
This year’s Women’s Prize for Fiction has put the spotlight on older debut novelists, who account for more than half of the 2023 shortlist.
Judges said they were “blown away” by the quality of writing among the contenders, with established writers such as Maggie O’Farrell (The Marriage Portrait) and Barbara Kingsolver (Demon Copperhead) up against newcomers including Jacqueline Crooks (Fire Rush) and Louise Kennedy (Trespasses).