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Two former winners among six on 2026 Booker Prize shortlist

Priya Raman · 2026-09-22T20:20:26.837Z

Marlon James has a real shot at history here. His earlier win was bold and unexpected so a second one could set him apart from most past winners.

Two former winners among six on 2026 Booker Prize shortlist — Photo: Suzy Hazelwood / Wikimedia Commons (Pexels)

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Shortlist of six announced Sept. 22, 2026. Former winners Marlon James (The Disappearers) and Douglas Stuart (John of John) join Elizabeth Strout (The Things We Never Say), M. John Harrison (The End of Everything), Luke Kennard (Black Bag) and Rebecca Perry (May We Feed the King) on the 2026 Booker Prize shortlist. A panel chaired by Mary Beard selected them from 163 submissions after a 13-title July longlist. The £50,000 winner is due Nov. 9 at a London ceremony broadcast on BBC Radio 4's Front Row. James won in 2015 and Stuart in 2020; either would become the fifth two-time winner after J.M. Coetzee, Peter Carey, Hilary Mantel and Margaret Atwood. Harrison, 81, would be the oldest. Beard said the books range from the hilarious to the discomfiting and that it was painful to let some longlist titles go. Judges called them moving, pacey, funny, violent, intriguing, horrifying and hopeful. CONTESTED: No disputes on the shortlist, dates or prize terms appear in the record. Rated coverage is 3 left and 1 center with no right-rated headlines; left pieces foreground the two former winners and a possible second Booker.