Women's Prize Trust Names the 2027 Fiction and Nonfiction Judges

Who will judge the 2027 Women's Prizes? The Women's Prize Trust has named both panels. Fiction will be chaired by Merve Emre. Nonfiction will be chaired by Susie Dent. The Trust's page on the charity is here: Women's Prize Trust.

The Trust says the two panels, "united by their passion for brilliant books," will champion excellence, originality, and accessibility in fiction and nonfiction written in English by women across the world. It calls the Women's Prize for Fiction "the largest celebration of female creativity in the world." It says the nonfiction prize celebrates exceptional narrative nonfiction written by female thought-leaders, changemakers, and experts. Those are the Trust's descriptions.

The fiction panel

Emre, whom the Trust describes as a scholar, critic, editor, and professor, is joined by Charlotte Collins, editor-in-chief of SheerLuxe, a broadcaster and podcast host; Esther Freud, novelist and playwright; Theresa Lola, poet, writer, and artist; and Eimear McBride, novelist and writer.

On the Trust's page, Emre calls it "an honor to judge the Women's Prize for Fiction," "a thrill to discover new authors and seasoned ones, trying new things," "a challenge to assemble a small library of exemplary books," and "a privilege to think with my fellow judges about fiction's unique status in our imperfect world."

The nonfiction panel

Dent, a lexicographer, writer, and broadcaster, chairs the nonfiction judges. With her: Shrabani Basu, historian, biographer, and journalist; Reeta Chakrabarti, journalist, broadcaster, and novelist; Sophie Morgan, writer, broadcaster, artist, and disability advocate; and Emma Reed Turrell, psychotherapist, author, podcaster, and speaker.

Dent's comment, as the Trust published it: "It is an enormous privilege to be chairing a panel of such impressive women, in a category of writing that has been a constant source of joy and learning throughout my own career. Women's non-fiction writing is all too often overlooked and undervalued and, together with my fellow judges, I look forward to amplifying the voices of those whose experience, wisdom, and expertise can enrich us all."

What the director said the judges are there to do

Claire Shanahan, executive director of the Women's Prize Trust, said the panels are there "to collectively select 32 exceptional books and create the ultimate reading list; to celebrate the talented writers behind the books; and to help place their writing into the hands of millions of readers around the world. This speaks to the heart of the Women's Prize Trust's mission, and our belief in the power of women's voices to entertain, to inform and to inspire change."

Dates, money, and the two objects

The Trust's calendar for the 2027 prizes:

• Women's Prize for Non-Fiction longlist: 10 February. Shortlist: 7 April.
• Women's Prize for Fiction longlist: 10 March. Shortlist: 28 April.
• Winners of both prizes: 17 June, at the charity's summer party in Bedford Square Gardens, London.

The fiction winner receives £30,000, anonymously endowed, and a limited-edition bronze statuette known as the Bessie, created and donated by the artist Grizel Niven. The nonfiction winner receives £30,000 and a limited-edition artwork known as the Charlotte, created by Ann Christopher (RA FRSS). The Trust says both the nonfiction prize money and the Charlotte are gifted by the Charlotte Aitken Trust.

The page says the Trust welcomes the support of the Krystyna and Dan Houser Foundation. It thanks the Charlotte Aitken Trust, which it says has bolstered funding of the charity's work championing nonfiction writing by women, and Audible for its longstanding support of the Women's Prize for Fiction and of Discoveries.

Why it matters for authors and publishers

The useful facts are the names, the number, and the clock. Shanahan's figure is 32 books across the two prizes. Fiction's longlist is 10 March and its shortlist is 28 April. Nonfiction is earlier: longlist 10 February, shortlist 7 April. Both winners are named the same evening, 17 June, in Bedford Square Gardens. Each winner receives £30,000. Fiction adds the Bessie. Nonfiction adds the Charlotte.

The page does not, in this announcement, set out how a book reaches the panels. What it does set out is who will read, what the Trust says they are asked to reward, and when the lists become public. For a writer of fiction or narrative nonfiction in English, and for the publisher sending that book into the year, those dates are the ones the Trust has now fixed.

Sources

• Women's Prize Trust: Introducing the 2027 Judges