The judges of the Booker Prize revealed their shortlist after a contentious selection process they described as a "tussle." Among the six finalists are Marlon James, who won in 2015, and Douglas Stuart, winner from 2020. The other nominees include Elizabeth Strout, M John Harrison, Luke Kennard, and Rebecca Perry. Judge Patricia Lockwood humorously noted her assertive behavior during discussions, tossing books across the room to argue for or against selections. Jarvis Cocker joined meetings while on tour in Australia, contributing his unique perspective from a dressing gown at 2 AM local time.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-23,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Marlon James and Douglas Stuart, both previous winners of the prestigious Booker Prize, have been shortlisted again for this year's award. The judges narrowed down 13 semifinalists to six after a challenging selection process described as "a tussle." Alongside James and Stuart, the other contenders are British authors M John Harrison, Luke Kennard (for his novel "Black Bag"), and Rebecca Perry, along with American novelist Elizabeth Strout.
James is nominated for his latest novel, The Disappearers, which recounts a murder of a gay man in 1980s Jamaica and its aftermath. Stuart's shortlisted work is John of John, a story about father-son secrets on a remote Scottish island. The £50,000 prize (approximately $93,851 CAD) annually recognizes the best original novel written in English published in the UK.
If James or Stuart wins this year’s award, they will join an elite group of five authors to have won the Booker Prize twice. This year's shortlisted books are described by the judges as moving, pacey, funny, violent, intriguing, horrifying, and hopeful.
Written for “Booker Prize Shortlist Revealed” on 2026-10-05,
grounded in this article and the 2 other(s) covering the same event.
- Published
Past Booker Prize winners Marlon James and Douglas Stuart have been shortlisted for the prestigious literary award again, after a selection process that the judges described as "a tussle".
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judges → publish → tussle
Jamaican writer James is nominated this year for his latest novel The Disappearers; while Scottish author Stuart is shortlisted for John of John.
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Stuart → nominate → John
This year's other contenders are award-winning US novelist Elizabeth Strout, and British authors M John Harrison, Luke Kennard and Rebecca Perry.
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contenders → win → ?
But seven books that appeared on the longlist in July have been jettisoned, and Dame Mary Beard, who chaired the judging panel, said agreeing on the final six "has been, to put it mildly, hard work".
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agreeing → appear → it
James previously won the Booker Prize in 2015 for A Brief History of Seven Killings, while Stuart won in 2020 for Shuggie Bain.
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Stuart → win → Bain
Praising this year's entries, Dame Mary added: "English language fiction now is full of talent – talent old and talent new.
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fiction → praise → talent
"It's full of wit, seriousness, pleasure, challenge, discomfort and real brilliance, and I think we should be rewarding our novelists a lot more than we do."
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we → think → novelists
'I tossed books across the room'
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I → toss → room
The other judges included former Booker Prize-shortlisted US novelist Patricia Lockwood, who said she discovered she was "bossier than I believed myself to be" when making the case for or against particular books in the judges' meetings.
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myself → include → meetings
"I was sort of standing up a lot and tossing books across the room and being really active.
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I → stand → room
I was like, 'Wow, yeah, I didn't know I had it in me'."
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I → know → me
Another judge, poet Raymond Antrobus, told reporters: "All of us individually had a different idea for a shortlist and then it was a tussle."
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it → tell → shortlist
Lockwood jokingly added: "A tussle, yeah.
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Lockwood → add → tussle
We wrestled like pigs in the mud!"
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We → wrestle → mud
Antrobus said the final choices are connected because they are books that "as well as having heart, also took risk".
"
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that → say → risk
These books, we truly believe, cannot be replicated by artificial intelligence.
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we → believe → intelligence
These are very human books for the way they talk about and navigate a lived experience."
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they → talk → experience
Jarvis's late-night judging
The judging line-up was completed by journalist, editor and critic Rebecca Liu and Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker, who said being on the selection panel was "a bit like being in a band".
He said: "The way a band makes an appealing noise is by everybody combining, in a way, and if you don't like that then you have to go solo.
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you → complete → that
"You get something that you couldn't get [alone] and no-one's in control of it and you make a good noise together.
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you → get → noise
So I hope that's what this shortlist is, a nice noise."
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shortlist → hope → ?
Cocker read some of the entries while on tour, and said he joined one judges' meeting online while wearing a dressing gown in a hotel room in Australia at 02:00 local time.
"When you're on tour, it's quite dull when you're travelling so it was quite good to have something to read," he said.
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he → read → something
"I became known for being in those meetings wearing a towelling robe."
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I → know → robe
This year's Booker Prize shortlist
The End of Everything by M John Harrison
An unexplained catastrophe, and the arrival of mysterious alien beings, have turned British society upside down - and a man and his elderly aunt muddle through on the Kent coast.
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man → turn → coast
The judges said: "The End of Everything can be read as a thriller, a mystery, a satire, a dystopia, a road novel, a work of realism.
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End → say → realism
The landscape may be bleak, the catastrophe may be immersive, yet there still were moments we found ourselves laughing aloud.
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ourselves → find → ?
The Disappearers by Marlon James
This epic, visceral story revolves around a violent attack on eight gay men who had gathered to rehearse a queer play in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1988, and its aftermath.
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who → revolve → 1988
The New York Times called it "a masterpiece, the novel of the decade and possibly of the century thus far".
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Times → call → century
James previously won the Booker for A Brief History of Seven Killings in 2015.
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James → win → 2015
The judges said: "A Jamaican epic from one of the most impactful Caribbean novelists today; readers will love the shifting register of the dialogue and poetic phrasings, often pierced through with sharp, double-edged humour."
Black Bag by Luke Kennard
An out-of work actor gets a new role - being locked in a black bag during psychology lectures for an entire term as a professor's experiment.
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actor → say → experiment
The story unfolds into a humorous and poignant satire that makes sharp observations about the state of modern masculinity and creative life.
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that → unfold → masculinity
The judges said: "In a wonderfully quirky campus novel, Kennard combines an absurd experiment with a moving story about human frailty, passion, confusion and identity.
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Kennard → say → frailty
"
May We Feed the King by Rebecca Perry
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We → feed → Perry
A modern-day museum curator is commissioned to recreate a past scene in a historic palace, and becomes immersed in the world of the young, reluctant king whose life she uncovers.
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she → commission → life
The judges said: "An affecting and lush jewel of a novel that moves between our present-day world to a medieval court and unsettles the idea that there's ever one universal historical truth.
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that → say → idea
The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout
Strout, a former Pulitzer Prize winner and double Booker nominee, tells the story of a high school history teacher in his 50s who feels adrift in modern America.
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who → say → America
When a secret emerges, he must face big questions about his relationships and life choices.
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he → emerge → relationships
The judges said: "A novel that engages with the deeply divisive politics of present-day America, without itself becoming divisive.
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itself → say → America
This is the kind of book we need now: a calm antidote to contemporary events.
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we → need → events
The third novel by Stuart, who won the Booker in 2020 for Shuggie Bain, is about a gay Scottish fashion student who is drawn back to his home in a small, religious community in the Outer Hebrides in the mid-1990s.
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who → win → mid-1990s
He and his father both nurse secrets.
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He → nurse → secrets
…and 9 more, not listed.
The Aporia
