Meet the judges for the Booker Prize 2025
The panel for next year's Booker Prize will be chaired by Roddy Doyle, who is joined by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀, Sarah Jessica Parker, Chris Power and Kiley Reid
The judges for the Booker Prize 2025 have been announced today.
Critically acclaimed writer and 1993 Booker Prize winner Roddy Doyle chairs the judging panel and is joined by Booker Prize-longlisted novelist Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀; award-winning actor, producer and publisher Sarah Jessica Parker; writer, broadcaster and literary critic Chris Power; and New York Times bestselling and Booker Prize-longlisted author Kiley Reid.
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 1 October 2024 and 30 September 2025.
The ‘Booker Dozen’ of 12 or 13 books will be announced next July, with the shortlist of six books to follow in September. The winner of the Booker Prize 2025 will be announced in November, with the winner receiving £50,000, in addition to the £2,500 awarded to each of the shortlisted authors.
Roddy Doyle, Chair of the Booker Prize 2025 judges, comments:
‘For more than forty years, I’ve been writing novels, or editing novels, or thinking about the next novel. For longer still – since my mother taught me how to read – I’ve filled hours of every day with novels, reading them, re-reading them, just gazing at them. “His head was never out of the books” is two-thirds of my biography. So, to have licence to do little else but read the year’s best novels, to find the familiar in the unfamiliar, to examine the remarkable, unique things that great writers can do with the shared language, English – I can’t wait.
‘I’m looking forward to working with a great panel of judges. I’ve never been in a book club before, but I think I’m probably joining a good one.’
Gaby Wood, Chief Executive of the Booker Prize Foundation, adds:
‘The 2025 judges form a jury of creative peers like no other. We’ve never before had three Booker authors on the panel. Roddy, the first past Booker winner to chair the judges, has already brought generosity, wit and calm to the process, and I have no doubt that he will draw together this stellar crowd as they seek the best fiction of the year. Ayọ̀bámi and Kiley, both past longlistees and very different writers, are perfectly placed to identify a cohort following in their footsteps. I’ve long admired Chris’s acuity and taste, and have in recent months enjoyed sharing book recommendations with Sarah Jessica, who has passionately supported contemporary fiction for many years. I’m hugely looking forward to listening in.’
Submissions for the Booker Prize 2025
Submissions for the Booker Prize 2025 open to UK and Irish publishers today, Tuesday, 10 December 2024.
The Booker Prize is awarded annually by the Booker Prize Foundation to the best (in the opinion of the judges) eligible work of long-form fiction written originally in English by an author of any nationality, and published in the UK and/or Ireland. Publishers are now invited to submit their books here.
What an excellent line-up!
Great to see such an eminent team 👏👏👏