The 2026 Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction Judging Panel, L–R: Nicola Williams, Roma Agrawal, Baroness Thangam Debbonaire (Chair), Nicola Elliott, Nina Stibbe
By Erin L. Cox, Publisher | @erinlcox
At a time when nonfiction sales are on the decline while readers turn to fiction to escape the news, the Women’s Prize celebrates a collection of nonfiction books that seek to highlight our shared humanity and carry us through an increasingly dark period of time.
This week, the UK-based Women’s Prize Trust has announced the longlist for the 2026 Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction. Sponsored by Findmypast and supported by the Charlotte Aitken Trust, the prize celebrates the work of female nonfiction writers. The winner receives £30,000 and The Charlotte sculpture.
‘The Charlotte.’ the bronze-cast sculpture created by artist Ann Christopher RA FRSS
This year’s longlist features 16 titles in the categories of politics, memoir, science, history, biography, and art, but what they all have in common is at the heart of the prize’s mission – that every woman’s voice has the power to elicit and inspire change.
“Today, alongside my fellow judges, I am proud to reveal a compelling longlist that shows remarkable breadth and depth – women writing excellently on a wide range of subjects, each uncovering something new about our world,” said Thangam Debbonaire, CEO of UK Opera Association and Chair of Judges.
“The books on this hopeful longlist are rigorous and researched, lyrical and flowing. They are drawn together by the originality and skill with which they have been written. This reading list carries relevance and truth for the future as well as holding significant value for the present day – the books spark curiosity and demand attention; they are for everyone navigating the complicated and unpredictable world we are living in. The voices of these sixteen remarkable women need to be heard – loud and clear.”
The longlist for the 2026 Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction is:
- Daughters of the Bamboo Grove: China’s Stolen Children and a Story of Separated Twins by Barbara Demick
- The Finest Hotel in Kabul: A People’s History of Afghanistan by Lyse Doucet
- Don’t Let It Break You, Honey: A Memoir About Saving Yourself by Jenny Evans
- Art Cure: The Science of How the Arts Transform Our Health by Daisy Fancourt
- With the Law on Our Side: How the Law Works for Everyone and How We Can Make It Work Better by Lady Hale
- To Be Young, Gifted and Black: Creativity and Race in the 21st Century by Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason
- Artists, Siblings, Visionaries: The Lives and Loves of Gwen and Augustus John by Judith Mackrell
- Ask Me How It Works: Love in an Open Marriage by Deepa Paul
- Death of an Ordinary Man by Sarah Perry
- The Genius of Trees: How Trees Mastered the Elements and Shaped the World by Harriet Rix
- Hotel Exile: Paris in the Shadow of War by Jane Rogoyska
- Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy
- Finding Albion: Myth, Folklore and the Quest for a Hidden Britain by Zakia Sewell
- To Exist As I Am: A Doctor’s Notes on Recovery and Radical Acceptance by Grace Spence Green
- Nation of Strangers: Rebuilding Home in the 21st Century by Ece Temelkuran
- Indignity: A Life Reimagined by Lea Ypi
The longlist was selected by a panel of judges which include Thangam Debbonaire, CEO of UK Opera Association, cultural strategist and politician (Chair of Judges); Roma Agrawal, engineer, author and broadcaster; Nicola Elliott, founder of NEOM Wellbeing; Nina Stibbe, novelist and memoirist; and Nicola Williams, Crown Court judge and thriller author.
The shortlist of six will be announced on March 25th and the winners revealed on June 11th at the Women’s Prize Trust’s summer party in Bedford Square Gardens, London, where the Women’s Prize for Fiction will also be announced. The 2026 Women’s Prize for Fiction longlist will be announced on March 4th.