Everything You Should Know About Booker Prize Longlist 2026

The biggest literary releases that will shortly make their way to people's reading lists, to dedicated bookstore displays, book club conversations has finally been unveiled by the Booker Prize.

The Booker Prize which isn't simply a literary award and is a trusted reading guide that has introduced generations of readers to unforgettable novels and future classics has announced its 2026 longlist, a carefully curated selection of 13 novels that reflects the breadth and ambition of contemporary English-language fiction. These novels have been chosen from across 163 titles written in English and published in the UK and/or Ireland between 1 October 2025 and 30 September 2026. 

For the curious bookworms, here's everything you need to know about the Booker Dozen:

Who Are Authors And The Books On The Booker Prize 2026 Longlist?

Representing seven countries including Scotland, England, Ireland, Turkey, United States, Mexico and Jamaica, this year's Booker Prize 2026 longlist is chaired by Mary Beard and includes Jarvis Cocker, Raymond Antrobus, Rebecca Liu and Patricia Lockwood.

Here are the authors and their books that are running the race:

• The Shadow of the Object by Chloe Aridjis (Chatto & Windus)

• Switzy by Emma Cline (Chatto & Windus)

• Helen of Nowhere by Makenna Goodman (Fitzcarraldo Editions)

• The End of Everything by M. John Harrison (Serpent’s Tail)

• The Disappearers by Marlon James (Hamish Hamilton)

• Black Bag by Luke Kennard (John Murray)

• The Renovation by Kenan Orhan (Hamish Hamilton)

• May We Feed the King by Rebecca Perry (Granta)

• The Palm House by Gwendoline Riley (Picador)   

• The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout (Viking)   

• John of John by Douglas Stuart (Picador)

• All Them Dogs by Djamel White (John Murray)

• The Vivisectors by Missouri Williams (4th Estate)

When Will The Booker Prize Winner Be Announced?

The Booker Prize 2026 winner will be announced on 9 November 2026 at the prestigious awards ceremony in London. Before then, the judges will reveal a shortlist of six novels on 22 September 2026, narrowing down the 13 books that made this year's longlist. The winning author will receive the coveted Booker Prize trophy along with a £50,000 cash award, while each shortlisted writer will receive £2,500 in recognition of their achievement.

Announcing the longlist, judging panel chair Mary Beard praised the remarkable range and ambition of this year's selections. She noted that the 13 nominated novels are "set anywhere and everywhere"—from Ireland and Italy to Mexico and Massachusetts, Jamaica and the Hebrides—taking readers through universities, private planes, pubs, and across the past, present, and future.

"Every writer on our longlist brilliantly musters the power of words on the page to take the reader to new places, to see old places from new angles, to change minds," Beard said, highlighting the literary power and originality of the 2026 contenders.