The Man Booker International Prize announced 2025 shortlist

The Man Booker International Prize has announced the shortlist of books competing for the 2025 award.

Six titles have advanced to the final stage of the competition:

• “Flashlight” by Susan Choi;
• “The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny” by Kiran Desai;
• “Audition” by Katie Kitamura;
• “The Rest of Our Lives” by Ben Markovits;
• “The Land in Winter” by Andrew Miller;
• “Flesh” by David Szalay.

Jury chair Roddy Doyle noted that all shortlisted texts shared two key qualities: the authors exhibit complete mastery of their English, rhythm, and craft, and have written novels that are uniquely their own. The jury said that each book offers a fresh and surprising perspective on how people attempt to live alongside others whether by loving, seeking connection, enduring hardship, striving for understanding, or trying to escape.

Read comments from the jury members on each of the books here.

The 2025 shortlist consists of three male and three female authors. Three writers, Susan Choi, Katie Kituamura, and Ben Markowitz, are on the shortlist for the first time, while Andrew Miller and David Szlay are on it for the second time. Kiran Desai, who won the Booker Prize in 2006, could become the fifth author to win it twice.

The geography of the finalists’ books ranges from Hungary to Japan,  Venice to New York, and England. The themes of the novels include family crises, marital breakdown, parent-child relationships, loneliness, trauma, and the challenges of immigrant life.

The jury selected the shortlist from 153 novels published in English in the UK or Ireland between Oct. 1, 2024, and Sept. 30, 2025.

The winner will be announced on Nov. 10 during a ceremony at Old Billingsgate. Each of the six finalists will receive £2,500 and a special gift edition of their book. The grand prize is £50,000.

This year’s jury is chaired by Irish author Roddy Doyle, the 1993 Booker Prize winner, marking the first time a former winner has led the panel. The jury also includes novelist Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀, actress and publisher Sarah Jessica Parker, writer and critic Chris Power, and author Kiley Reid.

The Man Booker Prize is one of the most prestigious literary awards in the English-speaking world and the world at large. It was first awarded in 1969. Works by writers of any nationality, written in English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland, are eligible for the Booker Prize for fiction.

As reported earlier, this year’s long list for the Booker Prize included “Endling,” a book by Ukrainian-born author Maria Reva. In 2024, Ukrainian writer Andrey Kurkov became one of the nominees for the International Booker Prize.

RELATED: A translator from Ukrainian joined International Booker Prize’s panel of judges

Images: Yuki Sugiura/Booker Prize Foundation

Copy editing: Terra Friedman King