The Women's Prize for Fiction 2022 Shortlist

Founded as a riposte to 1991’s all-male Booker Prize shortlist, since 1996 the Women’s Prize for Fiction has underpinned a renaissance in literary fiction written by women. The sheer standard of former winners (including Zadie Smith, Madeline Miller, Ali Smith and the much-missed Andrea Levy) has ensured the Prize’s continued standing as one of the country’s elite literary awards.

This year’s shortlist showcases once again the incredible diversity of women’s fiction writing in English, ranging from a deliciously witty tale of ghostly goings-on in a Minneapolis bookshop to a breathtakingly realised, empathetic meditation on long-term mental illness. The winner will be crowned on Wednesday 15 June.

The 2022 Shortlist