Celebrating excellence, originality, and accessibility in writing by women in English from across the world and now in its 25th year, the Women’s Prize for Fiction has announced its 2020 longlist. The sixteen finalists include Booker Prize co-winner Bernardine Evaristo’s Girl, Woman, Other and a range of books from well-established authors like Jacqueline Woodson and Hilary Mantel to notable debuts like Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams. The shortlist will be announced on April 22nd and the winner will be announced on June 3rd.
Chair of the judges, Martha Lane Fox commented on the list, “Ahead of the longlist meeting I was anxious that the negotiations between judges might be as arduous as Brexit, but it was an absolute delight to pick our final 16 books. Entries for the Prize’s 25th year have been spectacular and we reveled in the variety, depth, humanity and joy of the writing–we hope everyone else will too.”
We’re delighted to reveal this year’s #WomensPrize longlist 🙌
Congratulations to our sixteen brilliant longlisted authors. Discover them here: https://t.co/6w8na8znoz pic.twitter.com/AgSYHAoQpL
— Women’s Prize (@WomensPrize) March 3, 2020
The 2020 judging panel includes chair Martha Lane Fox; writer and activist Scarlett Curtis; writer and activist, Melanie Eusebe; co-founder of the Black British Business Awards, author, and comedian Viv Groskop; and Paula Hawkins, international bestselling author of The Girl on the Train.
2020 WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR FICTION LONGLIST
Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara
Fleishman is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner
Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams
Dominicana by Angie Cruz
Actress by Anne Enright
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo
Nightingale Point by Luan Goldie
A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes
How We Disappeared by Jing-Jing Lee
The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo
The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel
Girl by Edna O’ Brien
Hamnet by Maggie O’ Farrell
Weather by Jenny Offill
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson
Check out last year’s nominees:
Women’s Prize for Fiction Shortlist Announced
Announcing the 2019 Women’s Prize for Fiction Longlist