Overview

• Judges named the six finalists—Susan Choi, Kiran Desai, Katie Kitamura, Ben Markovits, Andrew Miller and David Szalay—for Flashlight, The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny, Audition, The Rest of Our Lives, The Land in Winter and Flesh.
• The panel, chaired by Roddy Doyle with Sarah Jessica Parker, Chris Power, Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ and Kiley Reid, selected the list from 153 submissions.
• No debut novelists were shortlisted, reflecting a field dominated by mid- and late‑career writers.
• The judges described the selections as “brilliantly written” and “brilliantly human,” and will now reread the finalists before choosing a winner.
• The winner will be announced in London on 10 November at Old Billingsgate, with £50,000 for the winner and £2,500 for each shortlisted author.