The Booker Prize Dozen Plus One Forms The Longlist 2026

The Booker Prize is back, and this year’s longlist is anything but predictable.

The 2026 Booker Prize has selected 13 novels from 163 submissions, bringing together established literary names, previous Booker winners and a number of writers appearing on the prize’s radar for the first time. The judging panel, chaired by classicist and broadcaster Mary Beard, has chosen books that move comfortably between humour, tragedy, speculative fiction, crime, history and domestic drama.

And judging by the settings alone, there is no shortage of variety. The stories take readers from Mexico City and Jamaica to the Kent coast, the Outer Hebrides and an assisted-suicide clinic in Zurich. Some remain firmly rooted in recognisable reality, while others venture into mysterious, dystopian or almost surreal territory.

The 2026 longlist includes:

• 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

Among the names are two former Booker Prize winners: Marlon James, who won in 2015 for A Brief History of Seven Killings, and Douglas Stuart, who took the prize in 2020 with Shuggie Bain. Elizabeth Strout, meanwhile, returns after previously being shortlisted.

But this year's list is not simply a gathering of literary veterans. Ten of the 13 authors are longlisted for the first time, including three debut novelists. The result is a mixture of experience and fresh voices, giving the 2026 competition a particularly wide range of perspectives.

The Booker judges have also highlighted the unusual backgrounds represented among this year's writers. The longlisted authors include poets, playwrights, editors and critics, as well as people who have worked as a lawyer, fashion designer and competitive trampolinist, among other careers.

But the longlist is only the beginning. The 13 books will eventually be reduced to a shortlist, which will be announced on 22 September 2026. The final winner will then be revealed on 9 November 2026 at a ceremony at Old Billingsgate.

The winning author will receive £50,000, while each shortlisted writer will receive £2,500.

For readers, however, the real prize may be the opportunity to discover 13 very different novels before the judges make their final decision.