The International Booker Prize has a new set of judges—and a new name.
The jury for the 2027 award will be chaired by Katie Kitamura, whose 2025 novel Audition was a finalist for the Booker Prize. Also serving as judges will be authors Patrick McGuinness (Throw Me to the Wolves), Caleb Azumah Nelson (Open Water), Olga Ravn (The Wax Child), and actor Tessa Thompson (Creed, Hedda).
Kitamura said in a statement, "Translation represents a dialogue between two minds. The Bukhman International Booker Prize offers readers the opportunity to experience the profound encounter between author and translator. As a prize, it is exemplary in the way it recognizes the work of both participants.”
The Booker Prize Foundation also announced that the award has been rebranded as the Bukhman International Booker Prize, after the grant-making foundation Bukhman Philanthropies agreed to fund the literary award for the next decade. The award was formerly known as the Man Booker International Prize, reflecting its sponsorship by the investment management company the Man Group, until 2019.
The prize fund will double under the new sponsorship to 100,000 British pounds, about $133,000, for the winning book. The money will be split between the author and translator (or translators).
Gaby Wood, CEO of the Booker Prize Foundation, said, “As we look towards the next decade of the prize, we do so with a deep sense of responsibility and hope. Bukhman Philanthropies’ commitment has the power to reshape not only the future of the prize, but the landscape of literature itself—elevating writers and translators whose stories connect us more deeply to one another across cultures, borders, and experiences.”
The International Booker Prize was established in 2016. Previous winners include The Vegetarian, written by Han Kang and translated by Deborah Smith; At Night All Blood Is Black, written by David Diop and translated by Anna Moschovakis; and Taiwan Travelogue, written by Yáng Shuāng-zǐ and translated by Lin King.
The longlist for next year’s prize will be revealed on March 16, 2027, with the shortlist coming on April 15. The winner of the award will be announced at a ceremony in London in May.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
