Women’s Prize for Fiction announces 2021 shortlist

WEDNESDAY 28 APRIL 2021, 18:30 BST: The Women’s Prize for Fiction – one of the biggest annual, international celebrations of women’s creativity – today announces its 2021 Shortlist.

Now in its 26th year, the Prize honours outstanding, ambitious, original fiction written in English by women from anywhere in the world.
The 2021 Shortlist titles are as follows (alphabetical by surname):

Brit Bennett – THE VANISHING HALF

Susanna Clarke – PIRANESI
Claire Fuller – UNSETTLED GROUND

Yaa Gyasi – TRANSCENDENT KINGDOM

Cherie Jones – HOW THE ONE-ARMED SISTER SWEEPS HER HOUSE

Patricia Lockwood – NO ONE IS TALKING ABOUT THIS

This year’s shortlist has been selected by the Chair of judges Bernardine Evaristo and her judging panel: podcaster, author and journalist, Elizabeth Day; TV and radio presenter, journalist and writer, Vick Hope; print columnist and writer, Nesrine Malik; and news presenter and broadcaster, Sarah-Jane Mee.

Chair of judges and novelist Bernardine Evaristo, says: ‘Coming up with a longlist of sixteen books for this prize was relatively easy compared to whittling the selection down to six novels, which by necessity demands more consensus. Sadly, we had to lose so many exceptional books
that we loved. However, with this shortlist, we are excited to present a gloriously varied and thematically rich exploration of women’s fiction at its finest. These novels will take the reader from a rural Britain left behind to the underbelly of a community in Barbados; from inside the hectic performance of social media to inside a family beset by addiction and oppression; from a tale of racial hierarchy in America to a mind-expanding tale of altered perceptions. Fiction by women defies easy categorisation or stereotyping, and all of these novels grapple with society’s big issues expressed through thrilling storytelling. We feel passionate about them, and we hope readers do too.’

The winner of the 2021 Women’s Prize for Fiction will be awarded on Wednesday 7 July 2021 at an evening awards ceremony in central London. She will receive an anonymously endowed cheque for £30,000 and a limited edition bronze figurine known as a ‘Bessie’, created and
donated by the artist Grizel Niven.

NOTES TO EDITORS:
● This year’s shortlist carries two British authors, two American, one Barbadian, and one Ghanaian/ American author.
● None of the selected authors have previously been shortlisted for the Prize.
● The two debut novels on the 2021 shortlist are: No One is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood and How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House by Cherie Jones.
● Three novels are by authors who have only previously published one other work of fiction: Brit Bennett, Susanna Clarke and Yaa Gyasi.
● 2021 Virtual Shortlist Festival: 14-16 June.
● 2021 Shortlist readings event: Tuesday 7 September, London.
● 2021 Winner announcement and Evening Awards Ceremony: Wednesday 8 September, London.