Marlon James, Douglas Stuart Vie for Second Booker Prize Win
Both authors, previous winners of the prestigious U.K. fiction award, have been named to the six-book shortlist for this year's prize.
Marlon James and Douglas Stuart have the opportunity to become the fifth authors to win the Booker Prize twice, after both were named Tuesday to the shortlist for the U.K.'s most prestigious fiction award. The judges narrowed the field from 13 semifinalists to six, describing the shortlisted books as "moving, pacey, funny, violent, intriguing, horrifying and hopeful." These selections were made from an initial pool of 163 submissions.
The Booker Prize recognizes outstanding long-form fiction written in English and published in the U.K. or Ireland between October 2025 and September 2026. The winner receives 50,000 pounds (approximately $67,000) and a trophy named Iris.
James's shortlisted novel, "The Disappearers," explores the lives of gay men in 1980s Jamaica. Stuart's "John of John" delves into father-son secrets on a remote Scottish island. James previously won the Booker Prize in 2015 for "A Brief History of Seven Killings," and Stuart won in 2020 for "Shuggie Bain."
Should either author win, they would join a select group of previous two-time Booker laureates: J.M. Coetzee, Peter Carey, Hilary Mantel, and Margaret Atwood.
Also among the finalists is Pulitzer Prize winner Elizabeth Strout, with her novel "The Things We Never Say," a story set in her native New England. Strout's "Oh William!" was a finalist in 2022, and she won the Pulitzer in 2009 for "Olive Kitteridge."
The remaining shortlisted authors are British writers Rebecca Perry for "May We Feed the King," an 81-year-old M. John Harrison for his post-apocalyptic novel "The End of Everything," and Luke Kennard for his campus novel "Black Bag."
This year marks the second time in the last decade that men have outnumbered women on the Booker Prize shortlist. The judging panel, which included historian Mary Beard, Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker, and novelist Patricia Lockwood, described their deliberations as concluding with the panel "almost glowing."
Founded in 1969, the Booker Prize has a history of significantly impacting authors' careers. Last year's winner was "Flesh" by David Szalay. The winner of this year's prize will be announced on Monday, November 9.