Two accomplished female writers have been recognized with the prestigious Women’s Prize book awards, each receiving $40,000 for their literary achievements.
American author Virginia Evans took home the Women’s Prize for Fiction for her novel “The Correspondent,” a story that gained popularity through word-of-mouth recommendations. The book tells its tale through correspondence written by the main character.
The nonfiction award went to Canadian journalist Lyse Doucet for “The Finest Hotel in Kabul: A People’s History of Afghanistan.”
These annual awards honor female writers who publish in English, regardless of their nationality.
Evans had completed seven novels that never saw publication before penning “The Correspondent” while the COVID-19 pandemic was ongoing. The book received a quiet release in 2025 but slowly gained momentum on bestseller charts and became popular with reading groups. The story unfolds through multiple years of correspondence from a former attorney named Sybil Van Antwerp to various recipients including relatives, friends, and well-known authors. A movie version featuring Jane Fonda is currently being developed.
The fiction award panel was led by former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who praised the winning novel for its emotional impact.
“It is no mean feat to write a life in letters, but Evans makes this feel effortless, asking the reader to consider the choices we make, whilst elevating an ordinary life in the most heartfelt of ways,” she said.
Doucet serves as the BBC’s chief international correspondent and used her book to examine the lives of workers and visitors at Kabul’s historic Inter-Continental Hotel. Though damaged over time, the once-elegant hotel remains operational and serves as a lens through which to view Afghanistan’s recent tumultuous past.
Labour Party politician Thangam Debbonaire led the nonfiction judging committee and described the winning work as “a perfect work of narrative non-fiction” that is “informed by decades of excellent reporting.”
The fiction prize has been awarded since 1996, with past recipients including Zadie Smith, Tayari Jones and Barbara Kingsolver.
The companion nonfiction award launched in 2024 as part of efforts to address gender disparities in the publishing world. Statistics from 2022 showed that women authored just 26.5% of nonfiction books that received newspaper reviews in Britain, and male authors dominated established nonfiction literary prizes.
British physician Rachel Clarke won last year’s inaugural nonfiction prize for “The Story of a Heart,” her account of organ transplantation.
