The 2026 Booker Prize Longlist has been announced!
| Introducing the Booker Prize 2026 Longlist! | ||
|---|---|---|
| The Shadow of the Object | Chloe Aridjis | A magnificent work of shadow-play and a meditation on desire, metamorphosis and mortality. |
| Switzy | Emma Cline | A mesmerising portrait of an ageing man’s last pilgrimage. |
| Helen of Nowhere | Makenna Goodman | Philosophically and formally adventurous, at once intimate and cosmic in scope, Helen of Nowhere asks: what must we give up in exchange for true happiness? |
| The End of Everything | M. John Harrison | A slyly satirical and unsettling post-apocalyptic adventure into the limits of human understanding from the acknowledged master of science fiction. |
| The Disappearers | Marlon James | A deeply human story of men who must make compromises to survive what the society they live in demands. |
| Black Bag | Luke Kennard | A warped campus novel, an investigation into the crisis of masculinity and an off-kilter love story, Black Bag is a firework of a novel: blazingly funny and profoundly humane. |
| The Renovation | Kenan Orhan | The Renovation is a heartbreaking portrait of one family caught in the tides of history, grappling with grief, exile, politics and the painful absurdity of love. |
| May We Feed The King | Rebecca Perry | Laced with desire and longing, May We Feed the King is a playful, stirring meditation on history and storytelling: on what makes a King 'Great', and a life meaningful. |
| The Palm House | Gwendoline Riley | A novel of enduring friendships and small mercies, The Palm House offers us Gwendoline Riley’s trademark keen observation and wit, and leaves us – somehow – with a curious sense of possibility. |
| The Things We Never Say | Elizabeth Strout | With exquisite prose and profound insight, Elizabeth Strout captures the way grief reverberates through decades, the comfort found in deep friendships and the freedom that comes when we break free of our secrets. |
| John of John | Douglas Stuart | John of John is the heartbreaking story of a young man’s return home and how the bonds of family life are torn by the weight of expectation. |
| All Them Dogs | Djamel White | By turns savage, thrilling and unexpectedly tender, All Them Dogs is a gripping story of violence, lust, and greed that explores one man's struggles to find his place in an unsparing world. |
| The Vivisectors | Missouri Williams | Coursing with icy suspense and rendered with violent precision, The Vivisectors is a new kind of love story for a broken era. |
The Booker Prize is a prestigious literary award presented annually for the best original novel written in the English language and published in the UK or Ireland. Established in 1969, the prize aims to recognize outstanding fiction and has become one of the most influential and celebrated literary honours in the English-speaking world. It is awarded by a panel of judges chosen for their literary expertise, and winning or even being shortlisted can significantly boost a book’s visibility and sales. The prize was formerly known as the Man Booker Prize until 2019.
The longlist of 13 novels has been selected by the 2026 judging panel, chaired by celebrated classicist, writer and broadcaster Mary Beard. Beard is joined by award-winning poet, writer and educator Raymond Antrobus; musician, writer and broadcaster Jarvis Cocker; journalist, editor and critic Rebecca Liu; and Booker Prize-shortlisted novelist, poet and essayist Patricia Lockwood.
The longlisted authors represent seven countries and three continents, with the majority of them from the UK. Past winners Marlon James and Douglas Stuart and previous shortlistee Elizabeth Strout are nominated, alongside 10 authors who are longlisted for the first time – including three debut novelists. Among the nominees are poets, playwrights, editors and critics, as well as a former competitive trampolinist, an ex-lawyer, a fashion designer and a former child actor.
For more, go to: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/features/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-booker-prize-2026-longlist
