The longlist for the 2026 Women’s Prize for Fiction was revealed on March 4, featuring 16 books that explore human complexities amid contemporary issues. Julia Gillard, chair of the judges, highlighted the novels' focus on themes like climate change and artificial intelligence. Indian author Megha Majumdar is among the nominees with her novel set in a drought-stricken future Kolkata.
The 2026 Women’s Prize for Fiction longlist, announced on March 4, includes 16 novels that address pressing global concerns similar to those in the recent International Booker Prize nominees, such as conflict, authoritarianism, women’s freedom, gender, and historical trauma.
Julia Gillard, former Prime Minister of Australia and chair of the judges, introduced the selection by stating: “These sixteen books masterfully demonstrate the power of fiction to examine the messy business of being human. From climate change to artificial intelligence, they navigate the issues of our time with urgency and purpose, they immerse us in environments and experiences that are sometimes like our own, but more often are radically different, and they explore identities and perspectives that are often ignored or forgotten, amidst those inherently universal and recognisable.”
Among the nominees are last year’s Booker Prize contenders Katie Kitamura with Audition, which follows a midlife actor reflecting on marriage and motherhood, and Susan Choi with Flashlight, an intergenerational saga of a Korean family across geographies. Indian author Megha Majumdar’s A Guardian and a Thief is set in a future Kolkata reeling from drought and floods, where residents struggle for survival; the book was selected for the Oprah Book Club and was a finalist for the National Book Award in the U.S. British novelist Kit de Waal also features on the list.
Other titles include Hannah Lillith Assadi’s Paradiso 17, about a Palestinian man’s search for home; Sheena Kalayil’s The Others, depicting the final days of the Berlin Wall; Virginia Evans’ The Correspondent, a reflection on love and forgiveness; Elaine Castillo’s romance Moderation; and Charlotte McConaghy’s Wild Dark Shore, centered on a woman in a shipwreck.
Debut novelists represented are Lily King (Heart the Lover), Wendy Erskine (The Benefactors), Marcia Hutchinson (The Mercy Step), Addie E. Citchens (Dominion), Lucy Apps (Gloria Don’t Speak), Rozie Kelly (Kingfisher), and Alice Evelyn Yang (Beast Slinks Towards Beijing). Last year’s winner was Dutch writer Yael van der Wouden for her debut The Safekeep, set in post-World War II Dutch society.
The prize is worth £30,000 (around ₹36 lakh). A shortlist of six books will be announced on April 22, with the winners for both Fiction and Non-Fiction prizes revealed on June 11. Arundhati Roy appears on the Non-Fiction longlist with her memoir Mother Mary Comes to Me.
