The Booker Prize is one of the most influential prizes that can be awarded to a single book of fiction. It recognizes long-form fiction — writers of any nationality are eligible, as long as the book is written in English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland.
First established in 1969, The Booker Prize is now recognized as the leading prize for literary fiction written in English. Previous winners of the prize have been such literary giants as Iris Murdoch, Hilary Mantel and Salman Rushdie.
This year’s longlist of 13 titles — the “Booker Dozen” — was announced on July 30. A panel of judges selected the titles from a list of 156 books published between October 1, 2023 and September 30, 2024. This year is a special year for the Booker Prize, as the first Native American and first Dutch authors have made the longlist. Not to mention, women outnumber men on this year’s list, and three debut titles are featured alongside six previously nominated writers.
Chair of judges Edmund de Waal sums up the list nicely: “Works of fiction that inhabit ideas by making us care deeply about people and their predicaments.” He continues by saying that these books have “made a space in our hearts and that we want to see find a place in the reading lives of many others.”
The longlisted titles of the 2024 Booker Prize are as follows:
This debut novel from an Irish author follows a kidnapping gone wrong, a dark revenge plot, and a story of outsiders trying to navigate a world of violence and chaos.
Teenage girl boxers compete in this debut novel that packs a punch as the young women fight against tragedy and their own complicated pasts.
This instant New York Times bestseller tackles The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of Jim, as he journeys by raft to find freedom from enslavement.
Over the course of a day, six astronauts circle the Earth on one final space mission, giving glimpses of their interpersonal relations and complex inner lives.
Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner
An “accidental” meeting gives a woman the opening she needs to spy on a group of French anarchists living in a rural French commune.
The opportunity to study at a University pulls a man from his home in Libya, but tragedy and exile lead him to explore the meaning of identity, friends and family.
This Strange Eventful History by Claire Messud
One family lacks a homeland after their separation in the chaos of WWII as they cope with political and social upheaval across several generations.
On a battlefield in 1917, a life-altering blast has unexpected repercussions, causing ghosts to resurface and moments of longing and mystery to arise for decades to come.
Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange
The first Native American author to be longlisted, Tommy Orange details the cross-generational legacies of the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864 and the Carlisle Indian Industrial School.
A pair of unlikely best friends is divided by one’s obsession with a vanished astronomer said to haunt a nearby manor, and is brought together by a scientific determination to uncover the truth.
A plan to send civilization out to colonize the sea poses a dilemma to the inhabitants of a tiny island in French Polynesia.
The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden
The first Dutch author on the longlist details the aftermath of WWII, as fury turns to obsession when two women share unexpected encounters and a rural home.
Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood
This dark and troubling novel follows an Australian woman as she finds refuge in a religious community and is visited by deadly parts of her past.
The Booker Prize shortlist will be revealed on September 16 and the winner will be announced at a ceremony and dinner in London on November 12.
This information originally appeared on The Booker Prize website.
