Shida Bazyar’s The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran, a novel tracing an Iranian family across decades of political upheaval, exile and return, has been shortlisted for the 2026 International Booker Prize. The six-book shortlist was announced on March 31, with the winner due to be revealed on May 19.
Written in German and translated into English by Ruth Martin, the book is set across four decades, from 1979 to 2009. It begins with Behzad, a young communist revolutionary, in the aftermath of Iran's shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi's fall, before following his family’s move to West Germany after the new clerical regime takes power.
The book follows the family through several defining moments in modern Iranian history, from the aftermath of the 1979 revolution to exile in West Germany and the protests of the 2009 Green Movement. A later section also sees Behzad daughter, Laleh, return to Tehran in 1999, confronting a city that no longer matches her childhood memories.
The Booker Prize announcement describes the novel as a “polyphonic” family story about revolution, oppression, resistance and the desire for freedom. The judges said the book follows “an Iranian family from revolution into exile” and explores “a dream of freedom that never dies”.
The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran is one of two debut novels on this year’s shortlist, alongside Bulgarian novel She Who Remains by Rene Karabash, translated by Izidora Angel.
The other shortlisted titles are German novel The Director by Daniel Kehlmann, translated by Ross Benjamin; Brazilian novel On Earth As It Is Beneath by Ana Paula Maia, translated by Padma Viswanathan; French novel The Witch by Marie NDiaye, translated by Jordan Stump; and Taiwanese novel Taiwan Travelogue by Yang Shuang-zi, translated by Lin King.
The shortlist features authors and translators representing eight countries across four continents, with books originally published in Bulgarian, French, German, Mandarin Chinese and Portuguese. Martin was previously longlisted for the prize in 2020.
Natasha Brown, chair of the 2026 judging panel, said the shortlisted books “reverberate with history”.
