Women's Prize for Non-Fiction explained

The Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction is a prize for non-fiction writing by women, a sister prize to the Women's Prize for Fiction. It was announced in February 2023 and will first be awarded in 2024, for books published in 2023. Its main prize of £30,000 will be funded for three years by the Charlotte Aitken Trust, and the winner will also receive a statuette named the Charlotte.^{[1] [2] [3]} It was announced in June 2023 that the inaugural sponsor of the prize would be the family tree company Findmypast.^[4]

Kate Mosse, announcing the launch of the prize, said it was "not about taking the spotlight away from the brilliant male writers, it's about adding the women in".^[5]

The prize entry criteria state that: "Any woman writing in English – whatever her nationality, country of residence, age or subject matter – is eligible. Books must be published in the United Kingdom between 1 April in the year the Prize calls for entries, and 31 March the following year, when the Prize is announced. Books from all narrative non-fiction categories intended for general readership, commonly known as ‘trade non-fiction’, are encouraged, and the judging panel considers the titles submitted using the guiding tenets of excellence, originality and accessibility."^[6]

The 2024 judges are historian Suzannah Lipscomb (chair), fair fashion campaigner Venetia La Manna, academic, author and consultant, Professor Nicola Rollock, biographer and journalist Anne Sebba, and author and 2018 winner of the Women's Prize for Fiction Kamila Shamsie.

The first longlist for the Women's Prize for Non-Fiction, of 16 titles, was announced on 15 February 2024.^[7] The Guardian noted that the subject matter of the longlisted books included "Capitalism, artificial intelligence, Renaissance history and motherhood".^[8] The shortlist was announced on 27 March 2024 and the winner on 13 June 2024.^[9]

Winners and shortlisted writers

Year!scope=col

Author	scope=col	Title	scope=col	Result	scope=col class="unsortable"
scope=rowgroup rowspan="6"	2024		Doppelganger	Winner	^[10]
	Thunderclap	Shortlist	^[11]
		Shortlist
	All That She Carried	Shortlist
	Code Dependent	Shortlist
	How to Say Babylon	Shortlist

Notes and References

1. Web site: Seeking Sponsors for Women's Non-Fiction . Women's Prize for Fiction . 8 February 2023 . 8 February 2023.
2. News: Green. Alex . Kate Mosse: New prize celebrating non-fiction by women will amplify and honour . 8 February 2023 . The Independent . 8 February 2023 . en.
3. News: Knight . Lucy . ‘Big books by blokes about battles’: why we need the Women’s prize for nonfiction . 11 February 2023 . The Guardian . 10 February 2023.
4. Web site: Findmypast inaugural sponsor for Women's Prize for Non-Fiction . Women's Prize for Fiction . 16 February 2024 . 7 June 2023.
5. News: Shaffi . Sarah . Women’s prize to launch annual award for women’s non-fiction writing . 8 February 2023 . The Guardian . 8 February 2023.
6. Web site: Enter the Women's Prize for Non-Fiction . Women's Prize for Fiction . 30 December 2023.
7. Web site: Women’s Prize For Non Fiction . Women's Prize . 15 February 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240215235333/https://womensprize.com/prizes/womens-prize-for-non-fiction/ . 15 February 2024 . The longlist has been announced.
8. News: Creamer . Ella . Guardian writer and Observer critic longlisted for inaugural Women’s prize for nonfiction . 4 March 2024 . The Guardian . 15 February 2024.
9. Web site: Women's Prize for Non-Fiction 2024 . Women's Prize . 30 December 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231230000150/https://womensprize.com/prizes/womens-prize-for-non-fiction/ . 30 December 2023.
10. Web site: Announcing the 2024 Winners of the Women's Prizes . Women's Prize . 13 June 2024 . 13 June 2024.
11. News: Lipscomb . Suzannah . 27 March 2024 . Electric, poignant, exquisitely written: inside the inaugural Women's prize for nonfiction shortlist . 28 March 2024 . The Guardian . en-GB . 0261-3077.