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The 2018 Women’s Prize Shortlist is Announced

Six novels have been selected for the Women's Prize shortlist. Did your favorite make the cut?

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Teresa Preston

Staff Writer

Since 2008, Teresa Preston has been blogging about all the books she reads at Shelf Love. She supports her book habit by working as a magazine editor at a professional association in the Washington, DC, area, which is (in)conveniently located just a few steps from a used bookstore. When she’s not reading or editing, she’s likely to be attending theatre, practicing yoga, watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer again, or doting on her toothless orange cat, Anya. Twitter: @teresareads

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The Women’s Prize for Fiction is a UK-based award that honors “excellence, originality and accessibility” in fiction written by women around the world. In March, the judges selected a longlist of 16 novels that included such favorites as Jennifer Egan and newcomers like Fiona Mozley. Today, the shortlist of 6 novels has been released.

So which books made the cut? Here’s the list!

Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie

The Idiot by Elif Batuman

The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock by Imogen Hermes Gowar

Sight by Jessie Greengrass

Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward

When I Hit You: Or, A Portrait of the Writer as a Young Wife by Meena Kandasamy

In the shortlist announcement, Sarah Sands, Chair of Judges stated that   “The themes of the shortlist have both contemporary and lasting resonance encompassing the birth of the internet, race, sexual violence, grief, oh and mermaids. Some of the authors are young, half by Brits and all are blazingly good and brave writers.”

The winner will be announced June 6. Which of these books have you read? Do you have a favorite to win?