The Announcement
On April 8, the shortlist for the 2025 International Booker Prize was unveiled, spotlighting six remarkable titles. This prestigious award, established in 2005, celebrates the art of translation and promotes year-round literary exchange across cultures. Unlike its sibling, the well-known Booker Prize for fiction, the International Booker Prize focuses solely on works originally written in languages other than English, translated into English, and published in the UK and Ireland from October 1, 2024, to September 30 of this year.
The Prize and Its History
As an annual award, the International Booker Prize plays a crucial role in enriching the literary landscape. The prize includes a cash reward of £50,000 (approximately US$63,929), shared between the winning author and the translator. Each shortlisted title receives £5,000 (US$6,392) as recognition of their contribution to translated literature. Notably, this year marks the first instance of an entirely independent publisher shortlist, including a debut nomination for Leeds-based Small Axes.
Insight from the Jury
Max Porter, chair of the 2025 jury, expressed the profound impact of the selection process. He stated, “Reading 154 books in six months made us feel like high-speed question machines hurtling through space.” He underlined the importance of literature as a medium for generating conversations that challenge perspectives on human experience. The selected books, according to Porter, not only widen our literary horizons but also resonate with our contemporary struggles, inviting readers to ponder extraordinary questions about existence.
The 2025 International Booker Prize Shortlist
| Title | Original Language | Author | Author Nationality | Translator(s) | Translator Nationality | UK Publisher/Imprint |
| On the Calculation of Volume 1 | Danish | Solvej Balle | Danish | Barbara J Haveland | Scottish | Faber & Faber |
| Small Boat | French | Vincent Delacroix | French | Helen Stevenson | British | Small Axes |
| Under the Eye of the Big Bird | Japanese | Hiromi Kawakami | Japanese | Asa Yoneda | Japanese | Granta Books |
| Perfection | Italian | Vincenzo Latronico | Italian | Sophie Hughes | British | Fitzcarraldo Editions |
| Heart Lamp | Kannada | Banu Mushtaq | Indian | Deepa Bhasthi | Indian | And Other Stories |
| A Leopard-Skin Hat | French | Anne Serre | French | Mark Hutchinson | British | Lolli Editions |
