Booker Prize shortlist goes mainstream: where’s the new talent?
Written by Hannah Rooney on 26th September 2025
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NEW authors and independent presses have lost out, as the The 2025 Booker Prize shortlist heavily features books by mainstream publishing houses.
From 153 submissions, six were shortlisted – none from debut authors – and five of those came from mainstream publishing houses.
Chair of the 2025 prize, Roddy Doyle (Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha) described the finalists as “brilliantly written and brilliantly human”.
Of the shortlist, four were produced by Penguin Random House, a ‘big-five’ publishing house.
The lask of independent publishers raises questions about the dominance of large publishers in the literary industry.
Fresh literary talents often risk slipping through the cracks in the publishing industry, as experienced authors and commercialisation take precedence.
Although debut novels have quite often made the longlist for the prestigious literary prize, only six have actually won since The Booker Prize launched in 1969.
The shortlist announcement comes after news of the recently established Hilary Mantel Prize, dedicated to uplifting new, unpublished writers.
Regional writing groups also continue to try to nurture and launch new writers.
One such group is New Writing North, who ‘offer a wide range of opportunities for writers at all stages of their careers’. The 2026 Northern Writers’ Awards open for submissions next week, from October 1 – December 12.
Previous winner Jayshree Patel said: “No exaggeration to say that the Northern Writers’ Award changed everything for me. It gave me the second chance of life that I didn’t know I needed.”
As the literary landscape faces constant change, new writers and independent presses may have to fight to receive recognition.
