The novels on the International Booker Prize 2026 longlist

Twenty-first century politics will be defined by the revival of the strongman. Populist, autocratic leaders like China’s Xi Jinping, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman and the US’s Donald Trump are stripping away people’s rights and freedoms by overriding laws and public accountability.

It’s no coincidence that several of the 13 books on the International Booker Prize 2026 longlist, announced this week, engage directly with questions of political, institutional, economic and gendered power. The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran by Shida Bazyar traces an Iranian family before and after the 1979 revolution, examining repression, exile and the long reach of the state into private life. Women Without Men by Shahrnush Parsipur, set around the 1953 coup in Iran, explores how patriarchy and political upheaval reinforce one another.

In The Director, Daniel Kehlmann interrogates what it means to keep working under Nazi rule, and where the line lies between self-preservation and complicity. Taiwan Travelogue by Yang Shuang-zi turns to Japanese colonial rule in Taiwan, revealing how empire structures identity, language, hierarchy and belonging.

The page counts range from ‘pocket-friendly’ to ‘doorstopper’.

—  Natasha Brown

The judges selected the works from 128 eligible titles translated into English and published in the UK or Ireland between May 1 2025 and April 30 2026. The shortlist of six will be announced on March 31, with the winner revealed on May 19. The £50,000 prize is shared equally between author and translator.

“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,” chair of judges Natasha Brown said.

This year’s longlist includes works translated from 11 original languages, with 26 authors and translators representing 14 countries across four continents. The selection includes three debut novels and six writers previously nominated for the prize. The award was restructured in 2016 to focus on a single book rather than a body of work, making it the leading international prize for fiction in translation.

State control runs through much of the list, but power takes other forms too. In On Earth As It Is Beneath, Ana Paula Maia sets her story in a brutal Brazilian penal colony where punishment becomes a public ritual and cruelty is simply part of daily life. She Who Remains by Rene Karabash follows a teenage girl in an Albanian village bound by rigid custom. By becoming a “sworn virgin” to escape an arranged marriage, she lays bare the social rules that police women’s bodies and freedom.

In The Wax Child, set during 17th-century Danish witch trials, Olga Ravn shows how fear and accusation are used to keep people in line. Small Comfort by Ia Genberg turns to money and inheritance in contemporary Europe, exposing how opportunities exist only for the wealthy. In The Duke, Matteo Melchiorre dissects a feud over land between two men in an Italian village — one a reclusive nobleman, the other a businessman — and how fading aristocratic power leads to resentment and isolation.

I’m a realist, and while I understand that literature might not change geopolitics, it does change hearts and minds.

—  Nilanjana S Roy

Other longlisted novels return to war and its long aftermath. The Remembered Soldier by Anjet Daanje follows a shell-shocked veteran found wandering in Belgium after World War 1, unable to remember who he is. When a woman claims to be his wife, the novel focuses on questions of memory and identity.

The Deserters by Mathias Énard spans decades of European history, from World War 2 to more recent conflicts, and reflects on betrayal and belief.

Two of the selected titles were first published decades ago. Women Without Men appeared in Persian in 1989 and has been banned in Iran. The Witch by Marie NDiaye was first published in French in 1996. Including these significant novels helps to bring them into contemporary conversation.

“We live in a time when old wars and ancient bigotries are, unfortunately, being revived, and when the world can feel fractured and fragmented,” said judge Nilanjana S Roy. “I’m a realist, and while I understand that literature might not change geopolitics, it does change hearts and minds.

“Translations bring us closer together, help us understand and listen to one another; it makes the strange familiar, and a good translation is so often a portal to another realm. You can only hate or distrust what you don’t know — the awakening of curiosity or empathy challenges unthinking hate. As with some forms of music or film, much of modern translated fiction has the power to cut through propaganda and bigotry, simply by letting us see each other more clearly.”

Booker Prize longlist

• The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran by Shida Bazyar; translated from German by Ruth Martin
• We Are Green and Trembling by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara; translated from Spanish by Robin Myers
• The Remembered Soldier by Anjet Daanje; translated from Dutch by David McKay
• The Deserters by Mathias Énard; translated from French by Charlotte Mandell
• Small Comfort by Ia Genberg; translated from Swedish by Kira Josefsson
• She Who Remains by Rene Karabash; translated from Bulgarian by Izidora Angel
• The Director by Daniel Kehlmann; translated from German by Ross Benjamin
• On Earth As It Is Beneath by Ana Paula Maia; translated from Portuguese by Padma Viswanathan
• The Duke by Matteo Melchiorre; translated from Italian by Antonella Lettieri
• The Witch by Marie NDiaye; translated from French by Jordan Stump
• Women Without Men by Shahrnush Parsipur; translated from Persian by Faridoun Farrokh
• The Wax Child by Olga Ravn; translated from Danish by Martin Aitken
• Taiwan Travelogue by Yang Shuang-zi; translated from Mandarin by Lin King