The Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction, the UK’s only annual book award for fiction written by a woman, has announced its longlist today featuring an exciting sweep of genres and styles and both debut and established authors. With 20 novels included, the list really represents the diversity and talent of women writers and, above all, demonstrates that women’s fiction is thriving (but we already knew that, right?).
The judges must now whittle these 20 books to six, before choosing an overall winner to be announced on Wednesday 4 June 2014. We certainly don’t envy them that task.
The Baileys Women's Prize longlist in full:
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – Americanah
Margaret Atwood – MaddAddam
Suzanne Berne – The Dogs of Littlefield
Fatima Bhutto – The Shadow of the Crescent Moon
Claire Cameron – The Bear
Lea Carpenter – Eleven Days
M.J. Carter – The Strangler Vine
Eleanor Catton – The Luminaries
Deborah Kay Davies – Reasons She Goes to the Woods
Elizabeth Gilbert – The Signature of All Things
Hannah Kent – Burial Rites
Rachel Kushner – The Flamethrowers
Jhumpa Lahiri – The Lowland
Audrey Magee – The Undertaking
Eimear McBride – A Girl Is A Half-Formed Thing
Charlotte Mendelson – Almost English
Anna Quindlen – Still Life with Bread Crumbs
Elizabeth Strout – The Burgess Boys
Donna Tartt – The Goldfinch
Evie Wyld – All The Birds, Singing
Huge congratulations to all of these brilliant authors. What do you think of the list? How many titles have you read? Do you have any predictions?