2018 has certainly been a fantastic year for women’s fiction, we saw Sally Rooney take the literary world by storm, enjoyed new books from Women’s Prize winners Barbara Kingsolver, Ali Smith and Madeline Miller, plus the brilliant Kamila Shamsie won the Women’s Prize with Home Fire.
To round off the year in style, here’s a top ten ‘highlights reel’ of our best bits of 2018.
Enjoy! And be sure to join in the conversation by telling us your favourite moments in women’s fiction this year on Twitter.
- Kamila Shamsie on winning the Women’s Prize: ‘I’ve been shortlisted for the Bessie in all her incarnations: there was Orange Bessie, Bailey’s Prize Bessie, Women’s Prize Bessie – now she’s my Bessie.’
2. ‘It’s very very difficult for people who are working class to get into the arts’ Kit de Waal on the lack of diversity in publishing today.
3. The brilliant Juno Dawson on her work as an activist with Stonewall: ‘I’m so proud to be visible for young people so that they can see a successful trans woman whose gender has never held her back.’
4. The fantastic Jenny Colgan on women’s fiction at the Baileys Book Bar: ‘You look at the coverage, the time and attention given to women’s fiction and it just doesn’t add up.’
5. The fantastic Paula Hawkins on her writing tips for new novelists: ‘There’s no magic trick to writing a bestseller, so don’t go looking for one. Tell the story you have to tell, the one you can’t ignore.’
6. 2018 Women’s Prize judge Catherine Mayer on why the Women’s Equality Party is so essential: ‘The Women’s Equality Party is the only party that consistently puts a gendered lens on things, on issues which are consistently misunderstood as women’s issues.’
7. Natalie Haynes on the gender pay gap and knowing your worth at the Women’s Prize event at Latitude Festival: ‘When women ask for more money they’re seen as being bitchy and grabbing, when a man does it they’re being ambitious.’
8. ‘I think libraries are the lifeblood of society’ The brilliant Dorothy Koomson on becoming an author and her love of libraries at the Baileys Book Bar.
9. Our brilliant 2018 Chair of Judges Sarah Sands on why we need a the Women’s Prize ‘Having immersed myself in books by women over the year, and discussed them with an all female panel, I have become aware of a collective voice. Bold, perceptive, profound…and humorous.’
10. Dolly Alderton on the importance of supporting other women: ‘For me feminism is about sisterhood. It’s about survival.’
What was your favourite moment in women’s fiction this year? Tweet us at @WomensPrize to join in the conversation!
