This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Women’s Prize For Fiction, and there is much to celebrate. Over the last quarter of a century the prize has become one of the most successful awards in the world, and has exposed readers to important, challenging and accomplished works by female authors. There is no doubt that the Prize will go down in the ‘herstory’ books as a force for good. However, with Maggie O’Farrell announced as the 25th winner last night, perhaps it no longer needs to be part of our future.
Much has changed in 25 years. In 1991, when the idea for the Prize was in its early embryonic form, there was not a single female writer in the Booker Prize shortlist, and clearly many female writers were being overlooked.
That is simply not the case now. In the 2020 Booker Prize shortlist, nine out of 13 of the writers are women. In the last ten years, six American female authors have won the National Book Award, while more women have won the Costa Book of the Year than men.
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