The longlist for the International Booker Prize 2026 has been announced, featuring 13 books translated from 11 languages, by authors and translators representing 14 nationalities across four continents.
With themes ranging from witchcraft to war, revolution to renewal, and magic to murder, the longlist included two books first published in their original languages more than 30 years ago.
The longlisted books feature memorable characters, including a queer Argentinian conquistador, a celebrated East Berlin mathematician dedicated to algebra and communism, a morally compromised German film director, a ‘sworn virgin’ who renounces womanhood, a child-star-turned-thief, a Japanese novelist with a ‘monstrous appetite’, an idiosyncratic Italian aristocrat and a Danish noblewoman accused of sorcery. They transport readers from a brutal prison colony in the Brazilian wilderness to an Albanian village ruled by ancient laws, from an asylum for traumatised soldiers in Belgium to an abundant garden on the outskirts of Tehran.
The longlist was chosen by award-winning authors Natasha Brown (chair) and Nilanjana S. Roy, academic Marcus du Sautoy; translator Sophie Hughes; and writer and bookseller Troy Onyango.
The longlist: judges’ comments
The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran by Shida Bazyar, translated from German by Ruth Martin
“Through cycles of exile and return, we follow an Iranian family across four decades – and learn what it means to always live in hope. The pages pulse with heartache and humour.”
We Are Green and Trembling by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara, translated from Spanish by Robin Myers
“This fiercely imaginative reworking of colonial history gives voice to a 17th century figure in the depths of the South American jungle. At once playful and devastating, tender and enraging.”
The Remembered Soldier by Anjet Daanje, translated from Dutch by David McKay
“A soldier without his memory; a wife in search of her missing husband. The big question at the heart of this superb novel is: how far humans will go in order to love?”
The Deserters by Mathias Énard, translated from French by Charlotte Mandell
“A man and woman escape an undefined war; a conference celebrates a mathematician’s life. Both raw and refined, The Deserters weaves together two contrasting stories of hope and survival.”
Small Comfort by Ia Genberg, translated from Swedish by Kira Josefsson
“In five profound and breathtakingly original stories, money makes the world go round – and Genberg has a clear-eyed vision of how. The writing zings in all the right places.”
She Who Remains by Rene Karabash, translated from Bulgarian by Izidora Angel
“In a mountain village governed by archaic laws, a teenage girl swears a vow of chastity to escape an arranged marriage. Told with understated poetry, this is an unforgettable modern fairytale.”
The Director by Daniel Kehlmann, translated from German by Ross Benjamin
“A juggling act of wit and gravity, The Director performs a literary panning shot over the career of a real-life German film-maker and asks: where is the line between survival and collaboration?”
On Earth As It Is Beneath by Ana Paula Maia, translated from Portuguese by Padma Viswanathan
“Set in a remote penal colony, this vivid and haunting novel unfolds in a landscape where punishment has replaced justice. A stark, unsettling exploration of power and corruption.”
The Duke by Matteo Melchiorre, translated from Italian by Antonella Lettieri
“A feud between two men set in a claustrophobic village in the Dolomites slowly escalates. Wonderfully evocative and packed full of plot twists, this is storytelling at its best.”
The Witch by Marie NDiaye, translated from French by Jordan Stump
‘A long-suffering housewife inducts her daughters into a secret practice passed down by the women in her family: witchcraft. The language in this novel is exquisite; The Witch is pure magic.”
Women Without Men by Shahrnush Parsipur, translated from Persian by Faridoun Farrokh
“Against the backdrop of revolution, we follow the lives of five women as they shed their old lives like snakeskin. Parsipur’s layered tales beckon us into a world touched with fable and myth.”
The Wax Child by Olga Ravn, translated from Danish by Martin Aitken
“Set during the witch trials of 17th-century Denmark, this haunting, gripping and singular novel – viewed largely from the perspective of a wax doll – cast a spell on us.”
Taiwan Travelogue by Yáng Shuāng-zǐ, translated from Mandarin Chinese by Lin King
“In 1930s Taiwan, a Japanese author develops complex feelings towards her local interpreter. With metafictional twists, this is both a delicious romance and an incisive postcolonial novel.”
Brown said: “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.
“The calibre and variety of translated fiction being published in the UK is unbelievable. As judges, we’ve been spoilt for choice during these past eight months reading this year’s 128 submissions. Our discussions are always lively, and we’ve often been surprised by the myriad ways these books engaged us.”
The prize recognises the vital work of translation, with the £50,000 prize money divided equally between the winning author and translator/s. The shortlist of six books will be announced on March 31st and the winner on May 19th at a ceremony at Tate Modern in London.
This year marks 10 years since the first winner of the International Booker Prize in its current form, The Vegetarian by Han Kang, translated from Korean by Deborah Smith. Since then, the prize has promoted 10 winners in 10 languages from Arabic to Polish, Bulgarian to Kannada. Four winners have gone on to win the Nobel Prize in Literature: Han Kang, Jon Fosse, Annie Ernaux and Olga Tokarczuk. The prize has also helped to drive a boom in translated fiction in the UK: sales have doubled since it launched.