The Women’s Prize for Fiction has today (4 March) announced their 2019 longlist. This is the UK’s most prestigious annual book award celebrating and honouring fiction by women. Now in it’s 24th year, the Prize celebrates excellence, originality and accessibility in writing by women in English from around the world.
2019 Longlist
- The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker (Hamish Hamilton/Penguin)
- Remembered by Yvonne Battle-Felton (Little, Brown)
- My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite (Atlantic Books)
- The Pisces by Melissa Broder (Bloomsbury Circus)
- Milkman by Anna Burns (Faber & Faber)
- Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi (Faber & Faber)
- Ordinary People by Diana Evans (Vintage: Chatto & Windus)
- Swan Song by Kelleigh Greenberg-Jephcott (Hutchinson, Cornerstone)
- An American Marriage by Tayari Jones (Oneworld)
- Number One Chinese Restaurant by Lillian Li (ONE, Pushkin Press)
- Bottled Goods by Sophie van Llewyn (Fairlight Books)
- The Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli (HarperCollins Publishers UK, 4th Estate)
- Praise Song for the Butterflies by Bernice L. McFadden (Jacaranda Books)
- Circe by Madeline Miller (Bloomsbury Publishing)
- Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss (Granta)
- Normal People by Sally Rooney (Faber & Faber)
The judges
Professor Kate Williams (Chair), author, historian and Professor of History at the University of Reading
Arifa Akbar, journalist and critic
Dolly Alderton, columnist, broadcaster and author
Leyla Hussein, campaigner and psychotherapist
Sarah Wood, digital entrpreneur
Professor Kate Williams, Chair of Judges commented:
“The discussion among the judges was passionate and there were some really tough choice to make. I am thrilled to share this longlist – sixteen incredible books by a diverse group of women, from the UK and countries across the world, all brilliant stories that sweep you into another world. Each of them have been a privilege to read, and they have taken us into places a million miles from each other, exploring the lives of women and men in so many different but utterly compelling ways.”
About the Prize
This year’s longlist honours both new and well-established writers and a range of genres, and includes seven debut novels.
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 is awarded for the best full-length novel of the year, written by a woman and published in the UK between 1 April 2018 and 31 March 2019. Any woman writing in English – whatever her nationality, country of residence, age or subject matter – is eligible.
The shortlist will be announced on 29 April 2019 and the winner be will awarded on 5 June at an awards ceremony in London.
Get involved
What do you think of the 2019 longlisted titles? Which have you read and do you think there are any books missing? Add your comments below, or click any title above to leave a review.
Share your thoughts with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using #WomensPrize. Keep up with all the latest news, and find out about the 2019 partners, on the Women’s Prize for Fiction website.
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