Judges for the 2026 Booker Prize unveiled a six-book shortlist this week at a ceremony at London's Southbank Centre, narrowing the field for one of English-language fiction's most closely watched awards. The list mixes two former winners making return appearances with three first-time shortlisted authors, including the year's sole debut novelist.
The finalists are Marlon James for "The Disappearers," Douglas Stuart for "John of John," Elizabeth Strout for "The Things We Never Say," M. John Harrison for "The End of Everything," Luke Kennard for "Black Bag" and Rebecca Perry for "May We Feed the King." James won the prize in 2015 for "A Brief History of Seven Killings," and Stuart won in 2020 for "Shuggie Bain," making this the second Booker shortlist run for each. Strout has been shortlisted before without winning, while Harrison and Kennard are first-time nominees and Perry is the only debut novelist on the list.
A Judging Panel Split on Tone
The panel is chaired by classicist and broadcaster Mary Beard, alongside judges Raymond Antrobus, Jarvis Cocker, Rebecca Liu and Patricia Lockwood. Announcing the list, Beard described the range of books the panel had settled on.
These novels range from the hilarious to the discomfiting, from the frighteningly strange to the alarmingly domestic.
Mary Beard, chair of the 2026 Booker Prize judges
Harrison's contribution, a post-apocalyptic novel about a character who scavenges and sells treasures washed up along the English Channel, and Perry's debut both broaden a list otherwise dominated by writers with long track records. Each shortlisted author receives £2,500, with the eventual winner collecting £50,000, awarded for the best English-language novel published in the U.K. or Ireland between October 2025 and September 2026.
The winner will be named on November 9 at a ceremony at Old Billingsgate in the City of London, a venue the prize has used in recent years for its televised final announcement. Betting markets and literary commentators are expected to begin weighing in on frontrunners over the coming weeks, with James and Stuart's past wins likely to feature heavily in that speculation given the rarity of repeat winners in the prize's history.
