The International Booker Prize, one of the world’s top literary honours for translated fiction, will be renamed the Bukhman International Booker Prize next month after a landmark 10-year funding agreement with Bukhman Philanthropies.
They also confirmed the Booker Prize Foundation as the title sponsor of the award for the next decade. It will help to increase the prize money for winners and shortlisted authors and to increase the support for translated literature.
Under this new arrangement, the winner's prize fund will be doubled from £50,000 (around Rs 64 lakh) to £100,000 (around Rs 1.28 crore). As in the tradition of the prize, the winner and translator will share the prize equally and recognise the translator's vital contribution to bringing international literature to English-speaking readers.
The Booker Prize Foundation has also increased the financial support for shortlisted titles. Now, each title is eligible for £5,000 (about Rs 6.4 lakh), split equally between the author and translator. And it is a recognition that literary translation is a team effort, not just a fiction.
Who are Dmitry and Daria Bukhman?
Daria Bukhman and Dmitry Bukhman established Bukhman Philanthropies. Dmitry Bukhman is the co-founder of Playrix, one of the world’s largest mobile gaming companies that has popular titles like Fishdom and Homescapes.
Born in 1985 in Vologda, Russia, Dmitry Bukhman moved to Israel in 2016 before settling in the UK in 2020. He was amongst the top 10 richest people in the UK under the age of 40 according to The Sunday Times Rich List 2025.
The Booker Prize Foundation said the partnership is a manifestation of the common effort to promote literature worldwide and translate works.
2027 Judging Panel Announced
Along with the sponsorship announcement, the foundation also announced the judging panel for the 2027 Bukhman International Booker Prize.
Katie Kitamura will sit on the panel, along with translator Patrick McGuinness, writer and filmmaker Caleb Azumah Nelson, Danish novelist Olga Ravn and actor/producer Tessa Thompson.
The judges will consider works of fiction translated into English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland between May 1, 2026 and April 3, 2027.
According to the official schedule, the longlist will be announced on March 16, 2027, followed by the shortlist on April 15, 2027. The winner of the first Bukhman International Booker Prize will be announced in May 2027.
Past Controversy Surrounding Playrix
While Playrix has established itself among the world's leading mobile game developers, the company also drew criticism in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Playrix, according to Forbes, first attracted criticism for describing itself as “apolitical”. The Bukhman brothers, the founders of the company, later publicly condemned the war and donated $500,000 (around Rs 3.4 crore at the time) to the Ukrainian Red Cross to help with the humanitarian relief.
The announcement is one of the biggest changes in the history of the International Booker Prize since its current format was introduced. In this way, the Booker Prize Foundation will raise the prize money and the long-term financial backing of translation work at a much higher level.
The 2026 International Booker Prize was awarded to Taiwan Travelogue translated from Mandarin by Lin King, continuing the prize's tradition of honoring the best works of world literature made accessible through translation.
