The six-book shortlist for the 2025 International Booker Prize has been announced. The £50,000 annual prize, split equally between author and translator, recognizes fiction from around the world that has been translated into English and published in the U.K. and/or Ireland. The winner will be announced on May 20 at a ceremony at the Tate Modern in London.
The six shortlisted titles, which include five novels and one short story collection, are translated from five original languages, including, for the first time, Kannada. The 2025 International Booker Prize shortlist is as follows:
- On the Calculation of Volume (Book I) by Solvej Balle, translated from the Danish by Barbara J Haveland (New Directions)
- Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix, translated from the French by Helen Stevenson (Small Axes)
- Under the Eye of the Big Bird by Hiromi Kawakami, translated from the Japanese by Asa Yoneda (Soft Skull)
- Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico, translated from the Italian by Sophie Hughes (NYRB)
- Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq, translated from the Kannada by Deepa Bhasthi (And Other Stories)
- A Leopard-Skin Hat by Anne Serre, translated from the French by Mark Hutchinson (New Directions)
In a first for the prize, all six shortlisted titles were put out in the U.K. by independent publishers; the books’ stateside publishers are also all indies. Moreover, all six authors are shortlisted for the first time, three of them for their debut English-language publications. Two of the translators have previously been shortlisted, including one who has been recognized for an unprecedented third time.
The 2025 judging panel was chaired by Max Porter, who was joined by Caleb Femi, Sana Goyal, Anton Hur, and Beth Orton. Each shortlisted title will be awarded a prize of £5,000: £2,500 for the author and £2,500 for the translator.
