On 4 March 2026, the Women's Prize for Fiction longlist was revealed! The annual literary award celebrating women writers has previously recognised the talents of so many gifted writers, including these past winners which are among my favourite reads:
Yael Van Der Wouden - The Safe Keep (2025) Barbara Kingsolver - Demon Copperhead (2023) Susanna Clarke - Piranesi (2021) Maggie O'Farrell - Hamnet (2020) Tayari Jones - An American Marriage (2019) Lionel Shriver - We Need to Talk About Kevin (2005) Andrea Levy - Small Island (2004)
The 2026 longlist is as follows:
Nineteen-year-old Gloria has a learning disability. She has little to do except hang out with Jack. He is controlling and commits an act of violence. Gloria is largely non-verbal. She has to give evidence against him, but wants to remain friends. This is a tender book about a vulnerable person, taking readers into a life they are likely unfamiliar with. Author Apps is a doctor, working as a GP in London. Gloria Don't Speak is her debut novel.
Sufien was born in Palestine in 1948 and is forced to leave his home for a Syrian refugee camp. In exile, he spends his life searching for something he cannot articulate. He journeys to Damascus, Kuwait, Italy, New York and Arizona in search of family, friends, home. This is a story of displacement and belonging. American author Assadi teaches fiction at Columbia University. Her previous works are The Stars Are Not Yet Bells and Sonora.
Girlie is a content moderator removing inappropriate content on the internet. She takes a new job working for a big social media company on its new virtual-reality theme parks. The new job takes her away from family and friends. It seems like a dream opportunity, but she is soon in a virtual world and developing real feelings for her boss. Castillo is an author from California. Moderation is her second novel, having previously published America Is Not The Heart. Moderation sounds really intriguing and I love the cover!
Ten-year-old Louisa and her academic father Serk go for a walk on a beach when tragedy strikes. Serk has disappeared. Louise and her mother Anne are left to put together what happened. The novel moves between the post-war Korean immigrant community in Japan, suburban American and North Korea. Choi is an American author of six novels. She is best known Trust Exercise (2019) which won the US National Book Award for Fiction. Flashlight was Shortlisted for the 2025 Booker Prize and Longlisted for the 2025 National Book Award.
Set in Mississippi, Reverend Winfrey preaches at the local Baptist church and hosts a radio program, influencing every aspect of his community. His wife Priscilla, is by his side, raising their five sons. Their youngest son, Wonderboy is the favourite to continue his father's legacy. When Wonderboy is involved in a violent incident, the community reels. This story is told through the perspectives of the women who love these men. Citchens is a writer from Mississippi. Dominion is her debut novel.
Three women from Belfast - Frankie, Miriam and Bronagh - have 18 year old sons. They have completely different backgrounds, but are brought together when their sons are accused of sexual assault at a house party. The story is told through the perspectives of all involved. Erskine is best known for her short story collections Sweet Home and Dance Move. She currently works as a secondary school teacher in Belfast. The Benefactors is her debut novel.
Virginia Evans - The Correspondent
Septuagenarian Sybil Van Antwerp sits down each day to write letters. She writes to her family, friends, former colleagues, her favourite authors, and she also writes but does not send, letters to another person to whom she shares her deepest feelings. Through the letters she writes and receives, readers come to learn about Sybil and the vulnerability that lies beneath her hard exterior. This is an engrossing debut novel which I absolutely loved. So happy it is on the list. My review is available on this blog.
Mercy is born in Bradford in 1962 into a chaotic household where she is misunderstood by her siblings. Her parents are part of the Windrush Generation, migrating from Jamaica. She struggles to bond with her parents as her father is a violent man and her mother immerses herself in church life. Mercy escapes to her imagination and books, where she can see alternate futures for herself. By her teens she knows that if she wants a different life, she will have to claim it for herself. The Mercy Step is Hutchinson's debut solo novel, having previously coauthored The Blackbirds of St Giles.
Set in a city in East Germany in 1989, three young people from diverse backgrounds are caught up in a love triangle. Theo is an East Berliner who wants to be a writer but cannot gain higher education as he refuses to be recruited by the Stasi. Immigrants Armando from Mozambique and Lolita from India have come to this place to pursue their own dreams. As the Berlin Wall begins to fall it brings hope for Theo but uncertainty for Armando and Lolita. Kalayil is a Manchester-based author and teacher. She has previously published The Bureau of Second Chances, Sense of Place, and The Wild Wind. The Others is her fourth novel.
Rozie Kelly - Kingfisher
An academic becomes infatuated with his colleague, the poet, threatening his relationship with his partner. The poet is his opposite, he is a queer man who has never been interested in women. He and his partner are in an open relationship, but his obsessed with the poet was not what either of them expected. Kelly is a writer from North Yorkshire and Kingfisher is her debut novel. Her writing has been compared to Sally Rooney.
The narrator knows all about great love stories. During her college days she became involved with Sam and Yash, in a classic love triangle. Decades later, she is a successful writer, living with her husband and children. She has a surprise visit causing her to remember the past and the decisions she made when she was young. King is a bestselling author of five novels, including Euphoria, and Writers and Lovers. Super excited to read this book and actually bought it last week in anticipation of it being longlisted!
A middle-aged actress meets a much younger man at a Manhattan restaurant. The woman is nervous and wonders what passers-by will make of the couple. Will they be seen as mother and son, age-gapped lovers, or something else? The pair have an unsettling conversation, giving way to more disquiet. Kitamura is an American author of five novels. She is best known for the critically acclaimed Intimacies (2021). Audition was Shortlisted for the 2025 Booker Prize and was on Barack Obama's 2025 summer reading list.
Set in the near future, Ma, her young daughter Mishti and her elderly father are preparing to leave the Kolkata as it faces flood and famine. They have obtained visas and are planning to join Ma's husband in Michigan, but Ma's purse and all their immigration documents are stole by a thief who is desperate to care for his own family. Author Majumdar was raised in Kolkata but now lives in New York. She was nominated for the National Book Award for her debut novel A Burning.
I recently read Australian author Charlotte McConaghy's novel and absolutely loved it. Set on an island between Australia and Antarctica, it follows a family who are managing the shutdown of a research station which is being closed due to climate change. A terrible storm washes ashore a woman who arrives bruised and shivering, harbouring a secret. As she recovers from her injuries she discovers the island is full of secrets. Wild Dark Shore is a brilliant, multilayered, suspenseful page turner. My review is available on this blog. McConaghy is also the other of bestselling novels Migrations and Once There Were Wolves.
Kit de Waal - The Best of Everything
It's the 1970s and Paulette works as an auxiliary nurse. She is desperately in love with Denton, but after he is killed she learns he had a wife and children that he never told her about. Still grieving this relationship, Paulette moves in with Denton's friend and soon has a child for whom she is determined to give the best of everything. De Waal is the author of My Name is Leon, an international bestseller, and a range of other novels, short stories and a memoir Without Warning and Only Sometimes (2022). She was previously longlisted for the Women's Prize in 2018 for The Trick to Time.
Alice Evelyn Yang - A Beast Slinks Towards Beijing
On her fourteenth birthday, Qianze's father walked out of her life. Eleven years later he shows up on her door, a stranger. He tells her about his past as a Red Guard during the Cultural Revolution, and how his mother survived Japanese occupation. While Qianze wants to know more about her family's past, it is dark and frightening to her. This is a story of intergenerational trauma, folklore and colonialism. Yang is a Chinese American writer from Virginia. This is her first novel.
The chair of the judges, former Prime Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard said of this longlist:
"Across a longlist that is international in both scope and setting, these sixteen books masterfully demonstrate the power of fiction to examine the messy business of being human. From climate change to artificial intelligence, they navigate the issues of our time with urgency and purpose, they immerse us in environments and experiences that are sometimes like our own, but more often are radically different, and they explore identities and perspectives that are often ignored or forgotten, amidst those inherently universal and recognisable. Spotlighting both emerging novelists and small, independent publishers, my fellow judges and I are proud to share a list that so wonderfully reflects the thriving creativity of contemporary women authors, as well as the crucial work of the Women’s Prize Trust in bringing unheard voices to the fore. It is truly a treasure trove for readers, and we offer our heartfelt congratulations to all the nominated writers."
My thoughts on the Longlist
This was an exciting list given there were so many surprises. I didn't blog my predictions this year but I was really hoping to see Wild Dark Shore and The Correspondent on the list so I am happy to see them longlisted. I had expected to see Madeliene Thein (The Book of Records) and Tayari Jones (Kin) on the list, and was hoping Emily Maguire (Rapture) to be longlisted too.
I have read two of the novels listed (The Correspondent and Wild Dark Shore) but I already have several others to get started with. I am particularly interested in Heart the Lover, Moderation, and Audition. Many of the other books and authors I have not heard of, so I am delighted to be exposed to new writers. Last year's longlist gave me many hours of reading pleasure, so I am hopeful that this year's list will do the same.
If I had to pick a shortlist, I would choose Flashlight, Audition, The Correspondent, and A Guardian and a Thief, to be among those listed.
The shortlist will be announced on 22 April 2026 and the winner will be revealed on 11 June 2026. Happy reading!
Want more Longlist fun? Here are the judges announcing the longlist.