Tayari Jones won the 2019 Women’s Prize for Fiction for her novel An American Marriage.
Jones also won the Aspen Words Literary Prize this year, and beat out two Booker Prize winners for the award. Kate Williams, chair of judges for the Women’s Prize, said of An American Marriage: “This is an exquisitely intimate portrait of a marriage shattered by racial injustice. It is a story of love, loss and loyalty, the resilience of the human spirit painted on a big political canvas—that shines a light on today’s America. We all loved this brilliant book.”
Formerly the Orange Prize and Baileys Prize, the Women’s Prize for Fiction recognizes the best English-language novel by a woman published in the U.K. in the previous year. The £30,000 prize celebrates “excellence, originality and accessibility in women’s writing from throughout the world.” It is the U.K.’s only literary prize for fiction by women.
Bonus Link: Our quick guide to the 2019 Women’s Prize shortlist—it’s never too late to read the other nominees!
