Women's Prize for Fiction 2021 shortlist announced

Started in 1996, the Women's Prize for Fiction is an annual award given to an “outstanding, ambitious, original fiction” written by a woman author in English. A shortlist of six books, from a longlist of 16, was announced on April 28, 2021. Interestingly, this year’s shortlist is made up of authors who have never been nominated for the award before! The list is not only an exciting mix of popular and debut authors but also race as it includes two British writers, two American writers, one Barbadian and one Ghanaian-American writer. This year's shortlisted books are selected by a judging panel including Booker-winner Bernadine Evaristo (Chair), Elizabeth Day, Vick Hope, Nesrine Malik, and Sarah-Jane Mee. Evaristo said, "Fiction by women defies easy categorisation or stereotyping, and all of these novels grapple with society’s big issues expressed through thrilling storytelling."

Women's Prize for Fiction 2021 winner will be announced on July 7, 2021. Previous Women's Prize for Fiction winners include authors like Zadie Smith, Tayari Jones, among others.

Checkout the complete Women's Prize for Fiction 2021 shortlist here!

Yaa Gyasi's second novel 'Transcendent Kingdom' is a story of a Ghanaian immigrant family living in America and their struggles.

Photo: Viking

This is Cherie Jones' debut novel. Ser in Barbadoes, it's a story of violence and murder that takes place in a community.

Photo: Headline

'The Vanishing Half' is Brit Bennett's second novel. It's a story of two African-American twin sisters-- one of whom secretly passes for white and is married to a white man, who knows nothing of her past/ upbringing, while the other continues to live with her black daughter.

Photo: Dialogue

Susanna Clarke's fantasy novel 'Piranesi' is published after a gap of 16 years since her first novel 'Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell' was released in 2005. The story is about Piranesi, who has lived in a mysterious house "for as long as he can remember".

Photo: Bloomsbury

Patricia Lockwood’s 'No One Is Talking About This' is the story of a woman who is known for her viral posts on social media. But what happens when her real and virtual life merge together?

Photo: Bloomsbury

Set in rural Wiltshire, 'Unsettled Ground' by Claire Fuller is the story of two mid-aged twins who have lived their lives in isolation. This is Fuller's fourth novel.

Photo: Fig Tree