The International Booker Prize 2026 longlist has been announced. This year’s list features 13 books translated from 11 languages, by authors and translators representing 14 nationalities.
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International Booker Prize 2026
The longlist for the 2026 International Booker Prize has been revealed. Two of the novels were released in their original languages in the last century. Women Without Men was first published in Persian in 1989, while The Witch was first published in French in 1996. Taiwan Travelogue, another book on the list, was initially released in Mandarin Chinese in 2020 but pretends to be a translation of a piece that was uncovered by a Japanese author in the 1930s.
Five of the author/translator pairings have been nominated for the International Booker Prize before: Marie NDiaye and Jordan Stump in 2016; Mathias Énard and Charlotte Mandell in 2017; Daniel Kehlmann and Ross Benjamin in 2020; Olga Ravn and Martin Aitken in 2021; and Ia Genberg and Kira Josefsson in 2024.
Natasha Brown says: ‘Many of the submitted books examined the devastating consequences of war, which is reflected in our longlist. 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. The page counts range from “pocket-friendly” to “doorstopper”. And while the books’ original publication dates span four decades, each story feels fresh and innovative.’
This year’s judges are looking for the best works of long-form fiction or collections of short stories translated into English and published in the UK and/or Ireland between 1 May 2025 and 30 April 2026.
A shortlist of six books will follow on Tuesday, 31 March 2026 and the winning book will be announced at a ceremony in May 2026,
Critically-acclaimed author Natasha Brown is joined on the judging panel by: writer, broadcaster and Oxford University Professor Marcus du Sautoy; International Booker Prize-shortlisted translator Sophie Hughes; writer, editor and bookshop owner Troy Onyango; and award-winning novelist and columnist Nilanjana S. Roy.
The Longlist
The Wax Child by Olga Ravn Translated by Martin Aitken
Taiwan Travelogue by Yáng Shuāng-zǐ Translated by Lin King
The Duke by Matteo Melchiorre Translated by Antonella Lettieri
Women Without Men by Shahrnush Parsipur Translated by Faridoun Farrokh
The Witch by Marie NDiaye Translated by Jordan Stump
On Earth As It Is Beneath by Ana Paula Maia Translated by Padma Viswanathan
The Director by Daniel Kehlmann Translated by Ross Benjamin
She Who Remains by Rene Karabash Translated by Izidora Angel
Small Comfort by Ia Genberg Translated by Kira Josefsson
The Deserters by Mathias Énard Translated by Charlotte Mandell
The Remembered Soldier by Anjet Daanje Translated by David McKay
We Are Green and Trembling by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara Translated by Robin Myers
The Director by Daniel Kehlmann
A visionary tale inspired by the life of the 20th century film director G.W. Pabst, who left Europe for Hollywood to resist the Nazis and then returned to his homeland with his wife and young son and began making films for the German Reich.
An artist’s life, a pact with the devil, a novel about the dangerous illusions of the silver screen.
G.W. Pabst, one of cinema’s greatest, perhaps the greatest director of his era: when the Nazis seized power he was filming in France, to escape the horrors of the new Germany he flees to Hollywood. But under the blinding California sun, the world-famous director suddenly looks like a nobody. Not even Greta Garbo, who he made famous, can help him.
And thus, almost through no fault of his own, he finds himself back in his homeland of Austria, which is now called Ostmark. The returning family is confronted with the barbaric nature of the regime. But Goebbels, the minister of propaganda in Berlin, wants the film genius, he won’t take no for an answer and makes big promises. While Pabst still believes that he will be able to resist these advances, that he will not submit to any dictatorship other than art, he has already taken the first steps into a hopeless entanglement.
Daniel Kehlmann’s novel about art and power, beauty and barbarism is a trium
The Wax Child by Olga Ravn
Based on a real-life seventeenth century Danish witch trial, The Wax Child tells in vivid prose the story of Christenze Kruckow, a noblewoman long pursued by a scandal of sorcery. People whisper that in her wake one finds illness, death, and unsettling behaviour by pigs and cats.
Some even say she once fashioned out of wax a child, an instrument of the most sinister magic. Christenze will flee the rumours to Aalborg, that great city of seawater and mist. But even there suspicion and fear rule, and once a rumour of witchcraft has taken hold, it can prove hard to shake.
The Witch by Marie NDiaye
Lucie comes from a long line of witches, powers passed down from mother to daughter. Her own mom was formidable in her powers, but ashamed of her magic. Perhaps as a result, Lucie’s own gift is weak: she can see into the future, sometimes-but more often, she can only see the present of some other location. Not very useful. And the worst part? All she can ever see are insignificant details – a scrap of outfit, the colour of the sky. Lucie’s own children are initiated into their family’s peculiar womanhood when they reach twelve years of age, and in a few short months, Maud and Lise are crying the curious tears of blood that denote their magical powers. Having learned, they take off quickly and fly the nest. Literally.
Witty, dreamlike, vaguely unsettling, and utterly enchanting (pun intended), The Witch brings the mysteries of womanhood and motherhood into sharp relief and leaves us teetering on the edge, unbalanced by questions as seemingly unbreakable relationships break down left and right.
Who is to blame for family failures? And how can you – can you? – build a nest that no one wants to fly?
If you enjoyed International Booker Prize 2026, check out Read Around the World 2025 Edition