Every International Booker Prize winner, 2005–2026

The International Booker Prize has gone to 6 writers and 11 books since 2005. From 2005 to 2015 it went every two years to a living writer for their body of work available in English. Since 2016 it has gone each year to a single book translated into English, with the prize money shared equally between author and translator. The latest winner is Taiwan Travelogue by Yang Shuang-zi (2026). Of the winning books, the most readable is A Horse Walks into a Bar by David Grossman (difficulty 48/100, about 4.2 hours); the hardest is Tomb of Sand by Geetanjali Shree (72/100). The quickest to finish is At Night All Blood Is Black by David Diop, at about 2.7 hours.

How book difficulty is measured

2026

• Taiwan Travelogue (臺灣漫遊錄) by Yang Shuang-zi, translated by Lin King — difficulty 59/100, about 6.5 hours
• The Witch by Marie NDiaye, translated by Jordan Stump — shortlist
• On Earth As It Is Beneath by Ana Paula Maia, translated by Padma Viswanathan — shortlist
• The Director by Daniel Kehlmann, translated by Ross Benjamin — shortlist
• She Who Remains by Rene Karabash, translated by Izidora Angel — shortlist
• The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran by Shida Bazyar, translated by Ruth Martin — shortlist
• The Wax Child by Olga Ravn, translated by Martin Aitken — longlist
• Women without Men by Shahrnush Parsipur, translated by Faridoun Farrokh — longlist
• The Duke by Matteo Melchiorre, translated by Antonella Lettieri — longlist
• Small Comfort by Ia Genberg, translated by Kira Josefsson — longlist
• The Deserters by Mathias Énard, translated by Charlotte Mandell — longlist
• The Remembered Soldier by Anjet Daanje, translated by David McKay — longlist
• We Are Green and Trembling by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara, translated by Robin Myers — longlist

2025

• Heart Lamp (ಎದೆಯ ಹಣತೆ) by Banu Mushtaq, translated by Deepa Bhasthi — difficulty 50/100, about 3.7 hours
• A Leopard-Skin Hat by Anne Serre, translated by Mark Hutchinson — shortlist
• Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico, translated by Sophie Hughes — shortlist
• Under the Eye of the Big Bird by Hiromi Kawakami, translated by Asa Yoneda — shortlist
• Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix, translated by Helen Stevenson — shortlist
• On the Calculation of Volume I by Solvej Balle, translated by Barbara J. Haveland — shortlist
• The Book of Disappearance by Ibtisam Azem, translated by Sinan Antoon — longlist
• There's a Monster behind the Door by Gaëlle Bélem, translated by Karen Fleetwood and Laëtitia Saint-Loubert — longlist
• Solenoid by Mircea Cărtărescu, translated by Sean Cotter — longlist
• Reservoir Bitches by Dahlia de la Cerda, translated by Heather Cleary and Julia Sanches — longlist
• Hunchback by Saou Ichikawa, translated by Polly Barton — longlist
• Eurotrash by Christian Kracht, translated by Daniel Bowles — longlist
• On a Woman's Madness by Astrid Roemer, translated by Lucy Scott — longlist

2024

• Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck, translated by Michael Hofmann — difficulty 60/100, about 7.6 hours
• Not a River by Selva Almada, translated by Annie McDermott — shortlist
• The Details by Ia Genberg, translated by Kira Josefsson — shortlist
• Mater 2-10 by Hwang Sok-yong, translated by Sora Kim-Russell and Youngjae Josephine Bae — shortlist
• What I'd Rather Not Think About by Jente Posthuma, translated by Sarah Timmer Harvey — shortlist
• Crooked Plow by Itamar Vieira Junior, translated by Johnny Lorenz — shortlist
• Simpatía by Rodrigo Blanco Calderón, translated by Noel Hernández González and Daniel Hahn — longlist
• White Nights by Urszula Honek, translated by Kate Webster — longlist
• A Dictator Calls by Ismail Kadare, translated by John Hodgson — longlist
• The Silver Bone by Andrey Kurkov, translated by Boris Dralyuk — longlist
• Lost on Me by Veronica Raimo, translated by Leah Janeczko — longlist
• The House on Via Gemito by Domenico Starnone, translated by Oonagh Stransky — longlist
• Undiscovered by Gabriela Wiener, translated by Julia Sanches — longlist

2023

• Time Shelter (Времеубежище) by Georgi Gospodinov, translated by Angela Rodel — difficulty 64/100, about 7.6 hours
• Boulder by Eva Baltasar, translated by Julia Sanches — shortlist
• Whale by Cheon Myeong-kwan, translated by Chi-Young Kim — shortlist
• The Gospel According to the New World by Maryse Condé, translated by Richard Philcox — shortlist
• Standing Heavy by GauZ', translated by Frank Wynne — shortlist
• Still Born by Guadalupe Nettel, translated by Rosalind Harvey — shortlist
• Is Mother Dead by Vigdis Hjorth, translated by Charlotte Barslund — longlist
• Jimi Hendrix Live in Lviv by Andrey Kurkov, translated by Reuben Woolley — longlist
• The Birthday Party by Laurent Mauvignier, translated by Daniel Levin Becker — longlist
• While We Were Dreaming by Clemens Meyer, translated by Katy Derbyshire — longlist
• Pyre by Perumal Murugan, translated by Aniruddhan Vasudevan — longlist
• A System So Magnificent It Is Blinding by Amanda Svensson, translated by Nichola Smalley — longlist
• Ninth Building by Zou Jingzhi, translated by Jeremy Tiang — longlist

2022

• Tomb of Sand (रेत समाधि) by Geetanjali Shree, translated by Daisy Rockwell — difficulty 72/100, about 27 hours
• Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung, translated by Anton Hur — shortlist
• A New Name by Jon Fosse, translated by Damion Searls — shortlist
• Heaven by Mieko Kawakami, translated by Sam Bett and David Boyd — shortlist
• Elena Knows by Claudia Piñeiro, translated by Frances Riddle — shortlist
• The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk, translated by Jennifer Croft — shortlist
• After the Sun by Jonas Eika, translated by Sherilyn Hellberg — longlist
• More Than I Love My Life by David Grossman, translated by Jessica Cohen — longlist
• The Book of Mother by Violaine Huisman, translated by Leslie Camhi — longlist
• Paradais by Fernanda Melchor, translated by Sophie Hughes — longlist
• Love in the Big City by Sang Young Park, translated by Anton Hur — longlist
• Happy Stories, Mostly by Norman Erikson Pasaribu, translated by Tiffany Tsao — longlist
• Phenotypes by Paulo Scott, translated by Daniel Hahn — longlist

2021

• At Night All Blood Is Black (Frère d'âme) by David Diop, translated by Anna Moschovakis — difficulty 50/100, about 2.7 hours
• The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enríquez, translated by Megan McDowell — shortlist
• When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamín Labatut, translated by Adrian Nathan West — shortlist
• The Employees by Olga Ravn, translated by Martin Aitken — shortlist
• In Memory of Memory by Maria Stepanova, translated by Sasha Dugdale — shortlist
• The War of the Poor by Éric Vuillard, translated by Mark Polizzotti — shortlist
• I Live in the Slums by Can Xue, translated by Karen Gernant and Chen Zeping — longlist
• The Pear Field by Nana Ekvtimishvili, translated by Elizabeth Heighway — longlist
• The Perfect Nine by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, translated by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o — longlist
• Summer Brother by Jaap Robben, translated by David Doherty — longlist
• An Inventory of Losses by Judith Schalansky, translated by Jackie Smith — longlist
• Minor Detail by Adania Shibli, translated by Elisabeth Jaquette — longlist
• Wretchedness by Andrzej Tichý, translated by Nichola Smalley — longlist

2020

• The Discomfort of Evening (De avond is ongemak) by Lucas Rijneveld, translated by Michele Hutchison — difficulty 52/100, about 5.2 hours
• The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree by Shokoofeh Azar, translated by Anonymous — shortlist
• The Adventures of China Iron by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara, translated by Iona Macintyre and Fiona Mackintosh — shortlist
• Tyll by Daniel Kehlmann, translated by Ross Benjamin — shortlist
• Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor, translated by Sophie Hughes — shortlist
• The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa, translated by Stephen Snyder — shortlist
• Red Dog by Willem Anker, translated by Michiel Heyns — longlist
• The Other Name by Jon Fosse, translated by Damion Searls — longlist
• The Eighth Life by Nino Haratischvili, translated by Charlotte Collins and Ruth Martin — longlist
• Serotonin by Michel Houellebecq, translated by Shaun Whiteside — longlist
• Faces on the Tip of My Tongue by Emmanuelle Pagano, translated by Sophie Lewis and Jennifer Higgins — longlist
• Little Eyes by Samanta Schweblin, translated by Megan McDowell — longlist
• Mac and His Problem by Enrique Vila-Matas, translated by Margaret Jull Costa and Sophie Hughes — longlist

2019

• Celestial Bodies (سيدات القمر) by Jokha al-Harthi, translated by Marilyn Booth — difficulty 57/100, about 5.1 hours
• The Years by Annie Ernaux, translated by Alison L. Strayer — shortlist
• The Pine Islands by Marion Poschmann, translated by Jen Calleja — shortlist
• Drive Your Plow over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk, translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones — shortlist
• The Shape of the Ruins by Juan Gabriel Vásquez, translated by Anne McLean — shortlist
• The Remainder by Alia Trabucco Zerán, translated by Sophie Hughes — shortlist
• Love in the New Millennium by Can Xue, translated by Annelise Finegan Wasmoen — longlist
• At Dusk by Hwang Sok-yong, translated by Sora Kim-Russell — longlist
• Jokes for the Gunmen by Mazen Maarouf, translated by Jonathan Wright — longlist
• Four Soldiers by Hubert Mingarelli, translated by Sam Taylor — longlist
• Mouthful of Birds by Samanta Schweblin, translated by Megan McDowell — longlist
• The Faculty of Dreams by Sara Stridsberg, translated by Deborah Bragan-Turner — longlist
• The Death of Murat Idrissi by Tommy Wieringa, translated by Sam Garrett — longlist

2018

• Flights (Bieguni) by Olga Tokarczuk, translated by Jennifer Croft — difficulty 71/100, about 13 hours
• Vernon Subutex 1 by Virginie Despentes, translated by Frank Wynne — shortlist
• The White Book by Han Kang, translated by Deborah Smith — shortlist
• The World Goes On by László Krasznahorkai, translated by John Batki, Ottilie Mulzet and George Szirtes — shortlist
• Like a Fading Shadow by Antonio Muñoz Molina, translated by Camilo A. Ramirez — shortlist
• Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi, translated by Jonathan Wright — shortlist
• The 7th Function of Language by Laurent Binet, translated by Sam Taylor — longlist
• The Impostor by Javier Cercas, translated by Frank Wynne — longlist
• Go, Went, Gone by Jenny Erpenbeck, translated by Susan Bernofsky — longlist
• Die, My Love by Ariana Harwicz, translated by Sarah Moses and Carolina Orloff — longlist
• The Flying Mountain by Christoph Ransmayr, translated by Simon Pare — longlist
• The Stolen Bicycle by Wu Ming-Yi, translated by Darryl Sterk — longlist
• The Dinner Guest by Gabriela Ybarra, translated by Natasha Wimmer — longlist

2017

• A Horse Walks into a Bar (סוס אחד נכנס לבר) by David Grossman, translated by Jessica Cohen — difficulty 48/100, about 4.2 hours
• Compass by Mathias Énard, translated by Charlotte Mandell — shortlist
• The Unseen by Roy Jacobsen, translated by Don Bartlett and Don Shaw — shortlist
• Mirror, Shoulder, Signal by Dorthe Nors, translated by Misha Hoekstra — shortlist
• Judas by Amos Oz, translated by Nicholas de Lange — shortlist
• Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin, translated by Megan McDowell — shortlist
• Swallowing Mercury by Wioletta Greg, translated by Eliza Marciniak — longlist
• War and Turpentine by Stefan Hertmans, translated by David McKay — longlist
• The Traitor's Niche by Ismail Kadare, translated by John Hodgson — longlist
• Black Moses by Alain Mabanckou, translated by Helen Stevenson — longlist
• Bricks and Mortar by Clemens Meyer, translated by Katy Derbyshire — longlist
• Fish Have No Feet by Jón Kalman Stefánsson, translated by Phil Roughton — longlist
• The Explosion Chronicles by Yan Lianke, translated by Carlos Rojas — longlist

2016

• The Vegetarian (채식주의자) by Han Kang, translated by Deborah Smith — difficulty 63/100, about 4.5 hours
• A General Theory of Oblivion by José Eduardo Agualusa, translated by Daniel Hahn — shortlist
• The Story of the Lost Child by Elena Ferrante, translated by Ann Goldstein — shortlist
• A Strangeness in My Mind by Orhan Pamuk, translated by Ekin Oklap — shortlist
• A Whole Life by Robert Seethaler, translated by Charlotte Collins — shortlist
• The Four Books by Yan Lianke, translated by Carlos Rojas — shortlist
• Mend the Living by Maylis de Kerangal, translated by Jessica Moore — longlist
• Man Tiger by Eka Kurniawan, translated by Labodalih Sembiring — longlist
• Tram 83 by Fiston Mwanza Mujila, translated by Roland Glasser — longlist
• A Cup of Rage by Raduan Nassar, translated by Stefan Tobler — longlist
• Ladivine by Marie NDiaye, translated by Jordan Stump — longlist
• Death by Water by Kenzaburō Ōe, translated by Deborah Boliver Boehm — longlist
• White Hunger by Aki Ollikainen, translated by Emily Jeremiah and Fleur Jeremiah — longlist

2015

• László Krasznahorkai. On ReadingRate: The Last Wolf & Herman (difficulty 63/100), The World Goes On (difficulty 68/100), Seiobo There Below (difficulty 69/100), Herscht 07769 (difficulty 71/100), War and War (difficulty 72/100), Baron Wenckheim's Homecoming (difficulty 78/100), Satantango (difficulty 80/100), The Melancholy of Resistance (difficulty 85/100)

2013

• Lydia Davis. On ReadingRate: Varieties of Disturbance (difficulty 56/100), The End of the Story (difficulty 64/100)

2011

• Philip Roth. On ReadingRate: Patrimony (difficulty 22/100), When She Was Good (difficulty 27/100), Letting Go (difficulty 35/100), Indignation (difficulty 38/100), The Dying Animal (difficulty 40/100), Everyman (difficulty 42/100), Nemesis (difficulty 49/100), American Pastoral (difficulty 55/100), The Professor of Desire (difficulty 55/100), Goodbye, Columbus (difficulty 56/100), Portnoy's Complaint (difficulty 57/100), Sabbath's Theater (difficulty 60/100), The Counterlife (difficulty 62/100), I Married a Communist (difficulty 65/100), The Human Stain (difficulty 66/100), The Plot Against America (difficulty 69/100), My Life as a Man (difficulty 69/100), Operation Shylock (difficulty 71/100), Zuckerman Unbound (difficulty 76/100), The Ghost Writer (difficulty 78/100), The Anatomy Lesson (difficulty 79/100)

2009

• Alice Munro. On ReadingRate: Runaway (difficulty 45/100), The Love of a Good Woman (difficulty 46/100), Dear Life (difficulty 49/100), Lives of Girls and Women (difficulty 52/100), Dance of the Happy Shades (difficulty 52/100), The Beggar Maid (difficulty 54/100), Friend of My Youth (difficulty 72/100)

2007

• Chinua Achebe. On ReadingRate: A Man of the People (difficulty 37/100), Morning Yet on Creation Day: Essays (difficulty 38/100), Things Fall Apart (difficulty 45/100), No Longer at Ease (difficulty 46/100), Anthills of the Savannah (difficulty 50/100), Arrow of God (difficulty 73/100)

2005

• Ismail Kadare. On ReadingRate: The File on H. (difficulty 38/100), Broken April (difficulty 50/100), The General of the Dead Army (difficulty 64/100), The Palace of Dreams (difficulty 66/100), The Successor (difficulty 72/100), Chronicle in Stone (difficulty 76/100)

Questions

Who won the International Booker Prize in 2026?

Taiwan Travelogue by Yang Shuang-zi.

Which International Booker Prize winner should I read first?

For the gentlest start, A Horse Walks into a Bar by David Grossman: the easiest of the winning books to read, with a difficulty of 48/100 and about 4.2 hours of reading. For the quickest, At Night All Blood Is Black by David Diop, about 2.7 hours.

Which International Booker Prize winner is the hardest to read?

Tomb of Sand by Geetanjali Shree, with a difficulty of 72/100; it takes about 27 hours.

How long would it take to read every International Booker Prize winner?

About 87 hours at an average reading pace.

Winners from Wikipedia, checked 2026-10-31.

Other prizes: Nobel Prize in Literature, Booker Prize, Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, National Book Award for Fiction, Women's Prize for Fiction, Hugo Award for Best Novel, Nebula Award for Best Novel, Prix Goncourt, Dublin Literary Award, PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, National Book Award for Nonfiction, Costa Novel Award, Albert J. Beveridge Award, Goodreads Choice Award for Fiction. Every literary prize; every winner of 2026.