The six-book shortlist for this year's Booker Prize for Fiction has been announced. The winner of this year's prize, which comes a £50,000 purse, will be announced on November 26 at an award ceremony held at Old Billingsgate in London, England.
This year's finalists—none of whom have previously been shortlisted for the prize—were chosen from 163 novels published in the U.K. or Ireland between October 1, 2022, and September 30, 2023. All the shortlisted authors receive £2,500 and a bespoke bound edition of their book.
The titles on this year's Booker shortlist, with their U.K. publishers listed, are as follows:
- Study for Obedience (Granta Books) by Sarah Bernstein (Canadian)
- If I Survive You (4th Estate) by Jonathan Escoffery (American)
- This Other Eden (Hutchinson Heinemann) by Paul Harding (American)
- Prophet Song (Oneworld) by Paul Lynch (Irish)
- Western Lane (Picador) by Chetna Maroo (British)
- The Bee Sting (Hamish Hamilton) by Paul Murray (Irish)
Two of six shortlisted titles were among 13 specifically requested by the judges, while the other four were among the 150 submitted by publishers. Three of the books—those by Escoffery, Maroo, and Murray—are published by FSG in the United States, in a first for a U.S. publisher.
"The best novels invoke a sense of timelessness even while saying something about how we live now," said Esi Edugyan, chair of the judges for this year's prize, in a statement. "Our six finalists are marvels of form. Some look unflinchingly at the ways in which trauma can be absorbed and passed down through the generations, as much an inheritance as a well-worn object or an unwanted talent. Some turn a gleeful, dissecting eye on everyday encounters. Some paint visceral portraits of societies pushed to the edge of tolerance. All are fueled by a kind of relentless truth-telling, even when that honesty forces us to confront dark acts. And yet however long we may pause in the shadows, humour, decency, and grace are never far from hand."
