2026 International Booker Prize speculation > Likes and Comments
Oooh, great! I've been busy adding the English editions of some eligible books to the goodreads database, will add them to Listopia now! Many previously long or shortlisted authors are coming out with new books later this year.
Rachel wrote: "Yes! Thanks for sharing the link!"Thanks for doing that
Really nice to see others are continuing to compile those lists. Thank you!
The Place of Shells is a very strong contender for 2026 - rather better than the other Polly Barton translated Akutagawa Prize winning novel on this year’s shortlist (and I say that as a Hunchback fan).
I’m eager for my hold to come in on that one!
Paul wrote: "The Place of Shells is a very strong contender for 2026 - rather better than the other Polly Barton translated Akutagawa Prize winning novel on this year’s shortlist (and I say tha..."I agree Paul. There is at least one more first time English translation of an Akutagawa prize winner coming, though I know nothing of it.
Are World Editions books still eligible, or no since their London office shut down in 2023 and is now based in U.S.?
I don't think they should be eligible no - but whether that gets picked up...
I am presently reading what may be my first contender for 2026, The Director by Daniel Kehlmann. I have a few pages to read before I finish tomorrow and will add some thoughts after I do so, but I am curious what others are thinking about this novel and its chances. I am very high on the novel so far, but since I am a classic film buff and the topic is a fictionalized life of the early German film director G.W. Pabst, I am a bit biased. Anyone have any thoughts on the book?
I have a copy and just a quick glance through the first couple pages made me excited to start it soon.
Paul wrote: "The Shadow Jury picks On the Calculation of Volume as our winner - from our own shortlist.https://open.substack.com/pub/shadowi...
Will self in ..."
I think you meant this to be placed in the 2025 discussion
We’re delighted to reveal the judging panel for the International Booker Prize 2026 – the 10th anniversary year of the prize in its current form.Natasha Brown, an award-winning and critically-acclaimed author, will act as chair and will be joined by writer, broadcaster and Oxford University Professor of Mathematics Marcus du Sautoy; International Booker Prize-shortlisted translator Sophie Hughes; writer, Lolwe editor and bookshop owner Troy Onyango; and award-winning novelist and columnist Nilanjana S. Roy.
A longlist of 12 or 13 books will be announced on Tuesday, 24 February 2026, with a shortlist of six books to follow on Tuesday, 31 March 2026. The winning book will be announced at a ceremony in May 2026, which will be livestreamed on the Booker Prizes social media channels.
Sounds like an excellent and exciting panel, love Natasha Brown her works!
Love Natasha - she kindly invited me to her book launch and mini after party for her latest book. And nice to see a Cambridge mathematician with an Oxford one. Two mathematicians on the panel is a great move in my view.
Yes great to see Natasha. Any mathsy books I wonder - Calculation of Volume ticks the title box but not really theme; I can see Place of Shells appealing.Feels they are doubling down - which is a good thing - in moving away from the more Euro-centric bias of the prize historically.
And great to see Sophie Hughes, the most recognised translator in the prize's history I think. Not sure she has any books that will now not be eligible.
Shaved a week off the longlist-shortlist gap I note.
Good point!!! Surely nailed on then, unless the mathematicians struggle as I did a bit with a theorem that had only been partially proven in reality using some heavily computational methods being, in the novel, solved by someone in a concentration camp with barely any writing material. Would have been better if he thought he proved it - who amongst us has not thought they cracked Fermat’s last theorem in their sleep - and spent the rest of his life trying to reconstruct the proof.
It’s hard to see a link to the Deserters … it’s not like it’s about the twin prime theorem and one of the judges founded The Twin Prime Theatre company.
Hi ----I've created a thread for discussion of the Korean contenders for the 2026 International Booker Prize: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/....
Korean translated-fiction has done remarkably well in this contest since the 2016 re-framing, of course with the Han Kang win in 2016 and many nominees in later years.
There are currently fifteen known (listed here) Korean novels eligible for the 2026 prize; that's likely to wind up considerably higher as the year goes on and publication-dates (thru April 2026) continue to be announced.
See here for the Korea-specific 2026 list and ongoing commentary:
"Korean contenders for the 2026 International Booker Prize: list, discussion, speculation"
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
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Peter wrote: "Hi ----I've created a thread for discussion of the Korean contenders for the 2026 International Booker Prize: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/....
Korean translated-fiction has done re..."
Can you add them to the Listopia if they aren't there
I copied the list (https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...) from the Listopia, adding only the so-far-absent Red Sword.Three others -- Alien Gods, Come Down to a Lower Place, and The Call of the Friend, all from Honford Star -- do not yet have GoodReads entries but I think will be eligible for the International Booker.
Ooh interesting. Those 3 titles are part of Honford Star's "Lovecraft Reanimated" project that features leading Korean speculative fiction writers reimagining Lovecraft's works.
Sam wrote: "I am presently reading what may be my first contender for 2026, The Director by Daniel Kehlmann. I have a few pages to read before I finish tomorrow and will add so..."Loved this, and fully agree it would make a strong contender for the 2026 prize!
hey! i just joined this group so i could find some fellow prize lovers! thanks for setting up the predication list, fellow rachel! i'm slowly reading through it.
so far, i've only read sola's i gave you eyes and you looked toward darkness (which i gave five stars and was blown away by) and ishizawa's the place of shells (which i was disappinted with and gave two stars).
i'm currently reading ashibe's murder in the house of omari, azar's the gowkaren tree in the middle of our kitchen, and ho-yeon's the second chance convience store.
i have we are green and trembling, autocorrect, the hole, people with no charisma, hunger, and waist deep to read next. i'd love anyone's recommendation of which to prioritise next!
Welcome!! I felt the same about The Place for Shells but know it worked really well for others here. My top three at the moment are The Remembered Soldier, The Director, and Restoration.
thanks rachel! i can see the place for shells working for a lot of people. The premise was fantastic, and i enjoyed the discussions about the 2011 tsunami, but it didn't quite hit overall in its execution. i've heard amazing things about the director, so that's high on my tbr, and the remember soldier sounds fabulous. the size of it is just intimidating. i'll have to look up resortation!
rachel x wrote: "thanks rachel! i can see the place for shells working for a lot of people. The premise was fantastic, and i enjoyed the discussions about the 2011 tsunami, but it didn't quite hit overall in its ex..."Over in the Newest Literary Fiction group there is a buddy read in October of The Remembered Soldier
I loved Restoration as well - indeed Charco have some strong entries with On Earth As It Is Beneath as well. I loved In Place of Shells but I can certainly see the case against.
There are a couple of great from-Korean short story collections from small presses - Broccoli Punch and Failed Summer Vacation - would hope to see one on the list.
There's a lot of buzz about The Director - and The Remembered Soldier looks great if umm about 500 pages too long!
The Remembered Soldier
I recently thought both Vigdis Hjorth Repetition and Tokyo Sympathy Tower by Rie Kudan excellent.
My top three so far are The Director, Autocorrect, and You Glow in the Dark. I am really looking forward to On Earth As It Is Beneath and Restoration also - but there are a lot on the listopia I'm excited about!The two I didn't care for so far were The Place of Shells and That's All I Know.
Sonia wrote: "Over in the Newest Literary Fiction group there is a buddy read in October of The Remembered Soldier"thanks for letting me know, sonia! i'll go and join :)
Paul wrote: "I loved Restoration as well - indeed Charco have some strong entries with On Earth As It Is Beneath as well. I loved In Place of Shells but I can certainly see the case against. There are a coup..."i desperately need to catch up on charco's backlist. they have so many incredible titles. i'm definitely bumping restortation up the list.
i can certainly see the case for the place of shells, too. i think it'll be a divisive one!
i have both on my list from the goodreads list. i've been hearing the buzz about the director, so i have it on hold at the library.
anything over 500 pages is immediately intimdating to me haha! i might join the group sonia mentioned and try to read it alongside them in october.
Henk wrote: "I recently thought both Vigdis Hjorth Repetition and Tokyo Sympathy Tower by Rie Kudan excellent."i'm super interested in tokyo sympthay tower! repetition wasn't high on my list but maybe it'll have to bump it up
Rose wrote: "My top three so far are The Director, Autocorrect, and You Glow in the Dark. I am really looking forward to On Earth As It Is Beneath and Restoration also - but there are a lot on the listopia I'm ..."the listopia has gotten me so hyped! i have so many books on my tbr. i own a copy of autocorrect, so i'll read that one soon.
i love the cover for that's all i know so i hope it's a hit haha
i finished ho-yeon's the second chance convenience store yesterday. it was a sweet but simple story that i enjoyed but i think it's too 'commercial' to make it to longlist.
Yes I liked that one. Although from the flurry of Korean cozy healing fiction, The Wizard’s Bakery is the one that has an edge, and subverts the genre somewhat so would be my pick. Indeed it has been rather mismarketed and might not be what fans of the genre expect, as one can see from several of the Netgalley reviews, the most recent of which begins “shame on the publishers for selling and marketing this as a cozy read”.
Is there a group where Cercador prize probables are discussed or the books marked in the above listopia would be eligible for Cercador as well?
There is a Cercador Prize thread in the Other Prizes folder although it isn’t very active. I will post there which should mean it then shows up at tool of unread threads so as to highlight it.
The same books wouldn’t necessarily be eligible due to UK vs US publishers and different date (Cercador is calendar year).
Is Orlanda by Jacqueline Harpman eligible. It's a re-release right
Depends if it was originally published in the UK (rather than US) when it was first translated back in 1996. I am not sure it was as Seven Sisters did it, so it could be eligible. That said I recall in the past a Vintage Classic that has only previously been US published and so technically eligible wasn’t entered - a Cărtărescu collection - as it seemed the publisher assumed it wasn’t allowed. So I wonder if Vintage Classics will enter even if eligible.
Another book like that this year is House of Day, House of Night - translation US published in 2002 but only released in UK later this year. I suspect Fitzcarraldo will enter it.
NB one difference in Anglo Booker vs International Booker is that the former has a time limit, the latter does not. For the Booker a book previously published outside UK is only eligible within a certain time limit. So for this year (Oct 24-Sep 25) the non UK version can’t have been published pre Oct 22. That does rule out some books that take a while to get a UK edition.
I have a second hand copy of the Granta edition of House of Day, House of Night, which was published in the UK in 2002.
Rachel (I think it's you Rachel?) has set up a 2026 Listopia here
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...