The 2025 International Booker Prize shortlist was released April 8. Two of the six shortlisted books with genre elements are still in the running.

• Under the Eye of the Big Bird by Hiromi Kawakami, translated from Japanese by Asa Yoneda  

In the distant future, humans are on the verge of extinction and have settled in small tribes across the planet under the observation and care of the Mothers. Some children are made in factories, from cells of rabbits and dolphins; some live by getting nutrients from water and light, like plants. The survival of the race depends on the interbreeding of these and other alien beings – but it is far from certain that connection, love, reproduction, and evolution will persist among the inhabitants of this faltering new world. 

Unfolding over geological eons, Under the Eye of the Big Bird is at once an astonishing vision of the end of our species as we know it and a meditation on the qualities that, for better and worse, make us human. 

• On the Calculation of Volume I by Solvej Balle, translated from Danish by Barbara J. Haveland

In the first part of Solvej Balle’s epic septology, Tara Selter has slipped out of time. Every morning, she wakes up to the 18th of November

She no longer expects to wake up to the 19th of November, and she no longer remembers the 17th of November as if it were yesterday. She comes to know the shape of the day like the back of her hand – the grey morning light in her Paris hotel; the moment a blackbird breaks into song; her husband’s surprise at seeing her return home unannounced.  

But for everyone around her, this day is lived for the first and only time. They do not remember the other 18ths of November, and they do not believe her when she tries to explain. 

As Tara approaches her 365th 18th of November, she can’t shake the feeling that somewhere underneath the surface of this day, there’s a way to escape. 

On the Calculation of Volume I is the first book of a planned septology. Five books have been published in Danish so far, with translations underway in over 20 countries. 

The other four titles on the shortlist are:

• Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix, translated from French by Helen Stevenson
• Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico, translated from Italian by Sophie Hughes
• Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq, translated from Kannada by Deepa Bhasthi  
• A Leopard-Skin Hat by Anne Serre, translated from French by Mark Hutchinson

The shortlist of six books – five novels and one collection of short stories – was chosen by the 2025 judging panel, chaired by bestselling Booker Prize-longlisted author Max Porter. The other judges are: prize-winning poet, director and photographer Caleb Femi; writer and Publishing Director of Wasafiri Sana Goyal; author and International Booker Prize-shortlisted translator Anton Hur; and award-winning singer-songwriter Beth Orton.

The list celebrates the best works of long-form fiction or collections of short stories translated into English and published in the UK and/or Ireland between May 1, 2024 and April 30, 2025, as judged by the 2025 panel. The judges made their selection from 154 books submitted by publishers – the highest number since the prize was launched in its current format in 2016.

The prize recognizes the vital work of translators with the £50,000 prize money divided equally: £25,000 for the author and £25,000 for the translator (or divided equally between multiple translators). In addition, there is a prize of £5,000 for each of the shortlisted titles: £2,500 for the author and £2,500 for the translator (or divided equally between multiple translators).

The International Booker Prize 2025 winner will be announced at a ceremony at Tate Modern, London on Tuesday, May 20.

[Based on a press release.]