The shortlist of six books – five novels and one collection of short stories – has been chosen by the 2025 judging panel, chaired by bestselling Booker Prize-longlisted author Max Porter. Porter is joined by prize-winning poet, director and photographer Caleb Femi; writer and Publishing Director of Wasafiri Sana Goyal; author and International Booker Prize-shortlisted translator Anton Hur; and award-winning singer-songwriter Beth Orton.
The selection celebrates the best works of long-form fiction or collections of short stories translated into English and published in the UK and/or Ireland between 1 May 2024 and 30 April 2025, as judged by the 2025 panel. The judges have whittled down their shortlist from a longlist of 13, selected from 154 books submitted by publishers – the highest number since the prize was launched in its current format in 2016.
The International Booker Prize recognises the vital work of translation, with the £50,000 prize money divided equally between the winning author and translator. Each shortlisted title will be awarded a prize of £5,000: £2,500 for the author and £2,500 for the translator. In championing works from around the world that have originated in a wide range of languages, the prize fosters an engaged global community of writers and readers whose experiences and interests transcend national borders.
The full International Booker Prize 2025 shortlist is:
- On the Calculation of Volume I, Original Language – Danish, Solvej Balle(Danish), translator Barbara J. Haveland (Scottish), Faber
- Small Boat, Original Language – French, Vincent Delecroix (French), translator Helen Stevenson (British), Small Axes
- Under the Eye of the Big Bird, Original Language – Japanese, Hiromi Kawakami (Japanese), translator Asa Yoneda, (Japanese), Granta Books
- Perfection, Original Language – Italian, Vincenzo Latronico (Italian), translator Sophie Hughes (British), Fitzcarraldo Editions
- Heart Lamp, Original Language – Kannada, Banu Mushtaq (Indian), translator Deepa Bhasthi (Indian), And Other Stories
- A Leopard-Skin Hat, Original Language – French, Anne Serre (French), translator Mark Hutchinson (British) Lolli Editions
Max Porter, International Booker Prize 2025 Chair of judges, said, ‘This shortlist is the result of a life-enhancing conversation between myself and my fellow judges. Reading 154 books in six months made us feel like high-speed Question Machines hurtling through space. Our selected six awakened an appetite in us to question the world around us: How am I seeing or being seen? How are we translating each other, all the time? How are we trapped in our bodies, in our circumstances, in time, and what are our options for freedom? Who has a voice? In discussing these books we have been considering again and again what it means to be a human being now.”
Fiammetta Rocco, Administrator of the International Booker Prize, added, “It has been fantastic to experience the buzz around this year’s International Booker Prize. We have our excellent panel of judges to thank for this, who have taken an enormous amount of care in their selection of books they want to recommend to readers. This veritable smorgasbord of a shortlist is for all those who look to books for emotional and intellectual sustenance. Though the books featured are slim, they will take up space in readers’ minds long after they’ve finished.”
The shortlisted books feature stories that capture the indomitability of the human spirit, from AI ‘mothers’ parenting manufactured children in a futuristic world to the resilience of girls and women in patriarchal communities in southern India; from a protagonist forced to relive the same day over and over to the distress calls of migrants on a small boat in the Channel; from the agony and joy of lifelong friendship in the shadow of mental illness to a couple’s search for meaningful connections in their digitally curated lives.
Whilst the nominated titles each tackle weighty themes, they are brief in length: four of the shortlisted works are under 200 pages long, with Perfection and Small Boat just over 100 pages. Under the Eye of the Big Bird is the longest book on the list, at 278 pages. On the Calculation of Volume I is the first in a planned septology, which was originally self-published in Denmark before becoming a word-of-mouth sensation
On the Calculation of Volume I
By Solvej Balle
Translated by Barbara J. Haveland
In the first part of Solvej Balle’s epic septology, Tara Selter has slipped out of time. Every morning, she wakes up to the 18th of November
Female authors and translators dominate
The list includes four female authors (Solvej Balle, Hiromi Kawakami, Banu Mushtaq, Anne Serre) and two male authors (Vincent Delecroix, Vincenzo Latronico) representing five nationalities: Danish (Solvej Balle), French (Vincent Delecroix, Anne Serre), Indian (Banu Mushtaq), Italian (Vincenzo Latronico) and Japanese (Hiromi Kawakami). Whilst five female translators (Deepa Bhasthi, Barbara J. Haveland, Sophie Hughes, Helen Stevenson, Asa Yoneda) represent four countries: Japan (Asa Yoneda), India (Deepa Bhasthi), Scotland (Barbara J. Haveland) and England (Sophie Hughes, Helen Stevenson). Mark Hutchinson is the one male translator, also from England.
Small Boat
By Vincent Delecroix
Translated by Helen Stevenson
November 2021: an inflatable dinghy carrying migrants from France to the UK capsizes in the Channel, causing the deaths of 27 people on board. How and why did it happen?
Five original languages are represented on the longlist: Danish (On the Calculation of Volume I), French (A Leopard-Skin Hat, Small Boat), Italian (Perfection), Japanese (Under the Eye of the Big Bird) and Kannada (Heart Lamp). This is the first time a book translated from Kannada, which is spoken predominantly in southern India and is the first language of some 38 million people, has been recognised.
Under the Eye of the Big Bird
By Hiromi Kawakami
Translated by Asa Yoneda
Potential for first time wins
If On the Calculation of Volume I, Perfection or Under the Eye of the Big Bird go on to triumph, it will be the first time that a book from a Danish, Italian or Japanese author has won the International Booker Prize. If Heart Lamp is awarded the prize, it will be the first win for both a collection of short stories and a work originally written in Kannada.
Perfection
By Vincenzo Latronico
Translated by Sophie Hughes
A taut, spare sociological novel about the emptiness of contemporary existence – scathing and affecting in equal measure
Independent publishing houses sweep the board
For the first time in the prize’s history, all six shortlisted books are published by independent publishers, including the first nomination for Leeds-based Small Axes. Granta Books has published the winning book on two previous occasions (2016 and 2024), while Faber (2020) and Fitzcarraldo Editions (2018) have both won before. A Leopard-Skin Hat by Anne Serre, translated by Mark Hutchinson, will be distributed in partnership with Penguin Books from the 17 April.
Heart Lamp
By Banu Mushtaq
Translated by Deepa Bhasthi
In 12 stories, Banu Mushtaq exquisitely captures the everyday lives of women and girls in Muslim communities in southern India
The International Booker Prize’s global impact
The International Booker Prize continues to build in global importance each year. The winning author and translator can expect a worldwide readership and a significant increase in profile and sales, including in the author’s home country.
The prize has helped to drive a boom in translated fiction in the UK, with print sales in 2023 reaching a record £26m, up by 12% on the previous year, according to Nielsen BookData. This is largely down to younger readers, with almost half of translated fiction in the UK bought by under-35s. The prize’s influence also extends to other awards, with five authors recognised by the International Booker Prize going on to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.
A Leopard-Skin Hat
By Anne Serre
Translated by Mark Hutchinson
The story of an intense friendship between the narrator and his close childhood friend, Fanny, who suffers from profound psychological disorders
The announcement of the 2024 winner, Kairos, written by Jenny Erpenbeck and translated from German by Michael Hofmann, was reported in over 2,500 news articles around the world.
According to Granta Books, the UK publisher of Kairos, sales of the paperback increased by 442% in the week after winning the International Booker Prize 2024 and it outperformed all previous winners for the first month post-win. Prior to the winner announcement in May 2024, it had sold 10,000 copies across all editions; since, it has sold nearly 80,000 copies. Granta Books has sold 30,000 of these copies through UK retailers, a 17% increase in sales of the 2023 winner over the same period. Prior to its longlisting, translation rights to Kairos had been sold to 16 territories; that has now increased to 33 territories.
In Germany, Erpenbeck and Hofmann’s home country, the original edition of Kairos sold out at many booksellers the day after its win, rising to the top 20 of the bestseller lists in all editions and reaching number 1 in paperback for the first time since publication. Its German publisher Penguin Verlag reports that before it had won the International Booker Prize in May 2024, it had sold just over 50,000 copies across all editions since its publication in 2021; in June 2024, the month after its win, it sold more than 90,000 copies. It has now sold over 230,000 copies.
The announcement of the winning book for 2025 will take place on Tuesday, 20 May 2025 at a ceremony at Tate Modern in London, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. The announcement will be livestreamed on the Booker Prizes social media channels.
