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The International Booker Prize
10 winning novels and 55 more on the shortlists, 2016 to 2026. The other lists in The Novel Index show which of them have lasted.
Latest winner (2026): Taiwan Travelogue by Yáng Shuāng-zǐ
The International Booker Prize is for fiction translated into English and published in the UK or Ireland. Since 2016 it has been given to a single book, with the prize shared between the author and the translator. It’s the easiest way into world fiction, because the judges look at the translation as well as the book.
The Vegetarian is the one the lists agree on most, and it’s short. Flights is a book of fragments about travel, so read it a little at a time. Celestial Bodies follows three sisters in Oman, At Night All Blood Is Black is a short and brutal First World War novel, and A Horse Walks into a Bar takes place over one night of stand-up comedy.
Winners and shortlists from Booker Prize Foundation. The prize's own record · Every book from this prize in the index
The winners the lists rate highest
The Vegetarian is the International Booker Prize winner the other lists rate highest, on 2 other lists.
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Every International Booker Prize winner, year by year
Taiwan Travelogue won in 2026. The first winner, in 2016, was The Vegetarian.
| Year | Winner | Author | Tier | Lists |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Taiwan Travelogue | Yáng Shuāng-zǐ | Acclaimed | 1 |
| 2024 | Kairos | Jenny Erpenbeck | Acclaimed | 1 |
| 2023 | Time Shelter | Georgi Gospodinov | Acclaimed | 1 |
| 2022 | Tomb of Sand | Geetanjali Shree | Acclaimed | 1 |
| 2021 | At Night All Blood Is Black | David Diop | Acclaimed | 1 |
| 2020 | The Discomfort of Evening | Marieke Lucas Rijneveld | Acclaimed | 1 |
| 2019 | Celestial Bodies | Jokha Alharthi | Acclaimed | 1 |
| 2018 | Flights | Olga Tokarczuk | Acclaimed | 1 |
| 2017 | A Horse Walks into a Bar | David Grossman | Acclaimed | 1 |
| 2016 | The Vegetarian | Han Kang | Essential | 3 |
Lists used on this page
- The 100 best novels of all time, The Guardian (2026). Original list
- The 100 best books of the 21st century, The New York Times (2024). Original list
- International Booker Prize (winners and shortlists), Booker Prize Foundation (2016-). Original list