Booker Prize 2025 longlist announced

Jacob Stolworthy

The Independent

La Jornada Newspaper, Sunday, August 3, 2025, p. 5

When the 2025 Booker Prize shortlist was announced, the jury's chairman said it could be the best selection in the prize's 56-year history.

British authors received the most nominations: Natasha Brown, Jonathan Buckley, Andrew Miller, Benjamin Wood, and Hungarian-British writer David Szalay each earned a place on the longlist for the prestigious award, which is given annually to a full-length novel written in English.

This year's selection champions global perspectives and features the largest number of diverse nationalities in a decade, with India, Malaysia, and Trinidad represented by the nominated authors.

Wonderful collection

Jury chairman Roddy Doyle noted that the novels experiment with form and examine the past and question our unstable present .

"It's a wonderful collection; I don't think I've ever seen a better one ," Doyle said. "At the end of our last, very long meeting, when we added the last book to the collection, we all felt relieved, elated, and maybe a little proud ."

Nine of the 13 shortlisted authors are first-time Booker Prize nominees, with former winner Kiran Desai returning to the shortlist 19 years after winning the top award for her 2006 book, The Inheritance of Loss . If the Indian author wins for The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny , a book that took two decades to write, she will become the fifth double winner since the prize was created in 1969.

Maria Reva and Ledia Xhoga are the only debut novelists on the list. Endling , by the Canadian-Ukrainian Reva, centers on the journey of three women—and one critically endangered snail—through contemporary Ukraine during Putin’s invasion, while Misinterpretation , by the American-Albanian Xhoga, follows an Albanian interpreter who reluctantly agrees to work with a Kosovar torture survivor.

Two previously shortlisted authors appearing on this year's longlist are Miller, whose novel Oxygen was nominated in 2001, and Szalay, whose book All That Man Is received a nomination in 2016.

Miller has now been shortlisted for The Land in Winter , a novel set during Britain's coldest winter, and Szalay has been nominated for Flesh , a book that uses prose sparingly to paint a portrait of one man's life as he travels from Hungary to Iraq to London.

Former American professional basketball player Ben Markovits has been shortlisted for his twelfth novel. The Rest of Our Lives tells the story of a man who decides to take a road trip after dropping his daughter off at college.

Also on the longlist are Malaysian writer Tash Aw, Trinidadian author Claire Adam, and American writers Susan Choi and Katie Kitamura.

A shortlist of six titles will be revealed on September 23, before the winner is announced on November 10 at a ceremony at Old Billingsgate, London. The winner will receive £50,000, while the shortlisted authors will each receive £2,500, along with a special bound edition of their book.

Booker success can also boost sales for novelists. In the week after Irish writer Paul Lynch's Song of the Prophet was announced as last year's winner, sales rose 1,500 percent, and the book climbed to third place on The Sunday Times bestseller list.

Other recent Booker winners include Samantha Harvey, Shehan Karunatilaka, Damon Galgut, Bernadine Evaristo and Margaret Atwood.

The best selection in 56 years

Forms of Love, by Claire Adam (Faber) The South, by Tash Aw (4th Estate) Universality, by Natasha Brown (Faber) A Ship, by Jonathan Buckley (Fitzcarraldo Editions) Lantern, by Susan Choi (Jonathan Cape) The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny, by Kiran Desai (Hamish Hamilton) Audition, by Katie Kitamura (Fern Press) The Rest of Our Lives, by Ben Markovits (Faber) The Land in Winter, by Andrew Miller (Sceptre) Endling, by Maria Reva (Virago) Meat, by David Szalay (Jonathan Cape) Skyscraper, by Benjamin Wood (Viking)

Misinterpretation, by Ledia Xhoga (Daunt Books Originals)

▲ Since yesterday, the Smoke Kitchens have filled the air with the aromas of the sea and land. Activities continue today from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Photo: Gerardo Luna/Federal Ministry of Culture

From the Editorial Staff

La Jornada Newspaper, Sunday, August 3, 2025, p. 5

This weekend, the Los Pinos Cultural Complex welcomes a remarkable showcase of Baja California's cultural and culinary riches.

The Baja California en Los Pinos initiative, organized by the federal Ministry of Culture in collaboration with the state government, offers music, dance, literature, theater, crafts, and culinary traditions that reflect the unique identity of this border state.

Since yesterday, Smoke Kitchens have filled the air with aromas of the sea and land, inviting guests to enjoy dishes such as fish tacos, grilled meat, rabbit in white sage, acorn-fed atole, birria, and ceviches.

Alma Delia Ábrego, the state's Secretary of Culture, extended a special invitation: "It's a great opportunity for you to try rabbit made with white sage, and to enjoy a cup of coffee or acorn atole. Our land awaits you with open arms ."

She also shared her pride in bringing these cultural expressions to such a representative space. "I feel deeply proud to present these exhibits and to have you with us ," she stated.

Visitors were able to appreciate the photographic exhibition Jaspuypaim: Los Jamás Bautizados , by Roberto Córdova-Leyva, which portrays the history, life and resistance of the indigenous peoples of Baja California, communities that have inhabited the region for more than 4,000 years and maintain their identity alive.

In Jacarandas Plaza, artisans showcased their creations: textiles, wooden objects, and regional agricultural products. There, Lizeth Marcela captivated the audience with oral retellings of Baja California legends, especially aimed at children.

In dance, Alejandro Cervantes presented the piece "Manuel ," while Jesús Bautista conveyed the energy of rock and pop with his concert "Me Veas Arriba ." Minerva Velasco offered the dramatized reading "Frida Kahlo. Viva la Vida ," which honors the life and work of the Mexican artist.

The Nortestación literary collective set up a booth where they gave away copies of books from independent publishers and local authors, in addition to organizing activities to promote reading and cultural dialogue.

The program will continue today from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and conclude with a presentation by the National School of Folkloric Dance Company, which will perform calabaceado, a northern livestock tradition declared Cultural Heritage of Baja California in 2022. All activities are free.

The Los Pinos Cultural Complex is located at Molino del Rey 252, in the first section of Chapultepec Park, in the Miguel Hidalgo borough.

From the Editorial Staff

La Jornada Newspaper, Sunday, August 3, 2025, p. 5

The University of Chile, as a guest of the seventh edition of the University Students' Book Fair (Filuni), will participate with a delegation of more than 100 participants, including three National Literature Prize winners from that country, writers, artists, and academics. The institution will hold 60 activities, including book presentations, performances, and film screenings.

On Wednesday, August 27, 2025, at 7:00 p.m., the stage recital La poblacion by Víctor Jara will take place, presented by the Chilean National Theater.

Chile's participation will include the screening of documentaries produced by the South American university and a film series from that nation on UNAM TV.

The book fair, which will take place from August 26 to 31 under the motto "Spanish, the language of culture and science , " will include the participation of poets recognized with the literary award from their country, Elvira Hernández, Raúl Zurita, and the Mapuche Elicura Chihuailaf, as well as the winner of the National Prize for Plastic Arts, Cecilia Vicuña.

Also representing Chile will be muralist Alejandro Mono González; director Álvaro Díaz of 31 Minutos ; writer Alejandro Zambra; and poet Daniela Catrileo of Mapuche Champurria origin.

The inaugural discussion will feature Michelle Bachelet, former president of Chile; Alicia Bárcena, head of Mexico's Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources; and Leonardo Lomelí, rector of the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

The complete program can be found at uchile.cl/filuni2025