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Booker Prize 2026 Longlist Includes Former Winners and Debut Novelists
Image Credit: The Booker PrizesThe Booker Prize 2026 longlist has been announced, unveiling the 13 novels in contention for one of the world's most prestigious awards for English-language fiction. Selected from 163 submissions, this year's "Booker Dozen" was chosen by a judging panel chaired by celebrated scholar, writer and broadcaster Mary Beard, alongside award-winning poet, writer and educator Raymond Antrobus, musician, writer and broadcaster Jarvis Cocker, journalist, editor and critic Rebecca Liu, and Booker Prize-shortlisted novelist, poet and essayist Patricia Lockwood.
Describing the selection as one that "rewards risk," the judges have highlighted a longlist that celebrates originality, ambition and the enduring power of the novel.
1. The Shadow of the Object by Chloe Aridjis
A haunting meditation on memory, art and obsession through the mysterious disappearance of treasured objects.
2. Switzy by Emma Cline
An ageing Hollywood insider confronts memory, identity and decline in a sharply observed psychological novel.
3. Helen of Nowhere by Makenna Goodman
A modern fable about isolation, reinvention and humanity's fragile relationship with the natural world.
4. The End of Everything by M. John Harrison
A lyrical post-apocalyptic novel that explores mortality, loss and the uncertain future of civilisation.
5. The Disappearers by Marlon James
A sweeping tale of queerness, violence and survival set against the turbulent backdrop of 1980s Jamaica.
6. Black Bag by Luke Kennard
A darkly comic novel that unpacks grief, modern anxieties and the absurdities of contemporary life.
7. The Renovation by Kenan Orhan
A Kafkaesque exploration of memory, family secrets and the ghosts that linger beneath urban transformation.
8. May We Feed the King by Rebecca Perry
A surreal and genre-defying story of power, ritual and the unsettling bonds between hunger and devotion.
9. The Palm House by Gwendoline Riley
An intimate portrait of family, emotional inheritance and the fractures that shape a life.
10. The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout
A poignant exploration of love, regret and the unspoken truths that define families and friendships.
11. John of John by Douglas Stuart
A powerful coming-of-age novel about faith, identity and forbidden love in the Scottish Hebrides.
12. All Them Dogs by Djamel White
A raw, energetic debut following a young man's search for belonging, dignity and hope on society's margins.
13. The Vivisectors by Missouri Williams
A bold speculative novel examining creation, destruction and the unsettling ethics of reshaping life.
A Celebration of Contemporary Fiction
Spanning intimate family dramas, speculative fiction, historical narratives and bold literary experiments, this year's Booker reflects the breadth and vitality of contemporary English-language fiction. With established literary voices appearing alongside exciting new talent, the 2026 longlist offers readers a rich selection of stories that challenge, provoke and resonate long before the winner is announced.