Douglas Stuart and Marlon James, both previous winners of the Booker Prize, have been named on the 2026 longlist, alongside three-time nominee Elizabeth Strout. The 13 novels selected feature authors of seven nationalities across three continents, with almost half from the UK.
A diverse and experimental list
Ten of the writers are appearing on a Booker longlist for the first time, including three debut novelists: Kenan Orhan, Rebecca Perry and Djamel White. Chairing the judging panel is classicist and broadcaster Mary Beard, joined by Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker, writer Raymond Antrobus, novelist Patricia Lockwood, and Guardian journalist Rebecca Liu.
Beard said each book on the longlist “brilliantly musters the power of words on the page to take the reader to new places, to see old places from new angles, to change minds.” She added, “I would not be telling the truth if I said that I hadn’t occasionally felt daunted, as a new box of 30 or so gleaming volumes landed on my doorstep.”
Notable contenders and firsts
James is longlisted for his fifth novel, The Disappearers, based around a homophobic mob attack in 1980s Jamaica, to be published in September. The judges called it “a reckoning” from “a singular literary talent”. Stuart returns with his third novel, John of John, praised for its “rich, textural detail”. If either wins, they would become only the fifth author to take the Booker twice, joining JM Coetzee, Peter Carey, Hilary Mantel and Margaret Atwood.
Strout picks up her third Booker nomination for The Things We Never Say, her 11th novel, which reckons with Trump’s America. Gaby Wood, chief executive of the Booker Prize Foundation, said the judges’ “range of tastes” and “openness of mind” produced a list that “shows how capacious an art form the novel is” and “rewards risk”.
The list opens the door to two firsts. Chloe Aridjis, Mexican-British, could become the first winner of Mexican heritage with The Shadow of the Object. Kenan Orhan, Turkish-American, could become the first of Turkish heritage with his debut The Renovation.
Age range and background
At 81, M John Harrison is the oldest on the list, longlisted for the first time for The End of Everything. Should he win, he would surpass Atwood as the oldest ever recipient (she was 79 when she jointly won in 2019). At the other end is 28-year-old Djamel White, the only Irish writer on the list, whose debut All Them Dogs is set in west Dublin.
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 shortlist will be announced at the Southbank Centre in London on 22 September, with the winner named on 9 November.
