Here Is The 2023 Booker Prize Shortlist

The Booker Prize 2023 shortlist has been announced, whittling the previously announced list of 13 authors down to six. The literary award will go to the best fiction work written in English and published in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Though being on the shortlist is a great feat, finalists shouldn't rest easy just yet. The winner will be announced on November 26 and awarded £50,000 —the American equivalent of a little over $60,000.

"Together these works showcase the breadth of what world literature can do, while gesturing at the unease of our moment," the Booker Prize Foundation said on X (formerly Twitter). All of the finalists are first-timers on the Booker Prize list, two of whom are showcasing debut works. Here are the remaining contenders:

1. The Bee Sting by Paul Murray

Genre: Literary Fiction
Release Date: August 15, 2023

A family of four becomes overrun by personal and financial crises and tries to find their way back to a happy ending. The Bee Sting is Paul Murray's tragic fourth novel, a "hilarious whirlwind of familial socioeconomic misadventure" that perfectly captures the human condition.

Recommended for fans of: Crossroads by Jonathan Franzen and Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

Genre: Literary Fiction (Debut)
Release Date: February 7, 2023

Gopi's family is rocked by the sudden death of her mother, and her father copes the only way he knows how: by teaching his children to play squash. The 11 year old has been playing the game since she could hold a racket, and what starts as a hobby turns into a beloved profession that alienates her from her sisters. An awe-inspiring debut, Western Lane explores one girl's coming-of-age as she contends with the trappings of grief and sisterhood.

Recommended for fans of: Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo and Dances by Nicole Cuffy

3. Prophet Song by Paul Lynch

Genre: Literary Fiction
Release Date: August 24, 2023

Eilish Stack doesn't know what to think when Ireland's secret police show up at her front door to interrogate her husband, a trade unionist. But when he eventually disappears and society continues to collapse, there's no time for thinking — she must act, doing whatever it takes to save the lives of her four children.

Recommended for fans of: The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah and The Pull Of The Stars by Emma Donoghue

4. This Other Eden by Paul Harding

Genre: Literary Fiction
Release Date: January 24, 2023

A formerly enslaved man and his Irish wife discover a barren island in 1792. They build a community whose residents remain poor and hungry for a century, but they remain protected from animosity on the mainland. That is, until a prejudiced missionary draws attention to the island with his attempt to educate their children. What follows is an event "reminiscent of the story of Noah's Ark," a calamity that destroys the balance between a mix-raced community struggling to survive and the authorities intent on destroying them.

Recommended for fans of: Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary D. Schmidt and The Rattled Bones by S.M. Parker

5. Study for Obedience by Sarah Bernstein

Genre: Literary Fiction
Release Date: Aug 22, 2023

In order to take care of her brother, a young woman moves from her hometown to the country. A series of unexplained phenomena follow: there's the death of her lamb, a potato blight, and a collective of cows who go mad. To top it all off, tensions are rising between her and members of the small town. They take issues with outsiders — so much so, that she begins to wonder when their anger will turn into an actual threat.

Recommended for fans of: Of Cattle and Men by Ana Paula Maia and We Spread by Iain Reid

6. If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery

Genre: Short Story Collection (Debut)
Release Date: September 6, 2022

If I Survive You is a blazing debut that focuses on the triumphs and trials of one immigrant family. At the height of the '70s, Topper and Sanya flee from Kingston to Miami for a better life — but they soon face a set of challenges unlike any they've encountered. The majority of stories focus on their sons, Trelawny and Delano, who strive for success and stability amid "financial disaster, racism, and flat-out bad luck."

Recommended for fans of:The Last Suspicious Holdout by Ladee Hubbard and Night Of The Living Rez by Morgan Talty