The Booker Prizes celebrates the world’s most outstanding fiction, whether written in or translated into English, and each month they shine a spotlight on a different book from the Booker Library.
This month, they are celebrating Tim Winton’s The Riders, with an in-depth reading guide and an extract from the book, an illuminating interview with Tim Winton and a chance to win a copy of the book. Access the Booker Monthly Spotlight today.
We will be sharing the Booker Prizes Monthly Spotlight for you to enjoy each month.
Introducing the Booker Prizes September Monthly Spotlight: The Riders by Tim Winton.
Tim Winton’s 1995 shortlisted novel features a desperate man’s attempts to find his missing wife as he journeys across Europe
Fred Scully has spent months alone, fixing up a dilapidated cottage in rural Ireland, and now his pregnant wife and child are coming over from Australia to join him. But when Scully arrives at the airport to collect them, only his seven-year-old daughter Billie steps off the plane, unable to explain what’s happened to her mum, Jennifer. Father and daughter embark on a reckless journey across Europe, as Scully desperately tries to track down the wife he comes to realise he didn’t really know.
In an illuminating interview, Tim Winton tells us how Scully, Billie and Jennifer feel ‘like family’ to him and why their story remains relevant to readers, 30 years on. He talks about the force of weather and geography in fiction, how being a parent has shaped him as a writer, and how he feels about Brad Pitt starring in a new film adaptation of the novel, due out in late 2026.
Our Monthly Spotlight for October also includes an extract from the book, an in-depth reading guide with questions and discussion points, and a chance to win a copy of the book.
The Booker Prize 2025
The 2025 shortlist for the Booker Prize —the world’s most significant award for a single work of fiction—has been announced.
Find out all about the shortlist here.
Reminder of the longlist here
Get your shortlist digital pack here.
Get involved
If you work in a library or workplace and would like to promote the shortlist, you can download a free digital pack from our shop.
Share your thoughts with us on Facebook, X and Instagram using #BookerPrize2025.
Keep up with all the latest news on the Booker Prizes website.
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