Celebrating 30 Years: 2025 Women’s Prize for Fiction Longlist Revealed
2025 Women’s Prize for Fiction Longlist: 16 Novels That Define the Year
The Women’s Prize for Fiction has unveiled its highly anticipated longlist for 2025, featuring 16 genre-spanning novels that explore the effects of global events across the past, present, and future. As the 30th anniversary of the prize, this year’s selection continues to honor originality, excellence, and accessibility, showcasing the breadth and diversity of women’s voices in contemporary literature.
Celebrating Women’s Voices in Literature
The Women’s Prize for Fiction was established to recognize and promote outstanding fiction written by women. Over the years, it has celebrated powerful storytelling, compelling themes, and deeply realized characters, bringing attention to both emerging and established authors. This year’s longlist embraces a broad spectrum of narratives, from historical fiction to speculative worlds, offering readers a chance to engage with stories that reflect and challenge our understanding of the world.
“These are important, far-reaching novels where brilliantly realized characters navigate the complexities of families and modern relationships, whilst pushing the boundaries placed around them. It’s a list that readers will devour and shows the echoes of world events on everyday lives as well as the power and brilliance of women writing today.” — Kit de Waal, Chair of Judges
The 2025 Women’s Prize for Fiction Longlist
Listed alphabetically by author surname, the 16 selected novels are:
- Good Girl by Aria Aber (Bloomsbury)
- The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley (Sceptre, Hodder & Stoughton, Hachette)
- Somewhere Else by Jenni Daiches (Scotland Street Press)
- Amma by Saraid de Silva (Weatherglass Books)
- Crooked Seeds by Karen Jennings (Holland House Books)
- All Fours by Miranda July (Canongate Books)
- The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami (Bloomsbury Circus, Bloomsbury)
- The Persians by Sanam Mahloudji (4th Estate, HarperCollins)
- Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (4th Estate, HarperCollins)
- Nesting by Roisín O’Donnell (Scribner, Simon & Schuster)
- A Little Trickerie by Rosanna Pike (Fig Tree, Penguin General, Penguin Random House)
- Birding by Rose Ruane (Corsair, Little, Brown Book Group, Hachette)
- The Artist by Lucy Steeds (John Murray, John Murray Press, Hachette)
- Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout (Viking, Penguin General, Penguin Random House)
- The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden (Viking, Penguin General, Penguin Random House)
- Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, Orion Publishing Group, Hachette)
About the Women’s Prize for Fiction
Since its inception, the Women’s Prize for Fiction has enriched the literary world by championing women’s writing, improving access to books, and nurturing a supportive global community of readers and writers. The prize remains dedicated to its founding mission: to highlight exceptional fiction by women and ensure these voices are heard and celebrated.
The Impact of the Women’s Prize Trust
Beyond the annual prize, the Women’s Prize Trust is committed to fostering literary excellence and empowering women in writing. Through writer development programs, book donations, and literary initiatives, the organization works to support both emerging authors and readers.
Key Achievements:
- 429 female authors celebrated through prizes
- 10,076 early-career writers supported
- 16 million readers engaged in the Women’s Prize community
- 3,000 books donated annually to women in need
By creating pathways into writing and reading, the Women’s Prize Trust continues to shape the literary landscape, ensuring women’s voices remain at the forefront of contemporary fiction.
