The prize was started in 1996 in response to the 1991 Booker Prize Shortlist not having any women. Since its inception, the Women’s Prize for Fiction has become the largest international celebration of women’s creativity, highlighting “outstanding, ambitious, original fiction written in English by women from anywhere in the world.” The judges for this year’s prize consist of a panel of five women, headed by Mary Ann Sieghart, who served as chair. While Sieghart appreciates the diversity of this year’s nominees, diversity was not stressed upon the judges. Instead, she says the choices were “the books we most loved. It really is as simple as that.” Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead The Sentence by Louise Erdrich The Bread the Devil Knead by Lisa Allen-Agostini The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak The winner will be announced on June 15, 2022 and will receive £30,000 /$37,638. Find more news and stories of interest from the book world in Breaking in Books.
