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Your TBR list is about to get even longer.
The International Booker Prize, which recognizes exceptional works of fiction and translation by giving them a global platform, just announced its short list of winning books for 2026, and you might want to add them to your bookshelf.
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The books—Taiwan Travelogue, The Director, The Witch, The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran, On Earth As It Is Beneath and She Who Remains—made the shortlist this year because their lasting effect is "energizing."
They tell stories from across the world that inspire creativity, courage, hope, and self-acceptance, according to the 2026 judging panel that's chaired by award-winning author Natasha Brown. (Other judges include writer, broadcaster,and Oxford University Professor of Mathematics and for the Public Understanding of Science Marcus du Sautoy; International Booker Prize-shortlisted translator Sophie Hughes; writer, Lolwe editor and bookseller Troy Onyango; and award-winning novelist and columnist Nilanjana S. Roy.)
"With narratives that capture moments from across the past century, these books reverberate with history," Brown said in a statement. "While there’s heartbreak, brutality and isolation among these stories, their lasting effect is energizing."
According to the organization, the winning books span cultures and locales, from Japan-ruled Taiwan in the 1930s (Taiwan Travelogue) and Nazi-controlled Europe (The Director) to suburban France in the 1990s (The Witch) and the post-Iranian Revolution in 1979 (The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran). On Earth As It Is Beneath takes us to a brutal Brazilian prison, and She Who Remains sets us down in a strict patriarchal community in the Albanian Alps.
"We find characters in exile, living or traveling far from home, or navigating unfamiliar, oppressive, or hostile circumstances," the foundation shares on its website. "In very different ways, the books explore what happens when individual freedoms—to create art, to love, to protest, to live without fear—are curtailed or threatened by forces more powerful than us, whether a controlling husband or a barbaric regime. And they show what happens when people find the strength to survive, to fight back, to live in hope or to be true to themselves."
The shortlist was chosen from 128 books submitted by publishers, which were narrowed down to 13 in February this year. Eligible works must be translated into English from any language, and published in the U.K. and/or Ireland between May 1, 2025, and April 30, 2026. The authors and translators selected represent eight countries—Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, France, Germany, Taiwan, the U.K. and the U.S.—and four continents. Five of the six authors and four of the six translators are women.
The winning author and translator will be announced on May 19, when they will split £50,000 (or about $66,000).
Below are the books, their summaries, and judges' comments so you can decide which to add to your stack.
1. The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran by Shida Bazyar, translated from German by Ruth Martin
Told from multiple perspectives and across four decades, this novel follows a family's escape and return to Iran via Germany as they undergo oppression, exile, resistance and live their lives between cultures.
Judges: "Timely, tender, political and wonderfully human, it follows an Iranian family from revolution into exile, exploring a dream of freedom that never dies."
2. She Who Remains by Rene Karabash, translated from Bulgarian by Izidora Angel
A teen escapes an arranged marriage by becoming a sworn virgin and renouncing her womanhood to live as a man. It beautifully explores identity, gender, love and freedom.
Judges: "An exquisitely written, brilliantly observed story about a young woman in a contemporary Albanian tribal society, and a blood feud that sets off her journey to self-discovery."
3. The Director by Daniel Kehlmann, translated from German by Ross Benjamin
The great (real-life) filmmaker G.W. Pabst returns from Hollywood to his homeland and is forced to make films for the Nazi regime.
Judges: "Exploring how G.W. Pabst descended into the morally dubious position of making films for the Nazis, it uses audacious and sparklingly comic writing to tell a dark story."
4. On Earth As It Is Beneath by Ana Paula Maia, translated from Portuguese by Padma Viswanathan
This shorter book places readers inside a penal colony, where enslaved people were once tortured and murdered. Here, the normal rules of justice have given way to sadism and violence.
Judges: "A brutal, haunting and hypnotic novella set in a remote Brazilian penal colony where the boundaries between justice and cruelty collapse. Spare, unflinching and relentless."
5. The Witch by Marie NDiaye, translated from French by Jordan Stump
An ordinary woman stuck in an unhappy marriage passes on her supernatural gifts to her twin daughters, only to discover they're more powerful than she is.
Judges: "A darkly comic and beautifully crafted novel where magic and reality collide to create an unconventional exploration of motherhood."
6. Taiwan Travelogue by Yáng Shuāng-zǐ, translated from Mandarin Chinese by Lin King
Written as if it were a translation of a historical memoir, this book follows a Japanese novelist's foodie journey through Taiwan with a local interpreter and explores colonialism and queer love.
Judges: "Following a Japanese author on a government-sponsored tour of 1930s Taiwan, this is an insightful post-colonial novel that reads like a delicious romance."