The famed classicist will help determine the best work of longform fiction by writers of any nationality in the UK.

By Erin L. Cox, Publisher | @erinlcox

‘What is a novel’s role in relation to the past? What can the imagination do with facts?’

One of Britain’s most esteemed classicists, writer and broadcaster Mary Beard will be chairing the judging panel for next year’s Booker Prize, according to an announcement last week.

Alongside Beard will be award-winning poet, writer and educator Raymond Antrobus; musician, writer and broadcaster Jarvis Cocker; journalist, editor and critic Rebecca Liu; and Booker Prize-shortlisted novelist, poet and essayist Patricia Lockwood.

Beard is an award-winning author of the 2008 Wolfson Prize-winner, Pompeii: The Life of a Roman Town, SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome, Women & Power, and, most recently, Emperor of Rome; as well as being a broadcaster on Radio 4, Classics editor of the Times Literary Supplement, among other things.

“So much contemporary fiction is based on history, or inspired by myth, that Booker Prize judges often find themselves asking: What is a novel’s role in relation to the past? What can the imagination do with facts? These questions offer ways to think about fiction of all kinds, and I’m delighted that the distinguished and much-loved classical scholar Mary Beard has agreed to steer this year’s panel,” said Gaby Wood, Chief Executive of the Booker Prize Foundation.

“I’m hugely looking forward to being part of the Booker team this year, and to getting down to business with my excellent fellow judges,” said Beard.

“The Booker is a celebration of fiction and fiction-writers in all their wondrous variety, and of their tremendous power to make us think differently about the world. But it is also a celebration of reading and readers, in all their wondrous variety: at their library desk, on the train, curled up in bed; the quick and the slow; the confident and the puzzled. It’s a celebration of the impact that words have on us all.”

This year’s judges are looking for the best work of long-form fiction by writers of any nationality, written in English and published in the UK and/or Ireland between October 1, 2025 and September 30, 2026.  The longlist will be announced on Tuesday, July 28, 2026. The shortlist of six books will follow in September. The winner of the Booker Prize 2026 will be announced in November, and will receive £50,000, as well as the £2,500 awarded to each of the six shortlisted authors.

The Booker Prize was first awarded in 1969 and is dedicated to bringing recognition, reward and readership to outstanding fiction. Authors shortlisted for the prize gain global readerships and an increase in profile and sales, and the winner can expect their career to be transformed.

Last month, Porter Anderson wrote a piece announcing this year’s winner, Flesh by David Szalay. In the week after its win, Flesh has sold over 7,900 hardcover copies and 15,000 combined e-book and audiobook sales. The rights deals have also increased from 12 deals before the win to 35 foreign rights deals.