The Booker Prize 2026 Shortlist Readings

Meet the six authors up for this year’s Booker Prize, as they read from and discuss their shortlisted books with novelist Sara Collins. The Booker Prize is the world’s most significant award for a single work of fiction and has rewarded and celebrated world-class talent for over 55 years, shaping the canon of 20th and 21st century literature. On the eve of the Booker Prize ceremony, hear from the six shortlisted authors in the running for this year’s £50,000 prize at this popular annual event. The 2026 longlist is: The Shadow of the Object by Chloe Aridjis Switzy by Emma Cline Helen of Nowhere by Makenna Goodman The End of Everything by M John Harrison The Disappearers by Marlon James Black Bag by Luke Kennard The Renovation by Kenan Orhan May We Feed the King by Rebecca Perry The Palm House by Gwendoline Riley The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout John of John by Douglas Stuart All Them Dogs by Djamel White The Vivisectors by Missouri Williams Sara Collins was a Booker Prize judge in 2024. She is the author of The Confessions of Frannie Langton, which won the Costa First Novel Award in 2019. She is also a literary critic, screenwriter, broadcaster and podcaster.