// BBC ENTERTAINMENT & ARTS — MODA & SOCIETÀ
Booker Prize judges reveal shortlisted novels after selection 'tussle'
The Booker Prize 2026 judges are Rebecca Liu, Jarvis Cocker, Dame Mary Beard, Raymond Antrobus and Patricia Lockwood
Past Booker Prize winners Marlon James and Douglas Stuart have been shortlisted for the prestigious literary award again, after a selection process that the judges described as "a tussle".
Jamaican writer James is nominated this year for his latest novel The Disappearers; while Scottish author Stuart is shortlisted for John of John.
This year's other contenders are award-winning US novelist Elizabeth Strout, and British authors M John Harrison, Luke Kennard and Rebecca Perry.
But seven books that appeared on the longlist in July have been jettisoned, and Dame Mary Beard, who chaired the judging panel, said agreeing on the final six "has been, to put it mildly, hard work".
Scroll down to find out more about this year's nominees.
James previously won the Booker Prize in 2015 for A Brief History of Seven Killings, while Stuart won in 2020 for Shuggie Bain.
Praising this year's entries, Dame Mary added: "English language fiction now is full of talent – talent old and talent new.
"It's full of wit, seriousness, pleasure, challenge, discomfort and real brilliance, and I think we should be rewarding our novelists a lot more than we do."
The other judges included former Booker Prize-shortlisted US novelist Patricia Lockwood, who said she discovered she was "bossier than I believed myself to be" when making the case for or against particular books in the judges' meetings.