Judging
Every June, a panel of five women, all passionate readers and at the top of their respective professions, choose the winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction.
The whole process starts early autumn of the previous year. We invite UK publishers to submit eligible books, while the Prize Director (Harriet Hastings) approaches potential judges.
Judges are appointed by the end of the year and plunge immediately into reading their allotted books, before meeting to decide the longlist, the shortlist and — shortly before the Award Ceremony — the winner.
The judges are given the key criteria for the Prize – accessibility, originality and excellence in writing by women. They are asked to forget about reviews, publicity spends, an author’s previous reputation, the sense of ‘who deserves it’ and choose simply on the basis of novels that inspire them, move them, make them think – and that they admire and enjoy!
Previous judges:
2020 Judges
Martha Lane Fox (Chair), Melanie Eusebe, Viv Groskop, Paula Hawkins, Scarlett Curtis
2019 Judges
Professor Kate Williams (Chair), Arifa Akbar, Dolly Alderton, Leyla Hussein, Sarah Wood
2018 Judges
Sarah Sands (Chair), Anita Anand, Katy Brand, Catherine Mayer, Imogen Stubbs
2017 Judges
Tessa Ross (Chair), Sam Baker, Katie Derham, Aminatta Forna, Sara Pascoe,
2016 Judges
Margaret Mountford (Chair), Laurie Penny, Elif Shafak, Naga Munchetty, Tracey Thorn
2015 Judges
Shami Chakrabarti (Chair), Cathy Newman, Grace Dent, Helen Dunmore, Laura Bates
2014 Judges
Helen Fraser (Chair), Sophie Raworth, Caitlin Moran, Mary Beard OBE, Denise Mina
2013 Judges
Miranda Richardson (Chair), Razia Iqbal, Rachel Johnson, Jojo Moyes, Natasha Walter
2012 Judges
Joanna Trollope OBE (Chair), Lisa Appignanesi OBE, Victoria Derbyshire, Natalie Haynes, Natasha Kaplinsky
2011 Judges
Bettany Hughes (Chair), Liz Calder, Tracy Chevalier, Helen Lederer, Susanna Reid
2010 Judges
Daisy Goodwin (Chair), Baroness Julia Neuberger DBE, Michèle Roberts, Miranda Sawyer, Alexandra Shulman OBE
2009 Judges
Fi Glover (Chair), Bidisha, Sarah Churchwell, Kira Cochrane, Martha Lane Fox CBE
2008 Judges
Kirsty Lang (Chair), Lily Allen (withdrew for health reasons), Lisa Allardice, Philippa Gregory, Bel Mooney
2007 Judges
Muriel Gray (Chair), Kathryn Hughes, Maya Jaggi, Marian Keyes, Kate Saunders
2006 Judges
Martha Kearney (Chair), Jenny Eclair, Claire Fox, India Knight, Jacqueline WIlson DBE
2005 Judges
Jenni Murray DBE (Chair), Jo Brand, Joanne Harris MBE, Jude Kelly OBE, Moira Stuart OBE
2004 Judges
Sandi Toksvig OBE (Chair), Karen Cunningham, Baroness Helena Kennedy, Katharine Viner, Minette Walters
2003 Judges
Ahdaf Soueif (Chair), Sophie Dahl, Nicolette Jones, Annalena McAfee, Dr Margaret Reynolds
2002 Judges
Sue MacGregor CBE (Chair), Professor Gillian Beer DBE, A.L. Kennedy, Fiona Shaw CBE, Julie Wright
2001 Judges
Rosie Boycott (Chair), Kate Adie OBE, Rachel Holmes, Emily Perkins, Suzanne Vega
2000 Judges
Polly Toynbee (Chair), Amanda Foreman, Claire Beaumont, Bonnie Greer OBE, Ffion Hague
1999 Judges
Baroness Lola Young OBE (Chair), Mariella Frostrup, Nicci Gerrard, Ursula Owen, Honor Wilson-Fletcher MBE
1998 Judges
Sheena Macdonald (Chair), Grace Kempster, Bernice Rubens, Elaine Showalter, Erica Wagner
1997 Judges
Lisa Jardine CBE (Chair), Fiona Kennedy, Andrea Levy, Val McDermid, Allison Pearson
1996 Judges
Kate Mosse OBE (Chair), Val Hennessy, Susan Hill CBE, Margaret Lally, Lorna Sage