The Women’s Prize for Fiction 2025 longlist has been announced, featuring works by My Name is Lucy Barton author Elizabeth Strout, Half of a Yellow Sun author and 2007 Women’s Prize winner Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and 2010 longlisted writer Laila Lalami (Secret Son).
Awarded for excellence, originality and accessibility in women’s writing, the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2025 longlist also includes nine debut writers: Aria Aber, Kaliane Bradley, Saraidde Silva, Sanam Mahloudji, Roisín O’Donnell, Rosanna Pike, Lucy Steeds, Yaelvan der Wouden and Nussaibah Younis.
The panel of five judges – Kitde Waal, Diana Evans, Bryony Gordon, Deborah Joseph and Amelia Warner – will now whittle the lineup down to a shortlist of six, which will be announced on Wednesday 2 April. The winner will then be announced on Thursday, 12 June.
Many novels among the 16 chosen for the 2025 longlist explore the ramifications of global events, from the shadows of imperialism and 20th century conflict to the continuing impact of immigration and exile, and the future effect of the rise of big tech across the world.
As with the recently announced Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction longlist, British writers are well represented, with six of the 16 authors chosen from the UK. For the first time, three small independent presses have books included: Holland House Books, Scotland Street Press and Weatherglass Books.
The Women’s Prize for Fiction 2025 longlist is as follows:
Several of the novels on this year’s longlist cross continents with sweeping stories of generations caught in the crosswinds of global events. Jenni Daiches’s Somewhere Else follows a refugee through two World Wars, the foundation of Israel and the fall of the Berlin Wall, whilst Saraid de Silva’s Amma describes the plight of three generations of women from Singapore to Sri Lanka to New Zealand and London.
Escape is a prominent theme in the list. In Roisín O’Donnell’s Nesting, a woman flees with her children from domestic abuse only to face the uncertainty of a housing system about to collapse. Meanwhile, Aria Aber’s Good Girl describes a young woman’s attempt to leave behind the legacy of her immigrant parents by reinventing herself within Berlin’s artistic community.
Stories of women challenging society’s expectations around age, motherhood and sexuality also feature strongly on the list. Miranda July’s viral hit All Fours is an artist’s quest for a new kind of freedom in her mid-forties. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Dream Count unravels the relationships, ambitions and trials faced by four African women living in the US and Nigeria. Meanwhile, Elizabeth Strout’s Tell Me Everything weaves together stories of interlinked characters in a small New England town.
Speaking to The Independent, chair of judges Kit de Waal, said: “These are voices that are so modern. It’s not just powerful writing. These are powerful women.”
She added: “It’s such a tribute to the women of today: Strong, powerful, know what we want to say, know who we are. If I could use the word ‘unapologetic’ that would sum it up. It’s such a fantastic list.”
Of her panel’s task of cutting down the list from 16 to six titles, Waal admitted: “I don’t know where to start…There’s something in every single book, in terms of genre and subject matter, for everyone. It’s a real tribute to women’s thinking, women’s voices, and women’s view of the world.”
