The Booker Prize 2026 shortlist has been unveiled, featuring six diverse works of fiction chosen from 163 submissions. Among the nominees is M John Harrison, an 81-year-old science fiction writer, whose speculative novel The End of Everything could make him the oldest winner in the prize’s 57-year history. This would surpass the current record held by Margaret Atwood, who was 79 when she jointly won in 2019. Harrison’s first nomination comes after he served as a judge in 2022. The shortlist also includes two previous Booker Prize winners: Marlon James, known for A Brief History of Seven Killings, and Douglas Stuart, whose debut novel Shuggie Bain won in 2020. Joining them are American author Elizabeth Strout, whose novel The Things We Never Say explores themes of memory and identity, Luke Kennard, a poet and novelist whose third book Black Bag is based on a 1960s social experiment, and Rebecca Perry, a former trampolinist and debut novelist. Perry’s novel, May We Feed the King, is about a curator obsessed with a medieval king’s life and has been described as "unusual, evocative, and incredibly moving." If she were to win, she would be only the seventh debut novelist to take home the prize in its history. The judging panel, chaired by classicist and broadcaster Mary Beard, included poet Raymond Antrobus, musician Jarvis Cocker, critic Rebecca Lieu, and Patricia Lockwood, who was shortlisted in 2021. The shortlist was announced at the Southbank Centre in London, with all five judges present. They emphasized that the selected novels are "distinctly human" and showcase a variety of tones and styles, ranging from humorous to discomfiting, from the strange to the domestic, and from shocking to understated. The judges were careful to avoid drawing a single unifying theme among the six books, highlighting instead the diversity of perspectives and risks taken by the authors. While seven books from the longlist were omitted, including Emma Cline’s Switzy, which had recently gained attention, the judges noted that their focus was on what to include rather than exclude. They acknowledged the challenges of selecting a shortlist from such a large pool of entries, emphasizing that many excellent books were not chosen. The winner of the Booker Prize will be announced on 9 November and will receive £50,000 and a trophy named Iris, after 1978 winner Iris Murdoch. Last year’s winner was David Szalay for Flesh, with other recent winners including Samantha Harvey, Paul Lynch, Shehan Karunatilaka, and Damon Galgut.