Here is the shortlist for the 2026 International Booker Prize.

The shortlist for the International Booker Prize is out today, and it includes many books published by women and independent presses, two debuts, and writers from eight nationalities and four continents.

The International Booker celebrates fiction and collections that have been translated into English and published in the UK and Ireland. The Prize aims to foster “an engaged global community of writers and readers whose experiences and interests transcend national borders” by highlighting work written in many languages and from many cultures.

This year’s shortlist is:

Shida Bazyar, The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran, tr. Ruth Martin, from German

Rene Karabash, She Who Remains, tr. Izidora Angel, from Bulgarian

Daniel Kehlmann, The Director, tr. Ross Benjamin, from German

Ana Paula Maia, On Earth As It Is Beneath, tr. Padma Viswanathan, from Portuguese

Marie NDiaye, The Witch, tr. Jordan Stump, from French

Yáng Shuāng-zǐ, Taiwan Travelogue, tr. Lin King, from Mandarin Chinese

Five out of the six authors and four out of the six translators are women and the list is dominated by independent publishers—both encouraging signs!

“2026 marks the 10th anniversary of the International Booker Prize,” said Gaby Wood, the head of the Booker Prize Foundation, “It has reminded us of the way translated fiction allows us to travel through stories, unbound by geographical borders.”

The Booker Prizes run a lot of events during the year, and the announcement of the winning International Prize book will happen live on May 19th in London. The winning author and translator will take home a shared £50,000 prize, and each shortlisted title will be awarded £2,500 for the author and £2,500 for the translator.

This year’s judging panel was chaired by author Natasha Brown, and includes writer and and Oxford University professor Marcus du Sautoy, translator Sophie Hughes, writer, editor, and bookseller Troy Onyango, and writer Nilanjana S. Roy.

The Booker Prizes also release short readings with performers for their shortlist—here are last year’s—which are always cool. Keep an eye out for a new crop later next month.

Image by India Hobson, The Booker Prizes