From a complex tale of middle-aged twins who’ve been raised in complete isolation to a genre-defying debut about real life colliding with the virtual world, we take a look at the six novels on the shortlist of this year’s Women’s Prize for Fiction. The prestigious £30 000 (R600 000) British award, which was previously known as the Orange prize, is open to all female authors, irrespective of nationality, writing in English. It was launched in 1996 to recognise the literary talents of women who are often overlooked in major contests such as the Booker Prize and previous winners have included the likes of Zadie Smith, Tayari Jones and Rose Tremaine. This year is the first time that the shortlist consists of authors who have never been nominated for the award before. Chair of the judges, Bernadine Evaristo, praised the diversity of stories on the shortlist.

Source: News 24 May 11, 2021 09:22 UTC