Early this morning the longlist for the 2021 Women’s Prize for Fiction was announced. This year’s sixteen strong longlist honours and celebrates a selection of both new and well-established writers.
The list also draws from across a range of genres, and the sixteen novels explore a variety of themes, from family and motherhood, to themes of identity and belonging. The list is also, during these locked down times, a chance to travel the world, with the novels’ settings including the Deep South, Ghana, Barbados and more.
Chair of the 2021 Judges, Bernardine Evaristo declared the sixteen novels on the longlist, “represent a truly wide and varied range of fiction by women that reflects multiple perspectives, narrative styles and preoccupations. These novels fascinated, moved, inspired and challenged us and we’re excited at announcing their inclusion on the Women’s Prize longlist.”
Joining Evaristo on the judging panel are, podcaster, author and journalist, Elizabeth Day; TV and radio presenter, journalist and writer, Vick Hope; print columnist and writer, Nesrine Malik; and news presenter and broadcaster, Sarah-Jane Mee.
The sixteen long listed novels are:
Because of You by Dawn French
Burnt Sugar by Avni Doshi
Consent by Annabel Lyon
Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters
Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan
How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House by Cherie Jones
Luster by Raven Leilani
No One is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood
Nothing But Blue Sky by Kathleen MacMahon
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers
Summer by Ali Smith
The Golden Rule by Amanda Craig
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi
Unsettled Ground by Claire Fuller
The judging panel are now tasked with whittling the longlist down to a shortlist of just six. The shortlist will be announced on April 28th, with the winner of the 25th Women’s Prize for Fiction to be announced on July 7th.
Header Image from Women’s Prize Official Website
