International Booker Prize longlist features 13 translated novels

Thirteen books have been named to the 2026 International Booker Prize longlist, an award for fiction translated into English. The selections include novels by Daniel Kehlmann, Olga Ravn and Gabriela Cabezón Cámara, among others, and range from a film director working under Nazi rule to a war veteran with amnesia and a story about an unexceptional witch.

Natasha Brown, chair of this year’s judging panel, noted that many of the 128 books considered examined the consequences of war. The longlist also contains quieter and stranger subjects: petty squabbles between neighbors, mysterious mountain villages, Big Pharma conspiracies, witchy women, ill-fated lovers, a haunted prison and obscure film references.

The books were originally written in 11 languages, including Bulgarian, Danish, Mandarin and Swedish. Notable entries include Daniel Kehlmann’s The Director, translated by Ross Benjamin and centred on the Austrian filmmaker G.W.

Austria

international booker, longlist, 2026, translated fiction, daniel kehlmann, olga ravn, cabezón cámara, the director, ross benjamin, war veteran