The Women's Prize for Fiction 2021 Longlist

This year’s longlist reflects once more the incredible diversity of women’s fiction writing in English, ranging from a story of female emancipation through a Barbadian folktale to a wickedly sardonic take on vexed mother-daughter relationships. The longlist will be whittled down to a shortlist of six books on Wednesday 28 April with the winner crowned on Wednesday 7 July.

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.

The Longlist