Published : 23 Sep 2026, 09:38 PM
Updated : 23 Sep 2026, 09:38 PM
The shortlist for this year’s Booker Prize has been unveiled following a spirited selection process that panel chair Dame Mary Beard described as "a tussle", the BBC reports.
Previous laureates Marlon James and Douglas Stuart make the final six alongside Pulitzer winner Elizabeth Strout, M John Harrison, Luke Kennard, and debut novelist Rebecca Perry.
Seven longlisted titles were dropped after heated deliberations, which judge Patricia Lockwood jokingly likened to "wrestling like pigs in the mud".
According to the BBC, the panel said the chosen novels embrace risk, heart, and authentic lived experience that cannot be replicated by artificial intelligence.
The shortlist features:
· The End of Everything by M John Harrison
· The Disappearers by Marlon James
· Black Bag by Luke Kennard
· May We Feed the King by Rebecca Perry
· The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout
· John of John by Douglas Stuart
The winner of the £50,000 literary award will be announced at a ceremony in London on Nov 9, broadcast live on BBC Radio 4's Front Row.
