Marlon James and Douglas Stuart are on the 2026 Booker Prize shortlist. If either writer wins, they will become only the fifth author to take home the award twice. The shortlist of six books was announced on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, by a judging panel chaired by historian Mary Beard.
The two former winners are joined by American novelist Elizabeth Strout, British authors Rebecca Perry and M. John Harrison, and Luke Kennard. The winner will be revealed on November 9, 2026, at a ceremony in London.
The Two Books in the Running
Marlon James is shortlisted for “The Disappearers,” a 640-page novel set in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1988. The story follows a group of gay men who come together to rehearse a play, only to face a violent attack. James has called it his most autobiographical novel to date.
Douglas Stuart is nominated for “John of John,” which tells the story of a young man named John-Calum Macleod who returns to the Isle of Harris in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides. The novel explores the tense relationship between a son and his father, a sheep farmer and church elder.
Both books were published in 2026. “The Disappearers” arrived in September 2026, while “John of John” was released in May 2026. They are available in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, India, and other markets through major booksellers and online retailers.
A Rare Club of Two-Time Winners
Only four authors have won the Booker Prize more than once. J.M. Coetzee won in 1983 and 1999. Peter Carey won in 1988 and 2001. Hilary Mantel won in 2009 and 2012. Margaret Atwood won in 2000 and 2019.
James won the prize in 2015 for “A Brief History of Seven Killings,” a novel inspired by the attempted assassination of Bob Marley. Stuart won in 2020 for his debut novel “Shuggie Bain,” a story about a boy growing up in 1980s Glasgow with a mother struggling with addiction.
“Most of these books were beginning to feel like old friends after at least two readings,” said Mary Beard, head of the judging panel. “And it was painful to have to let some of them go, with their now bent spines and dog-eared pages, their brilliant capacity to make us think, argue and sometimes disagree.”
The Other Four Books on the Shortlist
Elizabeth Strout is shortlisted for “The Things We Never Say,” her 11th novel. Strout won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2009 for “Olive Kitteridge” and has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize before.
Rebecca Perry makes the list with “May We Feed the King,” a historical novel told across two timelines. It follows a medieval king and a modern-day curator. The book already won the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize.
M. John Harrison, 81, is nominated for “The End of Everything,” a post-apocalyptic novel set on the Kent coast. If he wins, he will become the oldest winner in the prize’s history. The current record is held by Margaret Atwood, who was 79 when she won in 2019.
Luke Kennard rounds out the list with “Black Bag,” a campus novel about a struggling actor who is paid by a psychology professor to sit inside a black leather bag during lectures.
How the Shortlist Was Chosen
The six books were selected from a longlist of 13 titles, which was narrowed down from 163 submissions. The judges described the shortlisted books as “moving, pacey, funny, violent, intriguing, horrifying and hopeful.” The prize is open to novels written in English and published in the UK or Ireland between October 2025 and September 2026.
The judging panel includes Mary Beard, poet Raymond Antrobus, musician Jarvis Cocker, journalist Rebecca Liu, and novelist Patricia Lockwood.
“These novels range from the hilarious to the discomfiting, from the frighteningly strange to the alarmingly domestic, from the powerfully shocking to the intriguingly understated,” Beard said.
What the Winner Gets
The winner will receive £50,000 (about $67,000) and a trophy named Iris, after Iris Murdoch, who won the prize in 1978. Each of the six shortlisted authors receives £2,500 and a specially bound edition of their book.
The 2026 winner will be announced on Monday, November 9, 2026, at Old Billingsgate in London. The ceremony will be livestreamed on the Booker Prize’s official channels.
Last year’s winner was David Szalay for his novel “Flesh.” Szalay is a Hungarian-British writer, and his win marked the first time a Hungarian-British author took home the prize.
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Global Reading List
All six shortlisted books are available worldwide. “The Disappearers” by Marlon James and “John of John” by Douglas Stuart are both on sale in hardcover, e-book, and audiobook formats across the USA, UK, Canada, Australia, and India. “The Things We Never Say” by Elizabeth Strout, “May We Feed the King” by Rebecca Perry, “The End of Everything” by M. John Harrison, and “Black Bag” by Luke Kennard are also available through major retailers and libraries in these regions.
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