The Women’s Prize for Fiction, the UK’s only annual book award for fiction written by a woman, today announces the 2013 shortlist. Now in its eighteenth year – and known from 1996 to 2012 as the Orange Prize for Fiction – the Prize celebrates excellence, originality and accessibility in writing by women from throughout the world.
The shortlist is:
* Life After Life by Kate Atkinson (Doubleday)
* May We Be Forgiven by A.M Homes (Granta)
* Flight Behaviour by Barbara Kingsolver (Faber & Faber)
* Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel (Fourth Estate)
* Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
* NW by Zadie Smith (Hamish Hamilton)
For the first time, this year’s shortlist includes two previous winners of the Orange Prize; Barbara Kingsolver who won the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2010 for The Lacuna, and Zadie Smith who won in 2006 for On Beauty.
The judges for the 2013 Women’s Prize for Fiction are:
* Miranda Richardson, (Chair), Actor
* Razia Iqbal, BBC Broadcaster and Journalist
* Rachel Johnson, Author, Editor and Journalist
* JoJo Moyes, Author
* Natasha Walter, Feminist Writer and Human Rights Activist
“After an exhilarating meeting, all the judges were in agreement that this is an exceptional year for women’s fiction,” commented Miranda Richardson, Chair of judges. “The shortlist for 2013 represents six tremendous writers at the top of their game. Their individual novels are flawlessly presented, they contain a heady mix of ideas and without exception take the reader on a unique and deeply satisfying journey.”
Set up in 1996 to celebrate and promote international fiction by women throughout the world to the widest range of readers possible, the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2013 is awarded for the best novel of the year written by a woman. Any woman writing in English – whatever her nationality, country of residence, age or subject matter – is eligible.
The winner will be announced on 5 June 2013 at an award ceremony in The Clore Ballroom, Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London.
Get involved
You can download a Women’s Prize for Fiction shortlist poster – in A3 or A4 – to display with the book collections.
Have you read any of the shortlisted titles? Tell us what you think by adding a comment below.
