For some, the end of July is a time to recline in a lounge chair and subsist on a diet of rosé and idle conversation. For others, like the Arlington Book Club, it’s time to get to work. On 28th July, the classicist and historian Mary Beard (our trusted source for all things ancient world-related) announced the 2026 Booker Prize longlist, and it’s safe to say that you won’t be hearing much from us until we’ve made our way through these pages. Two previous winners have returned: Douglas Stuart, who won in 2020 for Shuggie Bain and is now nominated for John of John, and Marlon James, whose A Brief History of Seven Killings took home the prize in 2015. We’re especially keen to dive into Emma Cline’s Switzy, which follows a retired executive as he journeys to an assisted suicide clinic in Switzerland. It will be released in the UK on 10th September, but is already blowing up (in galley version) on BookTok and Substack. The full list of nominees is below.
The Shadow of the Object – Chloe Aridjis
Switzy – Emma Cline
Helen of Nowhere – Makenna Goodman
The End of Everything – M. John Harrison
The Disappearers – Marlon James
Black Bag – Luke Kennard
The Renovation – Kenan Orhan
May We Feed the King – Rebecca Perry
The Palm House – Gwendoline Riley
The Things We Never Say – Elizabeth Strout
John of John – Douglas Stuart
All Them Dogs – Djamel White
The Vivisectors – Missouri Williams
