Barbara Kingsolver has made history after becoming the first author to be awarded the Women’s Prize for Fiction for a second time.
The American author, 68, scooped the prestigious literary prize for her tenth novel Demon Copperhead after previously winning in 2010 with The Lacuna.
Set in the Appalachian mountains in Virginia, her latest work is a modern retelling of Charles Dickens’ classic David Copperfield.
It tells the story of the “struggles and triumphs” of a young boy born into poverty as he navigates foster care, labour exploitation, addiction, love and loss while “grappling with his invisibility in a culture that neglects rural communities”.
The novel also won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize For Fiction last month alongside Hernan Diaz’s Trust.
Kingsolver has also received a number of awards throughout her career, including the National Humanities Medal by the former US president Bill Clinton.
Chairwoman of the judging panel journalist Louise Minchin said: “Barbara Kingsolver has written a towering, deeply powerful and significant book.
“In a year of outstanding fiction by women, we made a unanimous decision on Demon Copperhead as our winner.
“Brilliant and visceral, it is storytelling by an author at the top of her game. We were all deeply moved by Demon, his gentle optimism, resilience and determination despite everything being set against him.
“An expose of modern America, its opioid crisis and the detrimental treatment of deprived and maligned communities, Demon Copperhead tackles universal themes – from addiction and poverty, to family, love, and the power of friendship and art – it packs a triumphant emotional punch and it is a novel that will withstand the test of time.”
The broadcaster was joined on the judging panel by novelist Rachel Joyce, journalist and writer Bella Mackie, novelist and short story writer Irenosen Okojie, and Labour MP Tulip Siddiq.
Now in its 28th year, the prestigious prize was open to original fiction written in English by women from anywhere in the world.
Also shortlisted was Fire Rush by Jacqueline Crooks; Trespasses by Louise Kennedy; Black Butterflies by Priscilla Morris; Pod by Laline Paull and The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell.
Half of the 2023 shortlist was made up of debut novels from older women, the youngest among them aged 49, while Kingsolver was the eldest author on the list.
Kingsolver was announced the winner at a ceremony held in central London and takes home a £30,000 prize endowed by an anonymous donor and the Bessie, a limited edition bronze figure created by Grizel Niven.
Last year’s winner was American-Canadian author Ruth Ozeki for her fourth novel The Book Of Form And Emptiness.
