--- title: "The Booker Prize 2026 Winner Is Named on 9th November: How to Watch and Which Book the Bookmakers Favour" description: The Booker Prize 2026 winner is announced on 9th November from 9.45pm GMT. How to watch the livestream, the favourite and the six books in the running. author: Dr Marina Nani (Editor-in-Chief) date: 2026-11-03T12:00:37.569Z updated: 2026-11-03T12:00:37.584Z canonical: https://richbooksmagazine.com/article/booker-prize-2026-winner-how-to-watch image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/pexels-40547867.webp categories: Literary Fiction content_type: News region: London publication: Rich Books about: - type: Thing name: Booker Prize description: The Booker Prize is an annual literary award, first given in 1969, for the best novel written in English and published in the UK or Ireland. It is run by the Booker Prize Foundation. The winner receives £50,000, and each shortlisted author receives £2,500. url: https://thebookerprizes.com --- The winner of the Booker Prize 2026 will be announced on Monday 9th November at a private ceremony at Old Billingsgate in London. The winning book earns its author £50,000 and a trophy called Iris, and each of the other five shortlisted authors receives £2,500. Six novels remain from the 163 books the judges read this year. ## How to follow the announcement The Booker Prize Foundation livestreams the winner announcement on its YouTube, Instagram and TikTok channels from 9.45pm GMT. That is 10.45pm in Madrid and Paris and 4.45pm in New York. The Foundation's YouTube channel also carries a watch party playlist for readers who want to gather friends before the result. Readers in London can meet all six shortlisted authors the night before. The Southbank Centre hosts the shortlist readings on Sunday 8th November at 7.30pm, chaired by novelist Sara Collins, with tickets from £29. The new winner's first public appearance follows later that week at Tyneside Cinema in Newcastle, hosted by New Writing North. ## The six books in the running - The End of Everything by M. John Harrison - The Disappearers by Marlon James - Black Bag by Luke Kennard - May We Feed the King by Rebecca Perry - The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout - John of John by Douglas Stuart The judging panel is chaired by classicist Mary Beard, with poet Raymond Antrobus, musician Jarvis Cocker, critic Rebecca Liu and novelist Patricia Lockwood. Rich Books has a [reader's guide to each of the six novels](https://richbooksmagazine.com/article/booker-prize-2026-shortlist), with who each one suits. ## The Disappearers leads the betting at 6/4 William Hill priced The Disappearers as its 6/4 favourite on 13th October, which works out at an implied 40 per cent chance. John of John was second at 3/1 and May We Feed the King third at 4/1. Prices compiled by the betting site OLBG in mid-October had John of John slightly longer at 7/2, with May We Feed the King and The End of Everything both at 4/1. Those prices are three weeks old and may have moved since. William Hill also reported that Booker betting is down this year. Its total stakes were roughly half of last year's, and the number of individual bets was about 80 per cent of the 2025 figure. Its spokesperson Lee Phelps said the traders rely on press coverage and incoming bets rather than literary judgement, and that the judges' choice cannot be worked out by any formula. ## What each result would mean for the prize's record books A win for The Disappearers or John of John would add a fifth name to the short list of authors who have won the Booker twice. James won in 2015 with A Brief History of Seven Killings and Stuart in 2020 with Shuggie Bain. A win for The End of Everything would make Harrison, at 81, the oldest winner in the prize's history, a record held by Margaret Atwood, who won at 79. May We Feed the King is the only debut on the shortlist and has already won the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize. It is also one of three Booker novels on this year's Waterstones Book of the Year shortlist, alongside John of John and The Things We Never Say, which is Strout's third Booker nomination. ## Where to buy the six books ### The Booker Prize 2026 shortlist - [The End of Everything](https://serpentstail.com/work/the-end-of-everything/) by M. John Harrison - [The Disappearers](https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=9780241714409) by Marlon James - [Black Bag](https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=9781399826112) by Luke Kennard - [May We Feed the King](https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=9781803513867) by Rebecca Perry - [The Things We Never Say](https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=9780241814307) by Elizabeth Strout - [John of John](https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=9781035086955) by Douglas Stuart - The End of Everything: [Amazon](https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=The+End+of+Everything+M.+John+Harrison) | [Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/The%20End%20of%20Everything%20Harrison) - The Disappearers: [Amazon](https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=The+Disappearers+Marlon+James) | [Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/The%20Disappearers%20Marlon%20James) - Black Bag: [Amazon](https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=Black+Bag+Luke+Kennard) | [Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/Black%20Bag%20Luke%20Kennard) - May We Feed the King: [Amazon](https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=9781803515304) | [Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/May%20We%20Feed%20the%20King%20Rebecca%20Perry) - The Things We Never Say: [Amazon](https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=9780241814307) | [Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/The%20Things%20We%20Never%20Say%20Elizabeth%20Strout) - John of John: [Amazon](https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=9781035086955) | [Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/John%20of%20John%20Douglas%20Stuart) *Sources: The Booker Prizes, William Hill News (13th October), OLBG (mid-October), The Scotsman (24th September), Southbank Centre, NPR (28th July).*