Children’s Booker Prize: Nominations from 2026, First Award in 2027

The United Kingdom’s most prestigious literary award, the Booker Prize, will now also be available for children. The new award will be called the 'Children’s Booker Prize'. On 24 October, the Booker Prize Foundation announced that alongside its existing awards for English and translated fiction, it will start the Children’s Booker Prize.

Award for children aged 8 to 12

This prize will be open to books for children aged 8 to 12 from any country. Published books can be in English or translated. Under the Booker Prize rules, the book must be published in the UK or Ireland. The Foundation aims to honor excellent literature for children. The prize amount will be £50,000, approximately $67,000 USD.

First award to be given in 2027

The award will open for submissions early next year, with the first prize presented in 2027. Winners will be selected by a jury consisting of both children and adults. The jury will be headed by the current UK Children’s Laureate and author Frank Cottrell Boyce.

Frank Cottrell Boyce said: "Now the real excitement begins. Let’s start shouting!" He is a British screenwriter, novelist, and activist.

The original Booker Prize and its winners

The original Booker Prize was established in 1969 and is one of the world’s most prestigious literary awards. Past winners include Salman Rushdie, Margaret Atwood, Ian McEwan, Arundhati Roy, and Hilary Mantel.

Indian author wins this year

Indian author, lawyer, and activist Banu Mushtaq won the International Booker Prize for her book 'Heart Lamp'. It is the first book written in Kannada to receive the Booker Prize, translated into English by Deepa Bhashti.

'Heart Lamp' was selected from six books worldwide for the prize. It is the first short story collection to win the award. Deepa Bhashti is the first Indian translator to win the prize for this book.