Alert! Petina Gappah has made the 2016 Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction longlist for her novel The Book of Memory, becoming the first Zimbabwean author to be longlisted for the prize.
Just over a week ago, Gappah was also longlisted for the United Kingdom’s 2016 Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award – the world’s richest prize for a single short story.
The Baileys Prize was created with the intention of bringing “the best women’s writing and female storytellers to ever-wider audiences”. The 2016 longlist of 20 books features seven nationalities and four previously shortlisted authors. Over half the list are debut novels.
2016 Chair of Judges Margaret Mountford said: “We had a hugely enjoyable and stimulating meeting, as there were a great many strong novels in contention.
“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.”
The Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction is awarded to 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 is eligible.
This year’s judging panel is Mountford, broadcast journalist Naga Munchetty, writer and journalist Laurie Penny, author Elif Shafak and writer and singer Tracey Thorn.
The shortlist of six books will be announced on Monday, 11 April, and the 2016 winner will be announced on Wednesday, 8 June.
The winner receives £30,000 (about R658,000) and a limited edition bronze known as a “Bessie”, created and donated by the artist Grizel Niven.
The Book of Memory is Gappah’s debut novel, but her second book. Her first, the collection of short stories An Elegy for Easterly, won the Guardian First Book Award in 2009.
Full 2016 Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction longlist:
- 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
Related stories:
Book details
- The Book of Memory by Petina Gappah
Book homepage
EAN: 9780571296842
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- A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson
EAN: 9780552776646
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- Rush Oh! by Shirley Barrett
EAN: 9780349006628
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- Ruby by Cynthia Bond
EAN: 9781473620490
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- The Secret Chord by Geraldine Brooks
EAN: 9781408705933
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- The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
EAN: 9781473619814
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- A Dictionary of Mutual Understanding by Jackie Copleton
EAN: 9780099592471
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- Whispers Through a Megaphone by Rachel Elliott
EAN: 9780992918262
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- The Green Road by Anne Enright
EAN: 9780099539797
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- The Book of Memory by Petina Gappah
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EAN: 9780571296842
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- Gorsky by Vesna Goldsworthy
EAN: 9781784700706
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- Anatomists Dream by Clio Gray
EAN: 9781910183236
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- At Hawthorn Time by Melissa Harrison
EAN: 9781408859070
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- Pleasantville by Attica Locke
EAN: 9781781254097
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- The Glorious Heresies by Lisa McInerney
EAN: 9781444798883
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- The Portable Veblen by Elizabeth McKenzie
EAN: 9780008160630
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- Girl at War by Sara Novic
EAN: 9780349140988
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- The House at the Edge of the World by Julia Rochester
EAN: 9780241971697
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- The Improbability of Love by Hannah Rothschild
EAN: 9781408862476
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- My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
EAN: 9780241248775
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- A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
EAN: 9781447294832
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