British author M. John Harrison, 81, wins 2026 Booker Prize

Harrison becomes oldest winner in prize's history for dystopian novel 'The End of Everything'

British author M. John Harrison won the 2026 Booker Prize on Monday for his dystopian novel "The End of Everything," becoming the oldest winner in the prestigious literary award's history at age 81. Harrison received the £50,000 ($67,232) prize at a ceremony at Old Billingsgate in London, where last year's winner, David Szalay, presented him with the award. The winning novel, Harrison's 13th, follows a beachcomber and his elderly aunt struggling to survive on England's Kent coast after a mysterious catastrophe and the arrival of shape-shifting entities known as the iGhetti. The book, 198 pages long, was the shortest of the six shortlisted novels. Historian and broadcaster Mary Beard chaired the judging panel, which unanimously selected Harrison's novel after considering 163 submissions. Beard described the book as "the politics of now seen through the lens of the future," praising its blend of dark humor, political satire and optimism. Harrison, whose writing career spans six decades, is the first author with a background primarily in science fiction to win the Booker Prize, according to the Booker Prize Foundation. He surpassed Canadian author Margaret Atwood, who was 79 when she jointly won the award in 2019. The shortlist also included previous Booker winners Marlon James and Douglas Stuart, along with Elizabeth Strout, Luke Kennard and Rebecca Perry. The victory marks the first Booker Prize win for independent publisher Serpent's Tail. Established in 1969, the Booker Prize recognizes outstanding fiction written in English and published in the UK or Ireland, with authors of any nationality eligible. Harrison's win was his first nomination for the award.