These Novels Are ‘Dynamite’: The 2026 Booker Prize Longlist

What do you make of the 2026 Booker Prize longlist, dear reader? The chair of the judging panel, classicist and author Mary Beard, who along with her fellow judges whittled down 163 submissions to 13 after months of reading and discussion, hailed the selected books as ‘dynamite’. The longlist features authors from seven countries, including Jamaica, Mexico and Turkey. The largest contingent of writers is from the United Kingdom, followed by the United States. The absence of South Asian writers on the list is deeply disappointing. Books written in English and published in the UK and/or Ireland between October 1, 2025 and September 30, 2026 are eligible for submission. I’ve read more than one novel written by South Asian authors—Rahul Bhattacharya’s Railsong, Amitav Ghosh’s Ghost-Eye, Deepa Anappara’s Forbidden Kingdom, to name just three—during this timeframe whose literary merits convinced me they would find a place on the longlist. Other surprising absences this year include Sebastian Barry, Ann Patchett, Adam Johnson, Julian Barnes, Howard Jacobson, A.K. Blakemore and Ben Lerner.

Moving on from the absences...The 13 writers on the longlist include Booker-winner Marlon James with his novel The Disappearers, which revolves around the aftermath of a homophobic attack in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1988. James traces the trajectory of the lives of the attack’s male survivors, shining the spotlight on Jamaican society with his trademark boldness and intensity. Booker-winning British-American author Douglas Stuart’s John of John, set in the Presbyterian community on the Isle of Harris, delves into a troubled father-son relationship. Stuart tells a moving story, exploring the themes of sexuality, familial bonds and faith.

American writer Elizabeth Strout’s novel, The Things We Never Say, her eleventh book, is the story of a 57-year-old history teacher called Artie Dam, who has lived through one term of the Trump presidency. As America is about to usher in Trump’s second term, Dam grapples with his personal troubles. Strout’s understated style, which she has perfected, delivers powerful punches, underlining the undeniable connections between the personal and the political.

If satire is what you are after, there’s plenty of it to be found in British writer Luke Kennard’s Black Bag, narrated by a down-and-out actor who has signed up for a strange academic project. After agreeing to attend lectures dressed in a black bag, his experiences grow increasingly bizarre. Kennard dissects modern life and its absurdities with a satirist’s humourous eye and a novelist’s informed understanding of the big picture. British author Gwendoline Riley’s The Palm House, her seventh novel, is set in London. If you haven’t read too many novels of the ‘writer living in a city writes about her city’ genre, this one’s for you. Riley delves into the heart of a friendship between Laura, a young writer, and a weathered magazine editor. The city is not just a backdrop here, but a living, throbbing presence.

Mexican-British writer Chloe Aridjis’ The Shadow of the Object defies easy classification. The plot is intriguing, the style beguiling. If Aridjis goes on to be awarded the Booker, she will become the first author of Mexican descent to win the prize. 

British author and well-known poet Rebecca Perry finds a spot on the longlist with her debut novel, May We Feed the King. Perry’s narrative flits between the past and the present, inviting readers to ponder the workings of history and the intricacies of the art of storytelling. Turkish-American writer Kenan Orhan’s debut novel, The Renovation, revolves around a Turkish emigree psychologist who lives in Italy with her father who suffers from dementia. When she gets a new bathroom built in their home and it turns into a prison cell, this absurdist political fable encompasses Turkey’s political storms, the fallibility of memory and the vagaries of history. The other debut novel on the list is Irish writer Djamel White’s  All of Them Dogs in which the hero returns to west Dublin after being on the run for five years for the crime of murdering a man in a gang fight. White, 28, is the youngest longlisted author this year.

Veteran British author M. John Harrison’s The End of Everything  is a powerful post-apocalyptic tale set in England. It smartly draws readers’ attention to the powerful hold of big tech over our lives. At 81, Harrison is the oldest author on the longlist.

British novelist Missouri Williams’ second book The Vivisectors has gothic elements and is set in a university town where an army of plants descend on the town’s buildings and homes and devour them. This apocalyptic campus novel sounds the alarm loud and clear about the climate crisis and humanity’s slow (or not so slow!) slide towards doom.  

Helen of Nowhere by American writer Makenna Goodman, the shortest book on the longlist (140 pages), is the story of a professor who has fallen from grace. This strange and sublime ghost story has philosophical underpinnings and strong feminist leanings.

Switzy by American author Emma Cline follows a rich, successful man heading to an assisted suicide clinic in Switzerland. Theme-wise and in terms of style, Cline takes a different track here from her two previous novels, with interesting results. 

(The Booker shortlist is slated to be announced on September 22 and the winner will be announced on November 9, 2026. The winning author will be awarded a trophy and £50,000 in prize money.)