Arundhati Roy and Sarah Perry longlisted for Women’s Nonfiction Prize | books

Arundhati Roy, Sarah Berry and Leah Yippie are among the writers longlisted for this year’s Women’s Prize for Nonfiction.

Sixteen authors are in the running for the £30,000 prize, which was launched in 2024 to address the persistent gender imbalance in UK non-fiction award winners.

The 2026 longlist spans the fields of politics, memoir, science, art, history and biography, and includes seven first-time authors. Jury chair and Labor counterpart Thangam Debonaire said the longlist was “full of hope” and represented “women writing excellently on a wide range of topics, each one revealing something new about our world.”

Among the most well-known names on the list is Booker Prize-winning novelist and political activist Arundhati Roy, who has been longlisted for her debut memoir, Mother Mary Comes to Me, an exploration of identity, motherhood and the making of a writer, which Amit Chaudhuri described as “thoroughly enjoyable” in a review for The Guardian.

British writer Sarah Perry’s novel Death of an Ordinary Man, a meditation on grief, family and faith, centered around the death of her father-in-law, was also longlisted. Joe Moran wrote in The Guardian that it is “jewel-like” and “special”, a book that “works its magic through rigorous detail and quiet lyricism”.

Academic and author Leah Yippie has been shortlisted for Insult: A Life Reimagined, which examines her family’s personal history alongside political turmoil across the Balkans, from the Ottoman Empire to post-communism – a history “brought to life through Yippie’s narrative style,” as Sammy Kent wrote in his review for The Guardian.

History and politics are high on the list – BBC Chief International Correspondent Lise Doucet was honored for ‘Best Hotel in Kabul’, a history of the people of Afghanistan told through the changing fortunes of the InterContinental Hotel in the capital. Barbara Demick’s Daughters of Bamboo Grove tells the true story of estranged twins to highlight the humanitarian consequences of China’s one-child policy, while Jane Rogowska’s debut feature Hotel Exile examines the history of the Hotel Lutetia in Paris, which was used as the headquarters of Germany’s military intelligence service, the Abwehr, during World War II.

Contemporary social and cultural questions are addressed in works including Ms. Hale’s book With the Law on Our Side, an insider’s account of how the legal system works and how it can be improved; Zakiya Sewell’s Finding Albion, an exploration of British myth and folklore; And the Nation of Strangers by Esi Temelkuran, on exile, migration, and belonging. The long list also includes books on art and science, from Daisy Fancourt’s Art Cure, about the health benefits of creativity, to Harriet Rix’s The Genius of Trees, a study of how trees shape ecosystems and human history.

Other longlisted titles include Jenny Evans’ memoir Don’t Let It Break You, Darling, her account of being assaulted by a high-profile figure; Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason’s Being Young, Gifted, and Black explores creativity and race in the 21st century; Judith Mackrell Artists, Siblings, Visionaries, a dual biography of Gwen and Augustus John; Deepa Paul Ask Me How It Works, an exploration of love and desire in an open marriage; and Grace Spence Green in “Being as I Am,” A doctor’s musings on a life-altering spinal injury.

“The books on this long, hopeful list are rigorous, thoughtful, lyrical and flowing,” Debonaire said. “They combine authenticity and the skill with which they are written. This reading list holds importance and truth for the future, as well as great value today.”

Claire Shanahan, executive director of the Women’s Prize Fund, said the longlist reflects the importance of listening to a diverse range of voices. “Reading and listening to multiple perspectives, experiences, and ideas through nonfiction writing is more important than ever — it is how we understand the world, it is how we learn from the past, challenge injustice, and imagine new futures,” she said.

The creation of the award was prompted by research which found that only 35.5% of winners of seven major non-fiction awards in the UK over the past decade were women.

Last year’s award went to Dr Rachel Clarke for The Story of a Heart, while the first winner was Naomi Klein for Doppelganger.

The judges will announce a shortlist of six titles on March 25, with the winner revealed on June 11. The winning author will receive £30,000 and a limited edition artwork known as Charlotte.

In addition to Debonaire, the judging panel includes Roma Agrawal, engineer, author and broadcaster, Nicola Elliott, founder of NEOM Wellbeing, Nina Stebe, novelist and memoirist, and Nicola Williams, court judge and author of thrillers.

• To browse all the books longlisted for the Women’s Nonfiction Prize 2026, visit guardianbookshop.com. Delivery fees may apply.