteen works of fiction, translated from eleven different languages, have been selected for this year’s longlist.

The shortlist of six books will be announced on 31 March, while the winning writer and translator will be revealed on 19 May 2026.

From witches to war

The works of fiction in this year’s longlist cover numerous themes and plots, spanning over centuries and countries.

Both the First and Second World Wars are depicted, finding their place in Anjet Daanje’s ‘The Remembered Soldier’ (translated from Dutch by David McKay), which recounts the life of a soldier who lost his memory and is now trying to rebuild his marriage in the aftermath of the Great War, and in ‘The Director’, by German writer Daniel Kehlmann (translated by Ross Benjamin), inspired by the life of film director GW Pabst, who cooperated with the Nazis.

Witchcraft is also a leitmotif. 

‘The Wax Child’, written by Dutch author Olga Ravn and translated by Martin Aitken, follows the Danish witch trials of the 17th century. 

And in Marie NDiaye’s ‘The Witch’, translated by Jordan Stump, a lacklustre witch tries to unsuccessfully pass her power to her daughters. 

‘Assembly’ author Natasha Brown, Chair of the 2026 judges, spoke about the huge variety of genres and themes tackled in this year’s selection.

Variety of genres this year

“Many of the submitted books examined the devastating consequences of war […] The list also features petty squabbles between neighbours, mysterious mountain villages, Big Pharma conspiracies, witchy women, ill-fated lovers, a haunted prison, and obscure film references,” she explained. 

“[…] And while the books’ original publication dates span four decades, each story feels fresh and innovative,” she added. 

This is explained by the rules of the prize: books published in their original language in the past can still be included in a certain year’s longlist if the translation has been published in that year. 

This is the case, for example, of Iranian writer Shahrnush Parsipur’s ‘Women Without Men’, which was originally released in Persian in 1989. Its translation however, written by Faridoun Farrokh, was released this year. 

The book, which follows the lives of five women who live together in Tehran, has been banned in Iran since its publication. 

Another work of fiction set in Iran, Shida Bazyar’s ‘The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran’ (translated from German by Ruth Martin) has also been longlisted this year, the first of three debut novels. 

The other two debut novels are ‘The Duke’, by Italian writer Matteo Melchiorre (translated by Antonella Lettieri), and ‘She Who Remains’, by Rene Karabash and translated by Izidora Angel from Bulgarian.

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Here is the complete list 

• ‘The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran’ by Shida Bazyar (translated from German by Ruth Martin)
• ‘We Are Green and Trembling’ by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara (translated from Spanish by Robin Myers)
• ‘The Remembered Soldier’ by Anjet Daanje (translated from Dutch by David McKay)
• ‘The Deserters’ by Mathias Énard (translated from French by Charlotte Mandell)
• ‘Small Comfort’ by Ia Genberg (translated from Swedish by Kira Josefsson)
• ‘She Who Remains’ by Rene Karabash (translated from Bulgarian by Izidora Angel)
• ‘The Director’ by Daniel Kehlmann (translated from German by Ross Benjamin)
• ‘On Earth As It Is Beneath’ by Ana Paula Maia (translated from Portuguese by Padma Viswanathan)
• ‘The Duke’ by Matteo Melchiorre (translated from Italian by Antonella Lettieri)
• ‘The Witch’ by Marie NDiaye (translated from French by Jordan Stump)
• ‘Women Without Men’ by Shahrnush Parsipur (translated from Persian by Faridoun Farrokh)
• ‘The Wax Child’ by Olga Ravn (translated from Danish by Martin Aitken)
• ‘Taiwan Travelogue’ by Yáng Shuāng-zǐ (translated from Mandarin Chinese by Lin King)

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