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16 new fiction award nominated books to get excited about

Photo credit: Women's Prize for Fiction
Photo credit: Women's Prize for Fiction

From Cosmopolitan

If you're looking to update your reading list this spring, the Women's Prize for Fiction longlist has arrived at just the right time.

The annual prize, which celebrates fiction from women writing in English from around the world, has just announced the 16 novels that are in the running for this year's prestigious award.

The longlist features established writers, including Man Booker Prize winner Anna Burns for Milkman and Costa Novel Award winner Sally Rooney for her second novel, Normal People, as well as a few rising stars in the literary world.

Among the seven debut novels to make the cut are Remembered by Yvonne Battle-Felton and The Pisces by Melissa Broder. The inclusion of Akwaeke Emezi's Freshwater also marks the first time a non-binary writer has been longlisted for the prize.

The 16 books were selected by a panel of five judges chaired by Professor Kate Williams, author, historian and Professor of History at the University of Reading. Speaking about their choices, Williams said: "Each of them have been a privilege to read, and they have taken us into places a million miles from each other, exploring the lives of women and men in so many different but utterly compelling ways."

The shortlist will be confirmed on 29 April before the 2019 winner is announced on 5 June, just in time for summer holiday reading.

See the full list of nominees below:

  • The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker

  • Remembered by Yvonne Battle-Felton

  • My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

  • The Pisces by Melissa Broder

  • Milkman by Anna Burns

  • Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi

  • Ordinary People by Diana Evans

  • Swan Song by Kelleigh Greenberg-Jephcott

  • An American Marriage by Tayari Jones

  • Number One Chinese Restaurant by Lilian Li

  • Bottled Goods by Sophie van Llewyn

  • Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli

  • Praise Songs for the Butterflies by Bernice L. McFadden

  • Circe by Madeline Miller

  • Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss

  • Normal People by Sally Rooney

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