International Booker will change its name

The International Booker Prize organizing committee announced the largest change in the history of the award in recent years. Starting with the 2026 season, the award will be officially known as the Bukhman International Booker Prize. The new name is associated with a ten-year funding agreement concluded with the Bukhman Philanthropies charity foundation, founded by entrepreneurs Dmitry and Igor Bukhman.

At the same time, the organizers announced an increase in the prize fund. The cash prize for the winner will increase from 50 to 100 thousand pounds sterling. As before, the amount will be divided equally between the author of the book and its translator — a principle that remains one of the main features of the International Booker Prize and emphasizes the equal importance of the literary work and its translation. Authors and translators of shortlisted books will continue to receive £5,000, which will also be distributed to both "parents of the work".

For the award itself, this is also a symbolic step. For the first time in history, the award will be named after a private philanthropist. However, the changes apply exclusively to the International Booker Prize, which is awarded for works of art translated into English. The main Booker Prize, which annually recognizes the best novel written in English, will continue to exist under its previous title.

The history of the International Booker Prize itself has changed several times. The prize has existed in its current format since 2016, when the organizers refused to award the writer for his cumulative work and focused on individual books published in English translation. It was then that the principle of equal recognition of the author and translator was enshrined, which significantly influenced the status of literary translation in the English-speaking world. Today, the International Booker Prize is considered one of the world's most influential awards in the field of translated literature: victory regularly leads to a multiple increase in international book sales and the emergence of new translations into dozens of languages.

The award's new partner — Bukhman Philanthropies — supports education, science, healthcare and cultural projects. Dmitry Bukhman was born in Vologda and, together with his brother Igor, founded the Playrix company, which has become one of the world's largest developers of mobile games. Among the company's most famous projects are Gardenscapes, Homescapes, Fishdom and Township. After Playrix left the Russian market, the company completely concentrated its activities abroad. According to Forbes, Dmitry Bukhman's fortune amounts to several billion dollars, which makes him one of the wealthiest entrepreneurs of Russian origin.

The organizers also revealed the jury for the 2027 season. It will be led by American writer Katie Kitamura, author of the novels «A Separation», «Intimacies» and «Audition. Together with her, the books will be judged by the Welsh poet and literary critic Patrick McGuinness, the British writer Caleb Azumah Nelson, the Danish writer Olga Ravn and the American actress Tessa Thompson. A long list of nominees for the award is scheduled to be announced on March 16, 2027.

The renaming of the International Booker Prize reflects a trend that is becoming increasingly noticeable in the world's largest cultural institutions. Private philanthropy is increasingly taking on long-term support for literary awards, festivals and museums. For the International Booker Prize, this means not only financial sustainability for the next decade, but also the opportunity to increase remuneration for authors and translators — those who make national literatures part of the global literary process.

Olga Ulanova, ATMA NEWS