LONDON — One of the English-speaking world’s most prestigious literary awards, the Booker Prize, has unveiled its 13-book longlist of semifinal contenders for 2024, a selection that mixes former Booker champions, a Pulitzer Prize winner, first-time authors, and boundary-pushing genre work that breaks with the award’s traditional mold.
Leading the pack of recognizable names are two previous Booker recipients: Marlon James, who took home the prize in 2015 for *A Brief History of Seven Killings*, and Douglas Stuart, the 2020 winner for *Shuggie Bain*. They are joined by Elizabeth Strout, the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winner who was a Booker finalist in 2022. James’ 2024 contender *The Disappearers* centers on a community of gay men navigating widespread hostility in 1980s Jamaica, while Stuart’s *John of John* unpacks long-buried father-son secrets on a remote Scottish island. Strout’s entry, *The Things We Never Say*, is a tender, intimate portrait of small-town New England life.
The longlist balances established literary careers with exciting emerging voices, bringing three debut authors into the running. Twenty-eight-year-old Irish author Djamel White, the youngest contender on the list, earned a spot for *All Them Dogs*, a gritty thriller set in Dublin’s criminal underworld. Turkish-American writer Kenan Orhan was selected for *The Renovation*, an intergenerational family history story, while British author Rebecca Perry’s *May We Feed the King* spans centuries from the Medieval era to the modern day.
The oldest candidate is 81-year-old M. John Harrison, whose post-apocalyptic dystopian work *The End of Everything* marks a rare inclusion of science fiction on the Booker longlist. The full roster of contenders also includes Chloe Aridjis’ *The Shadow of the Object*, Luke Kennard’s *Black Bag*, Missouri Williams’ *The Vivisectors*, Emma Cline’s *Switzy*, Makenna Goodman’s *Helen of Nowhere* and Gwendoline Riley’s *The Palm House*. Collectively, the 13 authors represent diverse geographic roots spanning Britain, Ireland, Jamaica, Mexico, Turkey and the United States.
Leading the 2024 judging panel is acclaimed classicist and historian Mary Beard, who described the full list of selections as literary “dynamite” in comments to reporters. Beard, who serves alongside fellow jurors including Pulp frontman and cultural icon Jarvis Cocker and award-winning American novelist Patricia Lockwood, explained that the panel intentionally set out to move past the stereotype of a “typical Booker winner” — often framed as a slightly stuffy, preordained classic.
Instead, the jury prioritized works that challenge readers and expand literary perspectives. “Sometimes they’re using humor, sometimes it’s pathos, sometimes there’s shock value,” Beard said of the selections. “They’re risk-takers. They are dynamite. They say ‘Come on, try seeing it a different way.’”
First launched in 1969, the Booker Prize carries a 50,000 pound ($66,000) cash award for the winning author, and has a decades-long reputation for catapulting writers to international acclaim and transforming their careers. The award is open to any novel published in the United Kingdom and Ireland, regardless of the author’s country of origin. Last year’s honor went to Hungarian-British author David Szalay for his work *Flesh*.
In the coming months, the judging panel will narrow the 13-book longlist down to six finalists, with the shortlist set to be announced on September 22. The overall winner of the 2024 Booker Prize will be revealed at a formal ceremony in London on November 9.