Twice a year the booker prize chooses books that we end up talking about the whole year. It’s one of the most popular awards and the literary Everest of challenges. Many try to read the longlist, shortlist, winner or in some extreme cases – ALL the qualified books. (There are many! This year I believe there are 186 eligible books.) The judges sure have their jobs cut out for them – but what a dream right?
Dates to mark:
Longlist: Today, tuesday, february 24, 2026 they will release the longlist at 2pm GMT. And today just happens to be my birthday! Happy birthday to me!
Shortlist: Tuesday March 31st, 2pm GMT.
Winner: Tuesday May 19th, 9pm GMT.
Here are some stats:
This year the judges chose 13 books – 4 of which have not been released yet (Taiwan travelogue, Women without men, The witch and Small comfort).
The majority of the books are from Europe with 9 books on the list (Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Bulgaria, Netherlands)
2 of the books are from Asia – Taiwan Travelogue (Taiwan) and Women without men (Iran).
2 of the books are from Latin America – On earth as it is beneath (Brazil) and We are green and trembling (Argentina)
Of the 9 European books – 2 are from the nordic region – The wax child (Denmark) and Small comfort (Sweden.)
There is a mix of short and long books with 5 books being longer than 300 pages. And 6 books shorter than 200 and 2 books in between. With a total number of 3497 pages for those who read the entire longlist. (As I intend to do!)
And here is the booker dozen – also known as the longlist for international books:
Taiway Travelogue by Yáng Shuāng-zǐ
Translated by Lin King
Original language: Mandarin Chinese
Published by And Other Stories
Publication date: 5 March 2026
Pages: 320
The wax child by Olga Ravn
Translated by Martin Aitken
Original language: Danish
Published by Viking
Publication date 6 November 2025
Pages: 176
Women without men by Shahrnush Parsipur
Translated by Faridoun Farrokh
Original language: Persian
Published by Penguin International Writers
Publication date 26 March 2026
Pages: 122
The Witch by Marie NDiaye
Translated by Jordan Stump
Original language: French
Published by MacLehose Press
Publication date14 April 2026
Pages: 144
The duke by Matteo Melchiorre
Translated by Antonella Lettieri
Original language: Italian
Published by Foundry Editions
Publication date 4 November 2025
Pages: 464
On earth as it is beneath by Ana Paula Maia
Translated by Padma Viswanathan
Original language: Portuguese
Published by Charco Press
Publication date12 August 2025
Pages: 101
The Director by Daniel Kehlmann
Translated by Ross Benjamin
Original language: German
Published by riverrun
Publication date 22 May 2025
Pages: 352
She who remains by Rene Karabash
Translated by Izidora Angel
Original language: Bulgarian
Published by Peirene Press
Publication date10 February 2026
Pages: 150
Small comfort by Ia Genberg
Translated by Kira Josefsson
Original language: Swedish
Published by Wildfire Books
Publication date 12 March 2026
Pages: 384
The deserters by Mathias Enard
Translated by Charlotte Mandell
Original language: French
Published by Fitzcarraldo Editions
Publication date 8 May 2025
Pages: 224
The remembered soldier by Anjet Daanje
Translated by David McKay
Original language: Dutch
Published by Scribe UK
Publication date19 June 2025
Pages: 576
We are green and trembling by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara
Translated by Robin Myers
Original language: Spanish
Published by Harvill
Publication date 12 June 2025
Pages: 196
The nights are quiet in Tehran by Shida Bazyar
Translated by Ruth Martin
Original language: German
Published by Scribe UK
Publication date19 June 2025
Pages: 288
I’ll be posting reviews and shortlist predictions if you want to follow and read along there’s also a challenge made on The Storygraph : https://app.thestorygraph.com/reading_challenges/90d0c3bb-7e21-47ab-a6d7-e4dc22178ede
Here is a countdown for the announcement of the winner:
days
hours minutes seconds
until
International booker winner announcement!
Marie III 