2016 Baileys women’s prize for fiction longlist

 London, 8th March 2016: The Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction, the UK’s only annual book award for fiction written by a woman, today announces the 2016 longlist. Now in its twenty first* year, the Prize celebrates excellence, originality and accessibility in writing by women in English from throughout the world. The announcement coincides with International Women’s Day 2016.

The 2016 longlist is as follows:

Kate Atkinson: A God in Ruins

Shirley Barrett: Rush Oh!

Cynthia Bond: Ruby

Geraldine Brooks: The Secret Chord

Becky Chambers: The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

Jackie Copleton: A Dictionary of Mutual Understanding

Rachel Elliott: Whispers Through a Megaphone

Anne Enright: The Green Road

Petina Gappah: The Book of Memory

Vesna Goldsworthy: Gorsky

Clio Gray: The Anatomist’s Dream

Melissa Harrison: At Hawthorn Time

Attica Locke: Pleasantville

Lisa McInerney: The Glorious Heresies

Elizabeth McKenzie: The Portable Veblen

Sara Nović: Girl at War

Julia Rochester: The House at the Edge of the World

Hannah Rothschild: The Improbability of Love

Elizabeth Strout: My Name is Lucy Barton

Hanya Yanagihara: A Little Life
The judges for the 2016 Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction are:

Margaret Mountford, (Chair), Lawyer and Businesswoman

Naga Munchetty, Broadcast Journalist

Laurie Penny, Writer and Journalist

Elif Shafak, Author

Tracey Thorn, Writer and Singer

“We had a hugely enjoyable and stimulating meeting, as there were a great many strong novels in contention,” commented Margaret Mountford, Chair of Judges. “We are delighted with the quality, the imaginative scope and the ambition of our chosen books, a longlist which reflects the judges’ interests and tastes. We hope readers will enjoy the variety of outstanding work on offer.”

Set up in 1996 to celebrate and promote international fiction by women throughout the world to the widest range of readers possible, the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction is awarded for the best full-length novel of the year written by a woman and published in the UK between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2016. Any woman writing in English – whatever her nationality, country of residence, age or subject matter – is eligible.

This year’s longlist honours both new and well-established writers; over half the longlist is occupied by first novels alongside four previously shortlisted authors. Seven nationalities are represented including the first Zimbabwean author to be longlisted for the Prize.

The winner will receive a cheque for £30,000 and a limited edition bronze known as a ‘Bessie’, created and donated by the artist Grizel Niven. Both are anonymously endowed.

The winner will be announced at an awards ceremony to be held in The Clore Ballroom at the Royal Festival Hall on 8th June 2016.

Previous winners are – Ali Smith for How to be Both (2015), Eimear McBride for A Girl is a Half-formed Thing (2014), A.M. Homes for May We Be Forgiven (2013), Madeline Miller for The Song of Achilles (2012), Téa Obreht for The Tiger’s Wife (2011), Barbara Kingsolver for The Lacuna (2010), Marilynne Robinson for Home (2009), Rose Tremain for The Road Home (2008), Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie for Half of a Yellow Sun (2007), Zadie Smith for On Beauty (2006), Lionel Shriver for We Need to Talk About Kevin (2005), Andrea Levy for Small Island (2004), Valerie Martin for Property (2003), Ann Patchett for Bel Canto (2002), Kate Grenville for The Idea of Perfection (2001), Linda Grant for When I Lived in Modern Times (2000), Suzanne Berne for A Crime in the Neighbourhood (1999), Carol Shields for Larry’s Party (1998), Anne Michaels for Fugitive Pieces (1997), and Helen Dunmore for A Spell of Winter (1996).

www.womensprizeforfiction.co.uk

For more information or to speak to judge Elif Shafak, please contact:

Amanda Johnson:
Tel: 07715 922 180
Email: amanda@amandajohnsonpr.com

BAILEYS Women’s Prize for Fiction

In June 2013, the Prize announced a new partnership with Baileys, the world’s first cream liqueur, and is now known as the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction.

The Prize’s patrons are; Dame Gillian Beer DBE, Rosie Boycott, Liz Calder, Shami Chakrabarti CBE, Helen Fraser CBE, Fi Glover, Daisy Goodwin, Muriel Gray, Bettany Hughes, Paula Kahn, Martha Kearney, Jude Kelly OBE, Helena Kennedy, Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws QC FRSA, Kirsty Lang, Sue MacGregor CBE, Sheena McDonald, Dame Jenni Murray DBE, Penny Perrick, Dame Gail Rebuck DBE, Miranda Richardson, Gillian Shephard, Baroness Shephard of Northwold, Ahdaf Soueif, Sandi Toksvig, Polly Toynbee, Joanna Trollope OBE and Lola Young, Baroness Young of Hornsey OBE.

The Prize’s board comprises of Joanna Prior (Chair), Felicity Blunt (Company Secretary), Annie Coleman, Hannah Griffiths, Harriet Hastings (Managing Director), Karen Jones CBE, Louise Jury, Martha Lane Fox CBE, Nicola Mendelsohn CBE and Arzu Tahsin. Together they are responsible for the overall management and direction of the Prize and the sponsorship arrangements.

The Prize’s Advisory Council comprises of Kate Mosse OBE, Clare Alexander, Jane Gregory, Susan Sandon and Carole Welch.

* The Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction was known as the Orange Prize for Fiction between 1996 and 2012.

About BAILEYS

BAILEYS and the Prize share a mutual purpose, to celebrate the best female storytellers and share the pleasure of their writing with ever-wider audiences.

BAILEYS was the world’s first cream liqueur, the perfect balancing act of aged Irish whiskey woven with fresh Irish dairy cream, a hint of cocoa and vanilla. It’s also the world’s biggest seller, with over 82 million bottles sold worldwide each year. Every minute of every day over 2000 people around the world are enjoying a BAILEYS.

The BAILEYS word and associated logos are trademarks.

About Diageo:

Diageo is a global leader in beverage alcohol with an outstanding collection of brands including Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, JεB, Buchanan’s and Windsor whiskies, Smirnoff, Cîroc and Ketel One vodkas, Captain Morgan, Baileys, Don Julio, Tanqueray and Guinness.

Diageo is listed on both the London Stock Exchange (DGE) and the New York Stock Exchange (DEO) and our products are sold in more than 180 countries around the world. For more information about Diageo, our people, our brands, and performance, visit us at www.diageo.com. Visit Diageo’s global responsible drinking resource, www.DRINKiQ.com, for information, initiatives, and ways to share best practice.

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