Barbara Kingsolver wint de Women's Prize voor de tweede maal

De Women's Prize for Fiction is een literatuurprijs die jaarlijks wordt uitgereikt aan een Engelstalige roman van een vrouwelijke auteur, ongeacht nationaliteit, die werd uitgebracht in het Verenigd Koninkrijk. De afgelopen jaren wonnen Ruth Ozeki (2022), Susanna Clarke (2021), Maggie O'Farrell (2020), Tayari Jones (2019), Kamila Shamsie (2018), Naomi Alderman (2017), Lisa McInerney (2016) en Ali Smith (2015).

Louise Minchin, voorzitter van de jury:

‘Barbara Kingsolver has written a towering, deeply powerful and significant book. In a year of outstanding fiction by women, we made a unanimous decision on Demon Copperhead as our winner. Brilliant and visceral, it is storytelling by an author at the top of her game. We were all deeply moved by Demon, his gentle optimism, resilience and determination despite everything being set against him.

An exposé of modern America, its opioid crisis and the detrimental treatment of deprived and maligned communities, Demon Copperhead tackles universal themes – from addiction and poverty, to family, love, and the power of friendship and art – it packs a triumphant emotional punch, and is a novel that will withstand the test of time.’

Eerder won Kingsolver de prijs met The Lacuna. Ze is de eerste die hem tweemaal wint. Een Nederlandse vertaling verschijnt bij Meulenhoff.

Dit was de shortlist:

• Jacqueline Crooks, Fire Rush
• Louise Kennedy, Trespasses
• Barbara Kingsolver, Demon Copperhead
• Priscilla Morris, Black Butterflies
• Maggie O'Farrel, The Marriage Portrait
• Laline Paull, Pod