Women’s prize for fiction reveals longlist ‘overflowing with compelling stories’ | Women’s prize for fiction

Chimamanda Ngoji Adichie, Miranda July, Elizabeth Straut is one of the authors registered in the 30th Women's Awards in Fiction.

Karen Jennings and Laila Lalami are also featured in the list of 16 authors surrounding the £30,000 award.

“There was a lot of lively debate on the judges over the last 16 books, and it was very close, but the list we revealed today is full of compelling stories, writing that shows passion, wit and empathy.”

Adichie was chosen for her highly anticipated fourth novel, Dream Count. It conveys the reciprocal animal language of four women navigating love, friendship, trauma and social pressures to marry and have children. The Nigerian novelist previously won the “Award for Half of Yellow Sun” in 2007. This was also named “winner winner” in 2020.

Social expectations for women will also be explored in July's second novel, All Fours. The story watches the 45-year-old artist leave her husband and children at home and embarks on a road trip from Los Angeles to New York. Shortly after departure, she decided to check in to her motel room instead.

Strout has been chosen for Tell Me Everything. Her previous novels, Olive Kitteridge and Lucy Barton, were chosen for Meet. This is her fourth time on her long list.

Lalami, who was longlisted for Secret Son in 2010, has now been selected as the Dream Hotel. Her main character, Sarah, travels home from a meeting when she was pulled aside at the airport, and said data from her dreams suggests she is at risk of hurting her husband.

Many of the titles on this year's longlist are set against the backdrop of politics, social change and war. In Jennings' book, Crooked Seeds, a white woman returns to her South African home to tackle a pro-apartheid group and a brothers' association. Yael van Der Wouden's debut novel The Safekeep is also a finalist for the Booker Prize, and explores the treatment of Jews after the war. Essentially another debut by Nussaibah Younis is a satire about aid workers tasked with rehabilitating women at ISIS.

“These are important, widespread novels, with beautifully realized characters pushing boundaries around them as they navigate the complexities of family and modern relationships,” De Waal said. “This is a list where readers devour the echoes of world events regarding everyday life and the power and brilliance of women today.”

Complete the longlist is a good girl from Aria Abel, Karian Bradley, Amema by Jenni Daichess, Amma by Salayed de Silva, Persians of Sanam Mafrude, Nesto by Rosin O'Donnell, Rosanna Piquet, Persians by Rose Lucy's Byer Byer Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr Byr

Alongside this year's judgement committee De Waal, there are novelists Diana Evans, journalists Bryony Gordon and Deborah Joseph, and composer Amelia Warner.

A list of nominees for the six books will be announced on April 2nd, with the winners being released on June 12th, with the long list announced last month, along with the winners of the non-fiction girls' awards.

To qualify for this year's award, the book had to be published in the UK between April 1, 2024 and March 31, 2025.

Previous winners of the Fiction Awards include Zadie Smith, Ali Smith and Maggie O'Farrell. Last year, VV Ganeshananthan won the brothers' night award.