Women’s prize at 25: what it is like to win by Zadie Smith, Naomi Alderman and more
Posted by The Editor on April 18, 2020 5:00 am
Tags: Ali Smith, AM Homes, Andrea Levy, Ann Patchett, Awards and prizes, Barbara Kingsolver, Books, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Culture, Eimear McBride, Fiction, Helen Dunmore, Kamila Shamsie, Linda Grant, Lionel Shriver, Lisa McInerney, Madeline Miller, Marilynne Robinson, Naomi Alderman, Rose Tremain, Téa Obreht, Women's prize for fiction, Zadie Smith
Categories:
µ Newsjones
Winning authors explain how the award changed their lives and share their favourite books by women
The Women’s prize was created because women were excluded from the world of literary accolades; in the last 25 years there has been tremendous progress, but female writers still face unique challenges. I am proud to have won. The shortlist was formidable and I was buoyed merely to be in the company of such artists and thinkers.
Winner’s pick: The Street by Ann Petry. It’s an amazing novel – a pioneer in the category of the literary thriller, written in the 1940s – and it is being reissued this year.