Overview

• The 2025 Women’s Prize for Fiction shortlist includes six novels, with four debut authors and two established writers, Miranda July and Elizabeth Strout.
• The shortlisted works span diverse cultural and geographical backgrounds, including Afghan, Iranian, Dutch, and American experiences.
• Themes of self-discovery, history, freedom, and human connection are central to the selected novels, often approached with humor and nuance.
• The judging panel, chaired by Kit de Waal, praised the shortlisted works as 'classics of the future' for their originality and narrative depth.
• The winner, to be announced on June 12, will receive £30,000 and a bronze statuette known as the 'Bessie.'