2023 Women’s Prize Longlist Announced

The 2023 Women’s Prize longlist has been introduced! After the 1991 Booker Prize shortlist was introduced, then referred to as the Man Booker Prize, and no girls authors appeared on it, a gaggle of journalists met and needed extra. Together, they based the Women’s Committee and started the hunt for beginning a literary prize of their very own, solely for girls authors.

Now of their twenty eighth 12 months, the committee chooses what they deem the very best up to date works by girls writers yearly to honor with the prize, saying a longlist of 16 books, and later, on April 26, a shortlist of simply 6 books. 

Chair of judges Louise Minchin stated of the 2023 longlisted books: “[They are] a glorious celebration of the boundless imagination and creative ambition of women writers over the past year. . . . They all offer fresh perspectives on history and humanity, exploring hard truths with empathy, sensitivity, directness, and sometimes infectious humor.” This 12 months’s judges, together with Louise Minchin, are Rachel Joyce, Bella Mackie, Irenosen Okojie, and Tulip Siddiq. 

The winner of the 2023 Women’s Prize for Fiction might be introduced on June 14. 

The longlist books are:

Black Butterflies by Priscilla Morris

Children of Paradise by Camilla Grudova

Cursed Bread by Sophie Mackintosh

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

Fire Rush by Jacqueline Crooks

Glory by NoViolet Bulawayo

Homesick by Jennifer Croft

I’m a Fan by Sheena Patel

Memphis by Tara M. Stringfellow

Pod by Laline Paull

Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes

The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff

The Dog of the North by Elizabeth McKenzie

The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell

Trespasses by Louise Kennedy 

Wandering Souls by Cecile Pin

The Books at a Glance

About half (7 of 16) books are written by authors of colour, and whereas nearly all of authors are residents of the United States or United Kingdom, there are a couple of others within the combine—like NoViolet Bulawayo, creator of Glory, who’s from Zimbabwe. There can also be a wholesome mixture of debut writers and seasoned award-winners, from first-time novelists Tara Stringfellow (Memphis) and Parini Shroff (The Bandit Queens) to Sophie Mackintosh (Cursed Bread), whose debut The Water Cure was shortlisted for the 2018 Booker Prize. Another creator to notice is Jennifer Croft, creator of Homesick, who can also be a translator, notably the translator of Olga Tokarczuk’s Flights and The Books of Jacob, amongst many others.

Looking on the total record of 16 books, there are some widespread themes all through the record. In addition to having comparable themes, additionally they characterize points we at present expertise in society at the moment, mirroring these points in fiction. Many of the books function household sagas, with members of the family break up over completely different choices or paths taken and disagreeing with family members in ways in which might damage. Many of the novels function girls who, for one purpose or one other, discover themselves setting out on their very own, preventing a bigger system or algorithm, to carve their very own path. And others focus their language pointedly on the horrors, catastrophes, and challenges we face on this planet at the moment.

Whether you’re on the lookout for a satirical horror commenting on our obsession with media and content material (Children of Paradise and I’m a Fan) or a historic saga (The Marriage Portrait and Wandering Souls), there’s a little bit of all the pieces on this longlist.