Booker Prize 2025 Shortlist

The 2025 Booker Prize shortlist showcases a diverse array of narratives, encompassing genres such as historical fiction, campus novels, and dystopian fiction. Familiar faces from previous years, Marlon James and Douglas Stuart, reappear with their latest titles, The Disappearers and John of John. Elizabeth Strout also makes a return with her novel The Things We Never Say.

Mary Beard, chairing the 2025 judging panel, stated, “These novels range from the hilarious to the discomfiting, from the frighteningly strange to the alarmingly domestic, from the powerfully shocking to the intriguingly understated. This is writing at its best.”

All six authors on the shortlist receive a special edition of their book accompanied by a £2,500 prize (approximately $3,300). The final winner, to be announced on November 9, receives a coveted trophy and a £50,000 prize (around $66,600).

This Year’s Shortlisted Works

• The End of Everything by M. John Harrison
  A renowned science fiction writer, Harrison’s new novel unfolds in a post-apocalyptic setting where the protagonist deals with unusual treasures from the English Channel’s shores.
• The Disappearers by Marlon James
  Marlon James, a previous Booker Prize winner, presents a narrative centered around a violent mob attack on a play staged by gay men in 1988 Kingston, Jamaica. The book mirrors historical events tied to the era’s rampant homophobia.
• Black Bag by Luke Kennard
  Kennard, a poet and novelist, explores the “mere-exposure effect” through a storyline about a professor’s experiment involving a mysterious black bag in a classroom.
• May We Feed the King by Rebecca Perry
  Perry steps into the literary spotlight with her debut novel. It examines the perspective of a curator recounting the life of a reluctant king, probing the veracity of historical narratives.
• The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout
  NPR praised Strout’s ability to consistently produce enchantingly compelling novels, a testament to her frequent recognition by the Booker Prize.
• John of John by Douglas Stuart
  Stuart’s third novel delves into familial secrets and the intertwining roles of religion and obligation, offering insight into personal and cultural dynamics.