The shortlist of six books – five novels and one collection of short stories – was chosen by the 2025 judging panel, chaired by bestselling Booker Prize-longlisted author Max Porter. The other judges are: 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 list 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 made their selection from 154 books submitted by publishers – the highest number since the prize was launched in its current format in 2016.
The 2025 International Booker Prize shortlist is:
On the Calculation of Volume I by Solvej Balle, translated from Danish by Barbara J Haveland
Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix, translated from French by Helen Stevenson
Under the Eye of the Big Bird by Hiromi Kawakami, translated from Japanese by Asa Yoneda
Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico, translated from Italian by Sophie Hughes
Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq, translated from Kannada by Deepa Bhasthi
A Leopard-Skin Hat by Anne Serre, translated from French by Mark Hutchinson
The prize recognizes the vital work of translators with the £50,000 prize money divided equally: £25,000 for the author and £25,000 for the translator (or divided equally between multiple translators). In addition, there is a prize of £5,000 for each of the shortlisted titles: £2,500 for the author and £2,500 for the translator (or divided equally between multiple translators).
The International Booker Prize 2025 shortlist was announced on 8 April. The winner will be announced at a ceremony at Tate Modern, London on Tuesday, 20 May.
