Booker Prize launches £50K children’s prize

The Booker Prize Foundation has launched the inaugural Children’s Booker Prize, an award “celebrating the best contemporary fiction for children aged 8 to 12 years old”.

The prize will open in 2026, with a shortlist announced in November 2026. The winner, to be announced in February 2027, will receive £50,000 (A$101,912).

A panel of child and adult judges will be chaired by UK Children’s Laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce. At least 30,000 copies of the shortlisted and winning books will be gifted to young readers to “ensure more children can own and read the world’s best fiction”.

Booker Prize Foundation CEO Gaby Wood said the prize aims to be “an award that will champion future classics written for children; a social intervention designed to inspire more young people to read; and a seed from which we hope future generations of lifelong readers will grow.”

More information is available on the Booker Prize Foundation website.

Category: International news