Bukhman Philanthropies is proud to announce a ten-year commitment to fund the International Booker Prize, the world's most influential award for translated fiction. In recognition of this partnership, the prize will be named the Bukhman International Booker Prize.
As part of the commitment, the prize fund for the winning title will double from £50,000 to £100,000, split equally between the author and translator or translators.
The announcement follows Bukhman Philanthropies' funding of the 2026 prize and builds on a remarkable decade for the International Booker Prize. Since its launch in 2016, the prize has celebrated 11 winners writing in 11 different languages and driven a 31 per cent increase in sales of translated fiction in the UK - growth led largely by readers under the age of 35. Five authors recognised by the prize have gone on to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Speaking about the partnership, Daria Bukhman, Co-Founder and Chair of Bukhman Philanthropies, said:
"Some of the books that deeply influenced me growing up were translated fiction. It was through these works that I first understood the world is larger than any single perspective. The International Booker Prize celebrates exactly this: the extraordinary act of carrying a story from one language into another, preserving its soul while giving it new life.
Supporting this prize over the next decade is deeply personal to me. In a world increasingly shaped by speed, distraction, and massive advancement in AI, translated fiction asks us to slow down, to listen, and to understand lives unlike our own. I am proud to partner with the Booker Prize Foundation in championing this vital art form for years to come."
The funding will also enable the Booker Prize Foundation to continue gifting 500 sets of each year's shortlist to libraries across the UK through The Reading Agency, bringing the world's best translated fiction to local communities. Over the decade ahead, the prize will develop new initiatives to support translators in building their craft, forging meaningful connections, and bringing a wider range of international works to new and younger audiences.
Gaby Wood, Chief Executive of the Booker Prize Foundation, said:
“We are incredibly grateful to Bukhman Philanthropies for their extraordinary commitment in funding the next 10 years of the International Booker Prize. As we look towards the next decade of the prize, we do so with a deep sense of responsibility and hope. Bukhman Philanthropies' commitment has the power to reshape not only the future of the prize, but the landscape of literature itself — elevating writers and translators whose stories connect us more deeply to one another across cultures, borders, and experiences."
Literature is one of three focus areas for Bukhman Philanthropies, alongside neonatal and maternal health and mental health and wellbeing. To learn more, visit bukhmanphilanthropies.org.