Booker Foundation launches new Children’s Booker Prize with £50,000 award

London, Oct 24 – The Booker Prize Foundation on Friday announced the launch of a new literary honor titled the “Children’s Booker Prize,” aimed at recognizing outstanding contemporary fiction for children. The award will be decided jointly by a panel comprising both adult and child judges.

As per agency report, nominations for the inaugural edition will open in 2026, and the prize will be presented annually from 2027 onwards. The winner will receive a cash award of £50,000 (approximately Rs. 59 lakh).

The foundation stated that the prize will honor the best work of contemporary fiction written in or translated into English for readers aged eight to twelve, provided it is published in the United Kingdom and/or Ireland. The initiative marks the first major expansion of the Booker Prize family in two decades.

Booker Prize Foundation Chief Executive Gaby Wood described the new award as the organization’s most ambitious project in 20 years, expressing hope that its influence will endure for generations. She emphasized that the initiative represents more than a literary accolade, calling it “a movement that unites children, parents, teachers, and storytellers around the world.”

In collaboration with the AKO Foundation, at least 30,000 copies of shortlisted and winning titles will be distributed free of charge to ensure that more children have access to some of the world’s finest stories.

British author Penelope Lively is scheduled to deliver the keynote address on the newly introduced children’s award at this year’s Booker Prize ceremony on November 10 in London. Indian-origin author Kiran Desai has also been shortlisted for her latest novel “The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny.” Desai had previously won the Booker Prize in 2006 for her acclaimed novel “The Inheritance of Loss.”