The Women’s Prize for Fiction is the UK’s only annual book
award for fiction written by a woman. Now in its eighteenth year, the award was previously sponsored by Orange but following their withdrawal this time round, it has been funded by private
donors.
The chair of the judging panel, actress Miranda Richardson said, “After an exhilarating meeting, all the judges were in agreement that this is an exceptional year for women’s fiction.”
The shortlist for the award is as follows:
Kate Atkinson – Life After Life
A.M Homes – May We Be Forgiven
Barbara Kingsolver – Flight Behaviour
Hilary Mantel – Bring Up the Bodies
Maria Semple – Where’d You Go, Bernadette
The winner will be presented with a cheque for £30,000 and a limited edition bronze statue known as ‘the Bessie’, created by artist Grizel Niven. The awards ceremony will take place on 5th June.
Who do you think should win? Are any of your favourites missing from the shortlist?