Booker Prize 2026 longlist announced

booksJul 28, 202628573

The Booker Prize 2026 longlist of 13 novels was announced, led by new works from Marlon James, Douglas Stuart and Elizabeth Strout. Chair of judges Mary Beard said each of the 13 books competing for the £50,000 award “takes the reader to new places.” The list features authors of seven nationalities across three continents, with nearly half from the UK, and ten writers appear on a Booker longlist for the first time, including debut novelists Kenan Orhan, Rebecca Perry and Djamel White. Marlon James is longlisted for The Disappearers, his fifth novel about a homophobic mob attack in 1980s Jamaica, due in September; the judges called it “a reckoning.” Douglas Stuart returns with his third novel John of John, praised for its “rich, textural detail,” and if either Stuart or James wins they would become one of only five authors to take the Booker twice. Elizabeth Strout’s The Things We Never Say is her 11th novel and her third Booker nomination; the judges said the longlist “rewards risk” and contains “genuinely original work.” A total of 163 books were submitted, all written in English and published in the UK or Ireland between 1 October 2025 and 30 September 2026.

The Booker Prizes

@thebookerprizes.com

Presenting the Booker Prize 2026 longlist. Find out more about the books and authors that make up this year's Booker Dozen: thebookerprizes.com/bp2026

The Booker Prize 2026 longlist in full:

- The Shadow of the Object by Chloe Aridjis
- Switzy by Emma Cline
- Helen of Nowhere by Makenna Goodman
- The End of Everything by M. John Harrison
- The Disappearers by Marlon James
- Black Bag by Luke Kennard
- The Renovation by Kenan Orhan
- May We Feed the King by Rebecca Perry
- The Palm House by Gwendoline Riley
- The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout
- John of John by Douglas Stuart
- All Them Dogs by Djamel White
- The Vivisectors by Missouri Williams

1394h ago

Paul Connolly10

Huge congratulations to @lukekennard.bsky.social and everyone longlisted

The Haysom Review2

I know there is one which has a very good chance of winning.

Bluemoose Books 1

Congratulations to all the longlisted authors.

Lee Carvallo's Putting Challenge Champion1

A well regarded author and a journeyman with a 44% career 3PT Field Goal percentage? Color me impressed

Quoting this

Katie Mack117

Got all excited for a minute there 🙃

Paul Duane 🥔27

My man M John Harrison (late of Bluesky, seems to have deactivated) is nominated for a Booker! this is fantastic news. Great writer, seems like a great human too.

Darach Ó Séaghdha19

Congratulations to anyone who actually finishes writing a book, then gets published and survives the anxiety of having it misunderstood online. With that in mind, a point of personal taste: there are too many titles like "the lie she didn't tell" or "the thing that slightly happened"

Drew Broussard10

Holy moly, this list absolutely rips. MAY WE FEED THE KING is my odds-on favorite (and my fav from this whole list) but nearly any of these would be an awesome winner. M. John Harrison is a Booker longlistee!!

Subscribe to Radio Free America (link in bio)9

Things We Never Say squad, rise

Alex von Tunzelmann8

A genuinely interesting list – keen to get reading!

Solaris Books8

Huge congratulations to M. John Harrison and our sister imprint @serpents-tail.bsky.social for THE END OF EVERYTHING's Booker nomination!

Vicky MacKenzie8

Ooh! Nice one @lukekennard.bsky.social, I really need to get round to reading BLACK BAG. 📚🏆 (As usual I've read nothing from the longlist, and the only one I own is Helen of Nowhere, but I will probably read a few of them within the next 20-30 years..)

Dr Mark | 北马克 |🍉🇦🇺🇲🇾🇹🇭6

Excited! And great to see M. John Harrison listed.

Morgan Jones5

Feeling very low brow and out of touch as I have not read nor even heard of any of these books.

NPR

@npr.org

The 2026 list includes new works from household names Douglas Stuart, Marlon James and Elizabeth Strout as well as a few debut authors. n.pr/3TkSp3y

733h ago

Quoting this

Air Budd Dwyer3

household names here is some extreme Charlie Brown had hoes energy

Tricia Lockwood

@tricialockwood.bsky.social

they’re calling it the “most about dementia” booker longlist the world has ever seen

743h ago

Saeed Jones

@theferocity.bsky.social

My friend Marlon is once again a contender for the Booker Prize! The group chat is LIT. I’m so excited for y’all to read THE DISAPPEARERS.

653h ago

Maris Kreizman

@maris.bsky.social

Really happy to see a few small/indie presses represented on this list, along with some of the usual (deservedly) stalwarts. thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-l...

383h ago

Quoting this

Michael Taeckens4

Thrilled for Douglas Stuart and Grove Press! 🎉

The Guardian

@theguardian.com

Previous winners Douglas Stuart and Marlon James lead a Brit-heavy Booker prize longlist

364h ago

Quoting this

Melissa Jo Peltier2

Back in the day, this would’ve been a huge news day post for me on Olde Twitter. Good Times.

Coffee House Press

@coffeehousepress.bsky.social

🎉🎉🎉 Enormous congratulations to Makenna Goodman and her incredible HELEN OF NOWHERE being longlisted to The Booker Prize 2026! We're ecstatic! 🎉🎉🎉

204h ago

Quoting this

Julie/a2

Love to see this for so many reasons, including that she’s making it all happen in my hometown!

Michael Metivier2

Fantastic news!!! (and fantastic and worthy book!!!)

Irish Literary Times

@irishlittimes.bsky.social

The judges called it “a mouthy, ballsy and bracingly unsentimental portrait of west Dublin gangland, set well off the beaten track of the city’s usual literary landmarks”. www.irishtimes.com/culture/book...

173h ago

TheNakedReader

@thenakedreader.bsky.social

I love that the Booker longlist announcement this year almost falls on my birthday. Surely it’s not overly indulgent for me to get all of them for my 40th, right?? (Unless someone wants to get them for me of course… 👀😜)

267h ago

Association for Scottish Literature

@asls.org.uk

Douglas Stuart’s novel JOHN OF JOHN has been longlisted for the 2026 Booker Prize “This excavation of family, violence & shame is woven through with beautiful imagistic detail, & – unexpectedly – shades of hope. We loved the rich, textural detail of the story” 💙📚 thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-l...

113h ago

Serpent's Tail

@serpents-tail.bsky.social

We are over the moon to that #TheEndOfEverything by M. John Harrison is on the 2026 Booker Prize longlist! Here's what the judges said about this apocalyptic adventure: 'shimmering and oblique, it holds the reader to the surface of something very grave and deep' thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-l...

113h ago

Bookshop.org UK

@bookshop-org-uk.bsky.social

The Booker Prize Longlist is HERE! Available in print, ebook and audiobook - discover the 'Booker Dozen' and support independent bookshops with us. uk.bookshop.org/lists/booker...

43h ago

Roseanna Pendlebury

@chloroformtea.bsky.social

I normally think about (and sometimes even succeed at) reading at least one Booker long- or shortlist novel per year. This year's longlist is making me tempted to do rather more; so many of them look so /interesting/.

73h ago

London Review of Books

@lrb.co.uk

‘Mystification is both M. John Harrison’s subject and his method. It’s an approach that throws up some obvious technical problems. How to frustrate understanding without sacrificing interest?’ Edmund Gordon 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, longlisted today for the Booker Prize. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

33h ago

Enchantra Sand📚🌻

@enchantrasand.bsky.social

Waiting for the #BookerPrize longlist announcement and poring over the 266 titles on that Goodreads Booker 2026 Eligible list - have only found 53 that I might add to my massive TBR. Will look around here for reviews of ones I find most appealing. Not interested in top ten or so but... 📚💙 #Reading

5Yesterday

3 sources

nytimes.comBooker Prize 2026 Nominees: Marlon James, Elizabeth Strout and More theguardian.comPrevious winners Douglas Stuart and Marlon James lead a Brit-heavy Booker prize longlist npr.orgHere are the 13 books that made the Booker Prize longlist

Booker Prize 2026 longlist announcedbooks

Booker Prize 2026 longlist announced

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