I’m reading all of the winners of the Women’s Prize for Fiction

2020 marks the 25^th anniversary of the Women’s Prize for Fiction and I’m joining thousands of readers in the challenge to read all twenty four of the previous winners.

The Prize is actively encouraging readers to join in with #readingwomen so that they can vote for their all-time favourite in November. I’m not sure I’ll be finished by then but I’m going to try!

For the past five years, I have read young adult (YA) fiction with only a sprinkling of easily digestible adult fiction. I always thought adult fiction was too ‘hard’, highbrow and ultimately not for me. Which I’m sure lots of people, especially young women, feel too. However, this year I decided to try and broaden my reading horizons and read some new types of adult literature to figure out what I like.

During my long hours combing Goodreads I came across the Women’s Prize for Fiction and fell in love with their mission to celebrate the very best full-length fiction written by women throughout the world. This felt like a good place to start.

After ordering the whole list (ouch) I got started at the beginning of August and have already had some interesting results. The current plan is to publish my reviews in groups of five, starting from the 2019 winner, so keep your eyes peeled for the first of those coming very shortly.

One of the things I’m most excited about is that I will able to read the 2020 winner, if I haven’t done already, in ‘real time’ and be in on the fun along with many other readers. It also means that I can read the shortlist next year too.

If you’re thinking of getting involved I would encourage you to head to the Women’s Prize website for more information about the Prize and the previous winners.

One last thought from me, I know that this list, or even this Prize, is not the be all and end all of book recommendations but I’m very keen to understand what prizes like this really consist of before I judge whether I support them long-term or not. Maybe once I’m done with this I could turn my attentions to another literary prize… any suggestions?

#readingwomen

Header image credit: Women’s Prize for Fiction.