The 2026 longlist for the Booker Prize was announced on Tuesday, featuring 13 novels from a diverse group of authors hailing from Britain, Ireland, Jamaica, Mexico, Turkey, and the United States. Among the notable contenders are past winners Marlon James and Douglas Stuart, as well as Pulitzer Prize winner Elizabeth Strout.
Marlon James’s “The Disappearers” centers on a group of gay men in 1980s Jamaica facing hostility and violence triggered by their participation in a play with openly LGBTQ themes. This is James’s first non-fantasy novel since winning the Booker in 2015 for “A Brief History of Seven Killings.” Douglas Stuart, who secured the prize in 2020 with “Shuggie Bain,” returns with “John of John,” a story about a gay man confronting his abusive father on a remote Scottish island. Elizabeth Strout, a Pulitzer Prize recipient recognized for “Olive Kitteridge,” is nominated for “The Things We Never Say,” a tale focusing on a high school history teacher uncovering a long-hidden family secret. Strout was previously shortlisted for the Booker in 2022 with “Oh William!”
Three debut authors are represented on the list: Kenan Orhan, a Turkish American whose “The Renovation” explores a woman’s discovery of a prison cell hidden within her home renovation; Rebecca Perry, a British writer offering a historical puzzle in “May We Feed the King,” which traces a curator’s effort to recreate a medieval palace; and Ireland’s Djamel White, whose thriller “All Them Dogs” follows a Dublin gangster caught in the city's underworld. White, at 28, is the youngest contender, while the oldest is 81-year-old M. John Harrison, whose science fiction novel “The End of Everything” stands out as a rare genre inclusion.
Other nominees include “The Shadow of the Object” by Chloe Aridjis, “Black Bag” by Luke Kennard, “The Vivisectors” by Missouri Williams, “Switzy” by Emma Cline, “Helen of Nowhere” by Makenna Goodman, and Gwendoline Riley’s “The Palm House.” These works encompass a wide range of themes and styles, from campus satire and experimental narrative to explorations of family, identity, and societal change.
The judging panel, led by classicist Mary Beard, emphasized their intention to recognize works that challenge conventional notions of what a Booker Prize-winning novel looks like. They prioritized books that use diverse approaches—including humor, pathos, and provocative elements—to provoke fresh perspectives on human experience. The panel also includes notable figures such as musician Jarvis Cocker and American novelist Patricia Lockwood.
Established in 1969, the Booker Prize awards £50,000 (approximately $66,500) to the winning author of a novel originally written in English and published in the UK or Ireland. From an initial pool of 163 submissions, the longlist will be narrowed down to a six-title shortlist to be announced on September 22. The winner will be revealed at an awards ceremony in London on November 9. The previous year’s prize was awarded to Hungarian-British writer David Szalay for “Flesh.”