The shortlist for this year’s Women’s Prize for Fiction has been revealed – and four of the six novels to have made the cut are debut works.
Addie E Citchens and Virginia Evans are nominated for their respective works, Dominion and The Correspondent, while Marcia Hutchinson has been recognised for The Mercy Step and Rozie Kelly for Kingfisher.
The foursome are joined on the shortlist by two established American novelists – Susan Choi, who is nominated for her sixth book, Flashlight, and Lily King, whose seventh book Heart the Lover follows a university love triangle that is reignited years later.
This year’s judging panel is being chaired by the former prime minister of Australia, Julia Gillard, who has hailed all of the shortlisted authors for penning novels that “intrigued and profoundly moved” the judges.
“We are delighted to present a shortlist that doesn’t shy away from examining life’s challenges, but also brings many moments of joy,” she said. “The plot lines kept us turning pages to find out what happens next, the characters found a place in our hearts and the stories stayed with us long after the last sentence.
“The incredible strength of the longlist challenged and delighted us, as we whittled down 16 books to this exceptional shortlist.”
The winner of the £30,000 prize will be announced on Thursday 11 June.
While the shortlisted novels explore a vast range of themes, time periods, places and styles, each of them interrogates the different roles women play in society and the power they hold.
Critchens’ Dominion - one of the four shortlisted books released by an independent publishing house - focuses on a prominent black family in a Mississippi town while exploring black womanhood and examining the pervasive sins of patriarchy.
In The Mercy Step, Hutchinson blends autobiography and fiction to create a portrait of childhood resilient and quiet rebellion in 1960s Bradford, while Evans’ The Correspondent centres on a 73-year-old protagonist who exchanges book recommendations with friends and letters with real-world authors.
Kingfisher subverts the power-dynamic we’re used to seeing and instead explores the relationship between a young queer male creative writing professor and his infatuation with a lauded older female colleague.
In Heart the Lover, King returns to the story of Writers & Lovers protagonist Casey Peabody, exploring her mid-life present and formative relationships from her past, while Choi’s sprawling historical family saga follows protagonist Louisa as she explores the mystery of her father’s disappearance in Japan.
The winner of the award will receive £30,000 along with a statuette known as the “Bessie” created and donated by the late artist Grizel Niven.
Previous recipients include Yael van der Wouden (2025), Barbara Kingsolver (2023, 2010), Maggie O’Farrell (2020), Kamila Shamsie (2018), Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2007), Zadie Smith (2006), and Ann Patchett (2002).
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