List of Women's Prize for Fiction winners

The Women's Prize for Fiction (previously called Orange Prize for Fiction (1996–2006 & 2009–12), Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (2007–2008) and Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (2014–2017)) is one of the United Kingdom's most prestigious literary prizes,[4][5][6] annually awarded 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.[7] The prize was originally due to be launched in 1994 with the support of Mitsubishi but public controversy over the merits of the award caused the sponsorship to be withdrawn.[8] Funding from Orange, a UK mobile network operator and Internet service provider, allowed the prize to be launched in 1996 by a committee of male and female "journalists, reviewers, agents, publishers, librarians, booksellers", including current Honorary Director Kate Mosse.[9][10]

Women's Prize for Fiction
Awarded for	Best full-length novel written in English by a woman of any nationality
Sponsored by	Family of sponsors (2018–)[1] Baileys (2014–2017)[2] Private benefactors (2013)[3] Orange (1996–2012)
Location	United Kingdom
Presented by	Women's Prize for Fiction
First awarded	1996
Website	Website

In May 2012, it was announced that Orange would be ending its sponsorship of the prize.[11] In 2012, the award was formally known as the "Women's Prize for Fiction", and was sponsored by "private benefactors" led by Cherie Blair and writers Joanna Trollope and Elizabeth Buchan.[3] In 2013, the new sponsor became Baileys.[2] In January 2017 the company announced that it was the last year that they would sponsor the prize.[12] In June 2017, the prize announced it would change its name to simply "Women's Prize for Fiction" starting in 2018, and will be supported by a family of sponsors.[1]

The prize was established to recognise the contribution of female writers, whom Mosse believed were often overlooked in other major literary awards,[13][14] and in reaction to the all-male shortlist for the 1991 Booker Prize.[15] The winner of the prize receives £30,000, along with a bronze sculpture called the Bessie created by artist Grizel Niven, the sister of actor and writer David Niven.[16] Typically, a longlist of nominees is announced around March each year, followed by a shortlist in June; within days the winner is announced. The winner is selected by a board of "five leading women" each year.[17] In 2005, judges named Andrea Levy's Small Island as the "Orange of Oranges", the best novel of the preceding decade.[18]

The BBC suggests that the prize forms part of the "trinity" of UK literary prizes, along with the Booker Prize and the Costa Book Awards; the sales of works by the nominees of these awards are significantly boosted.[19] Levy's 2004 winning book sold almost one million copies (in comparison to less than 600,000 for the Booker Prize winner of the same year),[20] while sales of Helen Dunmore's A Spell of Winter quadrupled after being awarded the inaugural prize.[8] Valerie Martin's 2003 award saw her novel sales increase tenfold after the award,[21] and British libraries, who often support the prize with various promotions, reported success in introducing people to new authors: "48% said that they had tried new writers as a result of the promotion, and 42% said that they would try other books by the new authors they had read."[22]

However, the fact that the prize singles out female writers is not without controversy.[23] After the prize was founded, Auberon Waugh nicknamed it the "Lemon Prize" while Germaine Greer claimed there would soon be a prize for "writers with red hair".[24] Winner of the 1990 Booker Prize, A. S. Byatt called it a "sexist prize", claiming "such a prize was never needed."[25] In 1999, the chairwoman of the judges, Lola Young, said that the British fiction they were asked to appraise fell into two categories, either "insular and parochial" or "domestic in a piddling kind of way", unlike American authors who "take small, intimate stories and set them against this vast physical and cultural landscape which is very appealing.".[26] Linda Grant suffered accusations of plagiarism following her award in 2000,[27] while the following year, a panel of male critics produced their own shortlist and heavily criticised the genuine shortlist.[28] Though full of praise for the winner of the 2007 prize, the chair of the judging panel Muriel Gray decried the fact that the shortlist had to be whittled down from "a lot of dross",[29] while former editor of The Times Simon Jenkins called it "sexist".[30] In 2008, writer Tim Lott called the award "a sexist con-trick" and said, "the Orange Prize is sexist and discriminatory, and it should be shunned".[31][32]

No woman has won the award more than once but Margaret Atwood has been nominated three times without a win. Hilary Mantel was shortlisted three times without winning, for Beyond Black (2005) and the first two novels in her Tudor trilogy, Wolf Hall (2009) and Bring Up The Bodies (2012) which both won the Booker Prize. The third book in the trilogy, The Mirror and the Light, was shortlisted in April 2020, a year in which the award (usually given in May) was postponed to September. Since the inaugural award to Helen Dunmore, British writers have won five times, while North American authors have secured the prize nine times.

Winners and shortlisted writers

Year	Winner		Work	Shortlisted nominees	Notes	Ref(s)
1996		Helen Dunmore	A Spell of Winter	Julia Blackburn, The Book of Colour Pagan Kennedy, Spinsters Amy Tan, The Hundred Secret Senses Anne Tyler, Ladder of Years Marianne Wiggins, Eveless Eden	Inaugural award known as the "Orange Prize for Fiction".	[33][34]
1997		Anne Michaels	Fugitive Pieces	Margaret Atwood, Alias Grace Deirdre Madden, One by One in the Darkness Jane Mendelsohn, I Was Amelia Earhart Annie Proulx, Accordion Crimes Manda Scott, Hen's Teeth	First non-British winner	[35][36]
1998		Carol Shields	Larry's Party	Kirsten Bakis, Lives of the Monster Dogs Pauline Melville, The Ventriloquist's Tale Ann Patchett, The Magician's Assistant Deirdre Purcell, Love Like Hate Adore Anita Shreve, The Weight of Water	Second Canadian winner	[37][38]
1999		Suzanne Berne	A Crime in the Neighborhood	Julia Blackburn, The Leper's Companions Marilyn Bowering, Visible Worlds Jane Hamilton, The Short History of a Prince Barbara Kingsolver, The Poisonwood Bible Toni Morrison, Paradise	Blackburn's second shortlisted nomination	[39][40]
2000		Linda Grant	When I Lived in Modern Times	Judy Budnitz, If I Told You Once Éilís Ní Dhuibhne, The Dancers Dancing Zadie Smith, White Teeth Elizabeth Strout, Amy and Isabelle Rebecca Wells, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood	Second British winner in five years	[27][41]
2001		Kate Grenville	The Idea of Perfection	Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin Jill Dawson, Fred & Edie Rosina Lippi, Homestead Jane Smiley, Horse Heaven Ali Smith, Hotel World	Atwood's second shortlisted nomination	[28][42]
2002		Ann Patchett	Bel Canto	Anna Burns, No Bones Helen Dunmore, The Siege Maggie Gee, The White Family Chloe Hooper, A Child's Book of True Crime Sarah Waters, Fingersmith	Dunmore's first nomination since winning in 1996	[43]
2003		Valerie Martin	Property	Anne Donovan, Buddha Da Shena Mackay, Heligoland Carol Shields, Unless Zadie Smith, The Autograph Man Donna Tartt, The Little Friend	Shields' first nomination since winning in 1998, Smith's second shortlisted nomination	[37]
2004		Andrea Levy	Small Island	Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Purple Hibiscus Margaret Atwood, Oryx and Crake Shirley Hazzard, The Great Fire Gillian Slovo, Ice Road Rose Tremain, The Colour	First British winner since 2000, Atwood's third shortlisted nomination. Small Island was also the Whitbread Book of the Year.	[44][45]
2005		Lionel Shriver	We Need to Talk About Kevin	Joolz Denby, Billie Morgan Jane Gardam, Old Filth Sheri Holman, The Mammoth Cheese Marina Lewycka, A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian Maile Meloy, Liars and Saints	The "Orange of Oranges" was awarded to Andrea Levy for Small Island.	[5][46][47]
2006		Zadie Smith	On Beauty	Nicole Krauss, The History of Love Hilary Mantel, Beyond Black Ali Smith, The Accidental Carrie Tiffany, Everyman's Rules for Scientific Living Sarah Waters, The Night Watch	Zadie Smith's first win after two nominations, Ali Smith and Sarah Waters' second nomination	[48]
2007		Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie	Half of a Yellow Sun	Rachel Cusk, Arlington Park Kiran Desai, The Inheritance of Loss Xiaolu Guo, A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers Jane Harris, The Observations Anne Tyler, Digging to America	Award renamed as "Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction". Adichie's first win after being nominated in 2004, Tyler's second shortlisted nomination.	[49]
2008		Rose Tremain	The Road Home	Nancy Huston, Fault Lines Sadie Jones, The Outcast Charlotte Mendelson, When We Were Bad Heather O'Neill, Lullabies for Little Criminals Patricia Wood, Lottery	This was Tremain's 14th novel.	[50][51]
2009		Marilynne Robinson	Home	Ellen Feldman, Scottsboro Samantha Harvey, The Wilderness Samantha Hunt, The Invention of Everything Else Deirdre Madden, Molly Fox's Birthday Kamila Shamsie, Burnt Shadows	Award renamed as "Orange Prize for Fiction". Robinson's third novel in 28 years, Madden's second shortlisted nomination.	[52][53]
2010		Barbara Kingsolver	The Lacuna	Rosie Alison, The Very Thought of You Attica Locke, Black Water Rising Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall Lorrie Moore, A Gate at the Stairs Monique Roffey, The White Woman on the Green Bicycle	Sixth novel by Kingsolver.	[54]
2011		Téa Obreht	The Tiger's Wife	Emma Donoghue, Room Aminatta Forna, The Memory of Love Emma Henderson, Grace Williams Says it Loud Nicole Krauss, Great House Kathleen Winter, Annabel	Debut novel by Obreht. At age 25 (at the time of the award) she was the youngest author to win to date.	[55][56]
2012		Madeline Miller	The Song of Achilles	Esi Edugyan, Half-Blood Blues Anne Enright, The Forgotten Waltz Georgina Harding, Painter of Silence Cynthia Ozick, Foreign Bodies Ann Patchett, State of Wonder	Debut novel by Miller	[57][58]
2013		A. M. Homes	May We Be Forgiven	Maria Semple, Where'd You Go Bernadette Hilary Mantel, Bring Up the Bodies Barbara Kingsolver, Flight Behaviour Kate Atkinson, Life After Life Zadie Smith, NW	Award renamed as "Women's Prize for Fiction". A.M. Homes' 6th novel.	[59]
2014		Eimear McBride	A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing	Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Americanah Hannah Kent, Burial Rites Jhumpa Lahiri, The Lowland Audrey Magee, The Undertaking Donna Tartt, The Goldfinch	Award renamed as "Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction". First shortlist with no British authors.	[60][61]
2015		Ali Smith	How to Be Both	Laline Paull, The Bees Anne Tyler, A Spool of Blue Thread Sarah Waters, The Paying Guests Kamila Shamsie, A God in Every Stone Rachel Cusk, Outline	Debut novel by Paull. The "Baileys of Baileys" was awarded to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie for Half a Yellow Sun.	[62][63][64]
2016		Lisa McInerney	The Glorious Heresies	Cynthia Bond, Ruby Anne Enright, The Green Road Elizabeth McKenzie, The Portable Veblen Hannah Rothschild, The Improbability of Love Hanya Yangihara, A Little Life	Debut novel by McInerney. Ruby, The Portable Veblen and The Improbability of Love are also debut novels.	[65]
2017		Naomi Alderman	The Power	Ayobami Adebayo, Stay With Me Linda Grant, The Dark Circle C. E. Morgan, The Sport of Kings Gwendoline Riley, First Love Madeleine Thien, Do Not Say We Have Nothing		[66][67]
2018		Kamila Shamsie	Home Fire	Jesmyn Ward, Sing, Unburied, Sing Elif Batuman, The Idiot Jessie Greengrass, Sight Imogen Hermes Gowar, The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock Meena Kandasamy, When I hit you: or, a Portrait of the Writer as a Young Wife		[68][69]
2019		Tayari Jones	An American Marriage	Pat Barker, The Silence of the Girls Oyinkan Braithwaite, My Sister, the Serial Killer Anna Burns, Milkman Diana Evans, Ordinary People Madeline Miller, Circe		[70]
2020		Maggie O'Farrell	Hamnet	Bernardine Evaristo, Girl, Woman, Other Hilary Mantel, The Mirror and the Light Angie Cruz, Dominicana Natalie Haynes, A Thousand Ships Jenny Offill, Weather		[71]

See also

• Orange Award for New Writers
• List of British literary awards
• List of years in literature

References

• "Orange Prize for Fiction – Archive". Orange. Archived from the original on 11 January 2012. Retrieved 1 December 2011.
• "Orange prize for fiction". The Guardian. London. 10 February 2008. Retrieved 30 November 2011.

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24. Bedell, Geradline (6 March 2005). "Textual politics". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
25. Alberge, Dalya (18 March 2008). "A. S. Byatt denounces 'sexist' Orange prize". The Times. London. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
26. Gibbons, Fiachra (10 May 1999). "'Piddling' British fiction loses out to Americans". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
27. Kennedy, Maev (8 June 2000). "Orange prize winner rejects claims of plagiarism". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
28. Gibbons, Flachra (19 May 2001). "Sexes clash on Orange prize". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
29. Majendie, Paul (6 June 2007). "Nigerian author wins top women's fiction prize". Reuters. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
30. Reynolds, Nigel (18 April 2007). "Booker prize author joins Orange shortlist". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
31. Guest, Katy (6 June 2008). "The Big Question: Has the time come to close the book on women-only literary prizes?". The Independent. London. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
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55. Armistead, Claire (12 April 2011). "Orange prize shortlist favours debut novelists". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 April 2011.
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57. Brown, Mark (17 April 2012). "Orange prize 2012 shortlist puts Ann Patchett in running for second victory". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
58. Brown, Mark (30 May 2012). "Orange prize for fiction 2012 goes to Madeline Miller". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
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60. Brown, Mark (7 April 2014). "Donna Tartt heads Baileys women's prize for fiction 2014 shortlist". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
61. Charles, Ron (4 June 2014). "Debut Irish novelist wins Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction". The Washington Post. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
62. Clements, Toby (3 June 2015). "Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction 2015". The Daily Telegraph.
63. Lusher, Adam (3 June 2015). "Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction 2015 winner: Ali Smith triumphs with How to Be Both". The Independent.
64. Cowdrey, Katherine (2 Nov 2015) Half of a Yellow Sun judged Bailey's 'Best of the Best' The Bookseller
65. Flood, Alison (8 June 2016). "Baileys prize goes to The Glorious Heresies by Lisa McInerney". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
66. Williams, Megan (3 April 2017). "Women's Prize for Fiction 2017 shortlist announced, with settings ranging from 19th century Kentucky to 1980s Nigeria". The Independent. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
67. Kean, Danuta (7 June 2017). "Baileys prize goes to 'classic of the future' by Naomi Alderman". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
68. Kamila Shamsie’s ‘Home Fire’ wins Women’s Prize for FictionWashington Post
69. "Women's prize for fiction shortlist favours new voices over big hitters". The Guardian.
70. "Revealing the 2019 Women's Prize for Fiction Shortlist". Women's Prize for Fiction. 28 April 2019. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
71. "Novel about Shakespeare's son wins fiction prize". BBC News. 9 September 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2020.

External links

• Women's Prize for Fiction, official website
• Shortlisted works for the Orange Prize at LibraryThing