Women’s Prize for Fiction 2021: Brit Bennett, Avni Doshi and Patricia Lockwood make longlist

Selected titles include ‘The Vanishing Half’, ‘Burnt Sugar’, and ‘No One Is Talking About This’

The 16 books longlisted for the 2021 Women’s Prize for Fiction (Women’s Prize for Fiction)

The longlist for the 2021 Women’s Prize for Fiction has been unveiled.

Brit Bennett, Avni Doshi, and Patricia Lockwood are all among this year’s nominees, respectively for their novels The Vanishing Half, Burnt Sugar, and No One Is Talking About This.

Also included on the 16-strong list are Clare Chambers (Small Pleasures), Susanna Clarke (Piranesi), Amanda Craig (The Golden Rule), Naoise Dolan (Exciting Times), Dawn French (Because of You), Claire Fuller (Unsettled Ground), Yaa Gyasi (Transcendent Kingdom), Cherie Jones (How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House), Annabel Lyon (Consent), Kathleen McMahon (Nothing but Blue Sky), Torrey Peters (Detransition, Baby), and Ali Smith (Summer).

Judges will now narrow the selection to a shortlist of six books, to be announced on 28 April.

The winner of this year’s award will be revealed on 7 July during an awards ceremony in London. She will receive a £30,000 ($41,000) cheque and a limited edition bronze figurine.

Novelist Bernardine Evaristo, the chair of judges, said: “We read so many brilliant novels for this year’s prize and had an energetic judging session where we discussed our passions, opinions and preferences. Sadly, we had to let some very deserving books go but we’re confident that we have chosen 16 standout novels that represent a truly wide and varied range of fiction by women that reflects multiple perspectives, narrative styles and preoccupations. These novels fascinated, moved, inspired and challenged us and we’re excited at announcing their inclusion on the Women’s Prize longlist.”

Along with Evaristo, this year’s team of judges is made up of podcaster, author and journalist Elizabeth Day, radio presenter, journalist and writer Vick Hope, print columnist and writer Nesrine Malik, and news presenter and broadcaster Sarah-Jane Mee.

The Women’s Prize for Fiction rewards “the best full-length novel of the year” written by a woman, published in the UK between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021. Any woman writing in English is eligible for the prize, regardless of nationality, country of residence, age or subject matter.

The prize was created in 1996 “to celebrate and promote fiction by women to the widest range of readers possible”.

Last year, novelist Maggie O'Farrell won the prize for her novel Hamnet.