It seems quite appropriate that the longlist for the Baileys Women’s Prize for fiction would be announced today on International Women’s Day. The longlist for the prize now in its twentieth year and worth UK pounds 30,000 to the winner includes Zimbabwe’s Petina Gappah for her sophomore effort The Book of Memory.
The longlist was announced by this year’s chair of Judges Margaret Mountford who 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.”
Petina Gappah first burst onto the scene with her award winning An Elegy For Easterly (our review).
The judges will now whittle these twenty books down to just six shortlisted titles before finally choosing the winner which will be announced at an awards ceremony held in the Royal Festival Hall in the UK on 8th June 2016.
P.S. So I mentioned above that the winner of the Baileys Prize goes home with US pounds 30,000. She also gets a limited edition bronze figurine called the ‘Bessie’ a 7.5 inch figure of a standing woman is cast in bronze. There is no mention of any in-kind support. As a lover of writers I have to kindly request that the sponsors also offer a year’s supply of Bailey’s cream liqueur to the winner and shortlisted writers. It will be very welcomed by them all I am sure.
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