You may or may not know the Baileys Women Prize for women but you probably know about it in its old life. It all started in January 1992, a diverse group of creative types both male and female gathered together in a flat in London, UK (England, not Siaya). The Booker Prize shortlist of 1991, which incidentally was won by Ben Okri, had included no women at all and they were not happy. They decided to set up a prize for women only and after five years The Orange Prize for Fiction was launched at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London in January 1996. The inaugural winner was Helen Dunmore for A Spell of Winter.
The sponsorship with Orange ended in 2013 and a new sponsor came on board; Baileys. Yes ladies and gentlemen. The same Baileys that you see sponsoring that god awful Wedding Show on NTV called Baileys Weddings.
The long list for awards have a familiar name; Nigeria’s Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie who was the recipient of the Orange Prize in 2007 for her awesome book Half of A Yellow Sun. This time she has been longlisted for her 2013 book Americanah. Also making the list is the most recent recipient of the Booker Prize Eleanor Catton for her winning book The Luminaries.
Here is the whole list;
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – Americanah
Margaret Atwood – MaddAddam
Suzanne Berne – The Dogs of Littlefield
Fatima Bhutto – The Shadow of the Crescent Moon
Claire Cameron – The Bear
Lea Carpenter – Eleven Days
M.J. Carter – The Strangler Vine
Eleanor Catton – The Luminaries
Deborah Kay Davies – Reasons She Goes to the Woods
Elizabeth Gilbert – The Signature of All Things
Hannah Kent – Burial Rites
Rachel Kushner – The Flamethrowers
Jhumpa Lahiri – The Lowland
Audrey Magee – The Undertaking
Eimear McBride – A Girl Is A Half-Formed Thing
Charlotte Mendelson – Almost English
Anna Quindlen – Still Life with Bread Crumbs
Elizabeth Strout – The Burgess Boys
Donna Tartt – The Goldfinch
Evie Wyld – All The Birds, Singing
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