| Barbara Kingsolver has won the 2023 Women's Prize for Fiction with her novel Demon Copperhead. Barbara is the first double winner of the prize in its 28 year history, having previously won in 2010 with her novel The Lacuna. |
| Watch the moment Barbara was announced as the winner. |
| 2023 Chair of Judges Louise Minchin, said: "Brilliant and visceral, Demon Copperhead is storytelling by an author at the top of her game. We were all deeply moved by Demon, his gentle optimism, resilience and determination despite everything being set against him. An exposé of modern America, its opioid crisis and the detrimental treatment of deprived and maligned communities, Demon Copperhead tackles universal themes – from addiction and poverty, to family, love, and the power of friendship and art – it packs a triumphant emotional punch, and is a novel that will withstand the test of time.” |
The prize was established in 1996, to recognise the literary achievement of female writers. The inspiration for the prize was the Booker Prize of 1991, when none of the six shortlisted books was by a woman.
The sheer standard of former winners – including Zadie Smith, Madeline Miller, Ali Smith, Maggie O’Farrell and the much-missed Andrea Levy – has ensured the Prize’s continued standing as one of the country’s elite literary awards. This year’s longlist reflects once more the incredible diversity of women’s fiction writing in English. More than half of this year’s longlist for the Women’s prize for fiction were debuts, with nine first novels, including Trespasses by Louise Kennedy and I’m a Fan by Sheena Patel.
Shortlist 2023:
- - Fire Rush by Jacqueline Crooks
- - Black Butterflies by Priscilla Morris
- - Pod by Laline Paull
- - Trespasses by Louise Kennedy
- - Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
- - The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell
