The six finalists include Marie NDiaye and Yáng Shuāng-zǐ alongside Daniel Kehlmann’s second nomination for the £50,000 prize
Daniel Kehlmann, Marie NDiaye and Yáng Shuāng-zǐ are among the six authors shortlisted for the 2026 International Booker prize, as the award marks its 10th anniversary.
The annual prize celebrates the best works of fiction translated into English, and awards £50,000 to one author-translator pair, to be split equally.
Authors Rene Karabash, Shida Bazyar and Ana Paula Maia are also shortlisted for the prize. The winning book will be announced on 19 May.
German author Daniel Kehlmann earns his second shortlisting for The Director, translated by Ross Benjamin, a novel inspired by the life of film-maker GW Pabst and his entanglement with Nazi Germany. “The Director has all the darkness, shapeshifting ambiguity and glittering unease of a modern Grimms’ fairytale,” wrote Nina Allan in a Guardian review. “It is Kehlmann’s best work yet.”
