Literary award · United Kingdom · since 1996

Women's Prize for Fiction

Annual literary award for a novel written in English by a female author of any nationality. Established 1996 in United Kingdom.

About Women's Prize for Fiction

The Women's Prize for Fiction (previously with sponsor names Orange Prize for Fiction (1996–2006 and 2009–2012), Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (2007–08) and Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (2014–2017) is one of the United Kingdom's most prestigious literary prizes. It is awarded annually to a female author of any nationality for the best original full-length novel written in English and published in the United Kingdom in the preceding year. A sister prize, the Women's Prize for Non-Fiction, was launched in 2023.

From the Wikipedia article “Women's Prize for Fiction”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Recent winners

YearWinnerWinning work
2025Sanam Mahloudji—
2025The Persians—
2023Barbara KingsolverDemon Copperhead
2022Ruth OzekiThe Book of Form and Emptiness
2021Susanna ClarkePiranesi
2020Maggie O'Farrell—
2019Tayari Jones—
2018Kamila Shamsie—
2016The Glorious Heresies—
2015Lisa McInerney—
2014Eimear McBride—
2012Madeline MillerThe Song of Achilles

From Wikidata; the list may be incomplete for some years.

Eligibility and entering

Check the official rules of the Women's Prize for Fiction for the current eligibility window, accepted formats, residency or language requirements and any entry fee. For most established prizes the publisher submits on the author's behalf, often with a limit on entries per imprint.

If you are self-published, look for an explicit statement that independently published books are accepted, and budget for entry fees and copies for judges.

Sources & data