The Women’s Prize for Fiction Names a 2023 Longlist


On the eve of International Women’s Day, the Women’s Prize for Fiction in England names 16 novels to its £30,000 longlist.

Image: Women’s Prize for Fiction

By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson

Shortlist Set for April 26

England’s Women’s Prize for Fiction—perhaps best known for announcing one month ago its interest in creating a Women’s Prize for Nonfiction—has chosen International Women’s Day today, of course (March 8), to announce its 2023 16-title longlist for this English-language award.

The focal theme this year for International Women’s Day is hashtagged #EmbraceEquity.

Any woman writing in English, regardless of nationality, country of residence, age or subject matter, is eligible to win this prize created in 1996 for a full-length novel published in the United Kingdom between April 1, 2022 and March 31.

This year’s longlist includes seven British authors, five Americans, one Irish writer, a Canadian writer, a Zimbabwean-American author, and a French author.

Jurors are to create a list of six titles from the longlist for an announcement on April 26, and the date on which the winner is to be named at a London summer party is June 14.

The winner of this award regime receives £30,000  (US$35,442) and a limited-edition bronze figurine known as the “Bessie,” a piece created and donated by the artist Grizel Niven.

Notable points about the 2023 longlist:

  • Two of the authors have won the Women’s Prize for Fiction: Maggie O’Farrell, Hamnet (2020); and Barbara Kingsolver, The Lacuna (2010).
  • These authors previously have been shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction: Natalie Haynes, A Thousand Ships (2020); Laline Paull, The Bees (2015); and Elizabeth McKenzie, The Portable Veblen (2016).
  • There are nine debut writers on the 2023 longlist: Jennifer Croft, Jacqueline Crooks, Camilla Grudova, Louise Kennedy, Priscilla Morris, Sheena Patel, Cecile Pin, Parini Shroff, and Tara M Stringfellow.

This program, of course, is the same formerly known by sponsors’ names including Baileys and Orange. In this year’s iteration, it has sponsorship funding from Audible, an Amazon company, for the first time, and Baileys has renewed its support which dates to 2014.

Women’s Prize for Fiction 2023 Longlist

Jurors for the 2023 Women’s Prize for Fiction are, from left, Bella Mackie, Tulip Siddiq, chair Louise Minchin, Irenosen Okojie, and Rachel Joyce. Image: Women’s Prize for Fiction

Name of Author Title of Novel Publishing Imprint Nationality
NoViolet Bulawayo Glory Chatto & Windus Zimbabwean-American
Jennifer Croft Homesick Charco Press American
Jacqueline Crooks Fire Rush Jonathan Cape British
Camilla Grudova Children of Paradise Atlantic Canadian
Natalie Haynes Stone Blind Mantle British
Louise Kennedy Trespasses Bloomsbury Circus British
Barbara Kingsolver Demon Copperhead Faber & Faber American
Sophie Mackintosh Cursed Bread Hamish Hamilton British
Elizabeth McKenzie The Dog of the North Fourth Estate American
Priscilla Morris Black Butterflies Duckworth Books British
Maggie O’Farrell The Marriage Portrait Tinder Press British
Sheena Patel I’m a Fan Granta (originally published by Rough Trade Books) British
Laline Paull Pod Corsair British
Cecile Pin Wandering Souls Fourth Estate French
Parini Shroff The Bandit Queens Allen & Unwin American
Tara M Stringfellow Memphis John Murray American

The program was launched 28 years ago by its founding director, Kate Mosse.


More from Publishing Perspectives on international book and publishing awards programs is here. More from us on the Women’s Prize for Fiction is here, and more on the United Kingdom’s awards-heavy book and publishing market is here. More on International Women’s Day is here.

About the Author

Porter Anderson

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Porter Anderson has been named International Trade Press Journalist of the Year in London Book Fair’s International Excellence Awards. He is Editor-in-Chief of Publishing Perspectives. He formerly was Associate Editor for The FutureBook at London’s The Bookseller. Anderson was for more than a decade a senior producer and anchor with CNN.com, CNN International, and CNN USA. As an arts critic (Fellow, National Critics Institute), he was with The Village Voice, the Dallas Times Herald, and the Tampa Tribune, now the Tampa Bay Times. He co-founded The Hot Sheet, a newsletter for authors, which now is owned and operated by Jane Friedman.



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