Quick answer
The Women’s Prize for Fiction has been awarded every year since 1996 to the best novel written in English by a woman, published in the UK. The winner gets £30,000 and a bronze statuette called the Bessie. It has had three names — Orange, Baileys, and now simply the Women’s Prize — and one writer has won it twice in thirty-one years. The 2026 winner was announced on 11 June. All thirty-one are listed below, and so is the one the public voted the best of them all.
How this page chooses
Thirty-one winners is too many to recommend honestly, so this page does two separate things. The full list of all thirty-one is in the table, with the facts and nothing else.
Eleven get proper notes: the 2026 winner, because it is the only one where the argument is still going on, and ten that lasted. “Lasted” is a checkable thing rather than a matter of taste — still in print in more than one edition, still turning up on retrospective lists, still being filmed and staged. It is not the same as “best”, and I have not read all thirty-one. Where a book below has a guide on this site, that link is mine and says so.
In the order they won, not in order of how good they are. What they have in common is that people are still buying them.
Thirty-one novels in thirty-one years. The eleven in red have notes above; four of the authors have a full guide on this site. 5
Orange, Baileys, Women’s Prize: which is which
Three names, one prize, and a year in the middle when nobody paid for it.
- 1996–2012 — the Orange Prize for Fiction, with two years (2007 and 2008) as the Orange Broadband Prize.
- 2013 — no corporate sponsor at all. It ran on private money, raised by a group led by Cherie Blair, Joanna Trollope and Elizabeth Buchan. It was also the year of the biggest upset: A. M. Homes won with May We Be Forgiven over the favourite, Hilary Mantel, and the decision was argued about for months afterwards. 9
- 2014–2017 — the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction.
- 2018 onwards — simply the Women’s Prize for Fiction, backed by several sponsors rather than one.
If you see all three names used as though they were different awards, that is a mistake: the winner list runs unbroken from Helen Dunmore in 1996 to Virginia Evans in 2026. 6
What the winner actually gets
£30,000, anonymously endowed, and a bronze statuette called the Bessie — about nineteen centimetres tall, made by the sculptor Grizel Niven, and recast every year in a different bronze mixture so no two are the same. 17
Only publishers can submit books, never authors, and the novel has to be full-length, written in English and published in the UK. Short story collections and translations are not eligible, which is why some very good books by women never appear here at all. 2
How many books get that far
The longlist has been sixteen novels in recent years, including 2026, which was announced on 4 March 2026. The shortlist is six. So of every hundred-odd novels submitted, sixteen get named, six get read closely, and one wins. 4
In 2020, for the twenty-fifth anniversary, the public was asked to vote for a Winner of Winners from every book that had ever won. Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie took it — the closest thing to an official answer to “which one should I read first”, though it is a popular vote and not a jury decision. 8
And the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction?
A separate award, first given in 2024, with the same £30,000 and a statuette called the Charlotte. Naomi Klein won the first one for Doppelganger, Rachel Clarke won in 2025 for The Story of a Heart, and Lyse Doucet won in 2026 for The Finest Hotel in Kabul, a people’s history of Afghanistan. 311
Frequently asked questions about the Women’s Prize for Fiction
What is the Women's Prize for Fiction?
An annual British award for the best full-length novel written in English by a woman of any nationality, published in the United Kingdom. It was first awarded in 1996, it is run by the Women’s Prize Trust, and the winner receives £30,000 and a bronze statuette known as the Bessie. Only publishers may submit books; authors cannot enter themselves.
Why was the Women's Prize for Fiction created?
Because of the 1991 Booker Prize shortlist, which contained six books and not one by a woman, in a year when women wrote roughly six out of every ten novels published in Britain. A group of publishers, agents, booksellers and critics met in 1992 to do something about it, and the first prize was awarded in 1996. Kate Mosse was one of the founders.
Is the Women's Prize the same as the Orange Prize?
Yes, it is one prize under three names. It was the Orange Prize for Fiction from 1996 to 2012, briefly the Orange Broadband Prize from 2007 to 2008, and it ran for a year in 2013 with no corporate sponsor at all, paid for by private benefactors. It was the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction from 2014 to 2017, and it has simply been the Women’s Prize for Fiction since 2018.
Who won the Women's Prize for Fiction 2026?
Virginia Evans, for The Correspondent, announced on 11 June 2026 at Bedford Square Gardens in London. It is a novel written entirely in letters, about a retired legal clerk in her seventies and a decision she has spent decades writing around.
Has anyone won the Women's Prize for Fiction twice?
One writer: Barbara Kingsolver, for The Lacuna in 2010 and Demon Copperhead in 2023. Thirteen years apart, and the second one won the Pulitzer Prize in the same year.
Which Women's Prize winner is considered the best?
In 2020, for the prize’s 25th anniversary, the public voted for a Winner of Winners from every book that had ever won. Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie took it. That is the closest thing to an official answer there is, and it is a popular vote rather than a jury decision.
What is the Women's Prize for Non-Fiction?
A companion award, first given in 2024, for non-fiction by women. It carries the same £30,000 and a statuette called the Charlotte. Naomi Klein won the first one for Doppelganger, Rachel Clarke won in 2025 for The Story of a Heart, and Lyse Doucet won in 2026 for The Finest Hotel in Kabul.
When is the Women's Prize for Fiction 2027 announced?
Submissions for the 2027 prize close at 5pm on 18 September 2026. The longlist is announced on 10 March 2027, the shortlist on 28 April 2027, and the winner on 17 June 2027 at Bedford Square Gardens in London.
How many books are on the Women's Prize longlist and shortlist?
The shortlist is six books. The longlist has been sixteen in recent years, including 2026. Thirty-one novels have won since 1996, and all of them are listed on this page.
