Arundhati Roy, Lyse Doucet and Judith Mackrell are among six authors shortlisted for the 2026 Women’s Prize for Nonfiction, organisers announced on Tuesday. The £30,000 prize, launched in 2024 to address gender imbalance in UK nonfiction awards, features books spanning memoir, history and social commentary.
Roy’s memoir Mother Mary Comes to Me explores identity and motherhood, while Doucet’s The Finest Hotel in Kabul tells Afghanistan’s history through the InterContinental hotel. Jane Rogoyska’s Hotel Exile examines the Hotel Lutetia in Paris during World War II. Ece Temelkuran’s Nation of Strangers tackles exile and migration, and Daisy Fancourt’s Art Cure argues for the health benefits of the arts. Mackrell’s Artists, Siblings, Visionaries profiles British sibling artists Gwen and Augustus John.
Chair of judges Thangam Debbonaire praised the shortlist as “six exceptional books… a timely and timeless interrogation of our world today.” She added they offer “an urgent antidote to mis- and disinformation.” The prize was created after research showed only 35.5% of winners across seven major UK nonfiction awards in the past decade were women.
New data released alongside the shortlist reveals persistent gender gaps: men dominate business (93%), sport (90%) and politics (82%) categories, though women’s share in popular science rose from 11% (2023) to 22% (2025) and philosophy from 5% to 10%. The winner will be announced on 11 June alongside the Women’s Prize for Fiction.
