
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.
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