Indian-origin translator Padma Viswanathan in Booker shortlist

She is among those been shortlisted for her English translation of Brazilian author Ana Paula Maia's novel 'On Earth As It Is Beneath.'

The shortlist of six books was chosen by the 2026 judging panel, chaired by award-winning author Natasha Brown and includes award-winning Indian novelist and columnist Nilanjana S. Roy.

Formerly known as the Man Booker International Prize, the honour is presented annually for a work of fiction that was originally written in a language other than English, then translated into English and published in the UK and or Ireland. The winner of the 50,000-pound prize money, to be divided equally between the winning author and translator, will be revealed at a ceremony at Tate Modern in London on May 19. The 2026 prize is supported by Bukhman Philanthropies.

Three of these shortlisted novels explore moments in world history: imperialist Japan-controlled Taiwan in the 1930s, Nazi-era Germany and the 1979 Revolution in Iran.

'On Earth As It Is Beneath' is described as a horror novella set in a remote penal colony in which every full moon, the warden releases the inmates into the wilderness - only to hunt them down.

Vishwanathan in an interview with the Booker Prize authorities, talked about the book that made her want to become a translator. "An early seed was Lakshmi Holmstrom's anthology of Indian women's writing, The Inner Courtyard, which includes stories both originally written in English and translated from South Asian languages, implying a fluidity between those categories that felt right to me," she said.

"I acquired it in 1991, six years before Salman Rushdie, whom I worship (Midnight's Children made me see how and why I wanted to write), wrote in The New Yorker that Indian writers were creating 'stronger and more important' work in English than in the 18 recognised languages of India."

"I took offence - he was reading solely in English, amid a documented dearth of translations from South Asian languages - but his assertion is perhaps better taken as a challenge, and translators have been rising to it. Still, it was many years before that seed germinated for me, and in Brazilian soil, not Indian, though I am now becoming increasingly active in supporting translations from South Asian languages," Viswanathan, who grew up in Canada, said.

Mewnwhile, the books on the Booker Prize shortlist are by a majority of women: five of the six authors and four of the six translators are women.

Natasha Brown, Chair of this year's judging panel, said, "With narratives that capture moments from across the past century, these books reverberate with history. While there's heartbreak, brutality and isolation among these stories, their lasting effect is energising."

The other books that feature in the shortlist include, 'The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran' by Shida Bazyar, translated from German by Ruth Martin. 'She Who Remains' by Rene Karabash, translated from Bulgarian by Izidora Angel. "The Director" by Daniel Kehlmann, translated from German by Ross Benjamin.

'The Witch' by Marie NDiaye, translated from French by Jordan Stump. 'Taiwan Travelogue' by Yang Shuang-zi, has been translated from Mandarin Chinese by Lin King. (ANI)