Where writers write: 12 Booker Prize 2025 nominees share their writing spots

With two months to go for the Booker Prize 2025 announcement (and a few weeks until we discover the shortlist of six, which for the first time will be unveiled through a public event at the Southbank Centre, on 23 September 2025), the Booker Prize Foundation has shared pictures of some of the longlisted writers' writing spots.

Booker Prize 2025: writers' desks

'We asked some of the authors longlisted for the Booker Prize 2025 to show us where they write,' reads the post introducing the photo series. 'Here’s a glimpse at the spaces where this year’s longlisted novels came to life.'

Just like the variety of the longlist, the spaces range from the mundane to the monastic. There are kitchen tables, laptops open amongst the charming chaos of daily life, and desks appropriately equipped with the tools of the job, from laptop stands to ergonomic office chairs.

Some writers are taking their writing outdoors – in the case of Benjamin Wood, working from a notebook on a cemetery bench. There is comfort – as in the case of Susan Choi's window-side sofa – and its opposite, with austere and unergonomic set-ups.

Each picture comes alive with a writer's story, and lets viewers catch a glimpse of its author's personality. There are bare desks and peaceful surroundings, as well as the clutter of post-it notes, reading materials, and inspirations.

The images – mostly phone snaps of informal domestic spaces – are almost micro-novels themselves, some as detailed as a book and offering incredible insight into each author's creative process and their taste. They demonstrate how the act of writing is embedded in life and part of an ecosystem where ideas merge with objects and environments.