

Why we need a women's prize for fiction

The Bailey's Women's Prize for Fiction shortlist is announced

The shortlist of Bailey's Women's Prize for Fiction (formerly the Orange Prize) was announced last night at a star studded event in Hyde Park. With writer Joanna Walsh's hash tag #ReadWomen2014 trending on Twitter, this is an exciting time for women in fiction. Last year Alice Munro won the Nobel Prize in Literature, and for the first time in the Costa prize's history they had an all-female shortlist in 2013. Even VIDA, an organisation that exposes the fact that more books are published by men than women every year in their notorious 'VIDA count' recorded a massive increase in fiction by women in 2013. 


While it's thrilling that progress is being made, an award that celebrates extraordinary female writers from around the world feels as needed as ever. The latest VIDA count proves that there's still a heavy lean towards male writers and, in spite of her great achievement, Alice Munro is one of only thirteen female writers who've won the Nobel Prize in Literature… that's 13 in 110, making almost 90% of the previous winners male.

Authors like Joanna Walsh aren't just worried about whether women's fiction is being published, but about how it's marketed. Taking particular offense to frothy, reductive blurbs and pink covers, they don't believe that women's fiction is taken as seriously as men's. How often do we hear the term 'dick lit'? And 'men's crime fiction'? When statistics show that women buy two thirds of books in Britain, shouldn't we be able to expect at least a 50 / 50 representation of both genders on the shelves? Have your say by tweeting us with the hashtag #womensprize.

Here to inspire women worldwide to pick up their pens are the six authors who've been shortlisted for the prestigious Bailey's award –

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, £6.79, Fourth Estate

Beyonce herself will be pleased to see Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi in the shortlist. The award winning author of Half a Yellow Sun has had her famous TED talk on feminism cut into one of the queen of pop's tracks. Her new novel about a couple fleeing from military dictatorship in Nigeria to American and British soil packs a powerful punch.

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent, £7.99, Picador

The first novel by Australian author Hannah Kent is about a woman who's sentenced to death for a murder that she may not have committed. Set in the 18th Century in Iceland, it's a story that sheds a bright light on the harsh injustices women suffered in this era. Check out the gripping trailer for the book. 

The Undertaking by Audrey Magee, £12.99, Atlantic Books

The Second World War is a popular setting for romantic novels, but Irish author Audrey Magee's tackles a challenging perspective in The Undertaking. German newlyweds Katharina and Peter are strangers when they take their vows; it's a marriage of convenience that will win Peter honeymoon leave from the front and Katharina a widow's pension if he dies. The couple are pleasantly surprised to find that they're powerfully attracted to each other when they meet again in Berlin. Thoughts of his future with Katharina are the saving grace that gets Peter through the horrors of war, but Katharina's involvement with the Nazis leaves them both saddled with an unthinkable guilt when they're finally able to begin their life as a family.

The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri, £16.99, Bloomsbury

Jhumpa Lahiri's second novel is a domestic story about family ties woven into a series of volatile political events, from India gaining independence in the 1940s to the Vietnam war in the 1970s. It's not an easy read but this is a haunting and thought provoking story if you persevere with the epic plot.

A Girl is a Half Formed Thing by Eimear McBride, £11, Faber & Faber

Winner of the Goldsmith's prize in 2013 and shortlisted for the Folio Prize, as well as the Bailey's prize, Eimear McBride's debut novel about a girl from a troubled background whose brother suffers from brain damage has caused quite a stir. Written as a stream of consciousness, this is an out and out difficult read but if you're looking for a challenge and a completely original voice then it's the book for you.

The Goldfinch by Donna Tart, £20, Little Brown

Donna Tart's third novel has a dramatic, shocking premis. Caught in an explosion that kills his mother as a child, Theo never fully recovers from feelings of isolation.  If you feel up for immersing yourself in the life of a disturbed and traumatised protagonist, you should enjoy The Goldfinch, but it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea.

Speaking for her fellow judges (Caitlin Moran, Mary Beard Sophie Rainworth and Denise Mina), Helen Fraser said that if you gave any of these books to a friend "their view of the world would be changed once they had read it." One thing's for certain, whoever wins the £30,000 cheque in June, they've all improved the profile for women on bookshelves around the world.  

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