Kingfisher, Rozie Kelly’s debut novel, has been longlisted for this year’s Women’s Prize for Fiction.
This year’s Chair of Judges, former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, announced the 16 books making up the longlist, which can be viewed in full here.
Rozie was the winner of the 2024 NorthBound Book Award and Kingfisher received rave reviews when it was published by Saraband in April 2025. Detailing the intense infatuation of a creative writing academic for his colleague – the poet – and their complex dynamic, the novel explores grief, power and desire, ‘and the tangles in between that make up a life.’
Gillard is joined on the judging panel by poet, novelist and essayist, Mona Arshi, author, presenter, poet and speaker, Salma El-Wardany, writer, podcaster, actor and comedian, Cariad Lloyd, and author, broadcaster and DJ, Annie Macmanus. A shortlist of six novels will be announced on April 22nd, with this year’s winner set to be revealed at the Women’s Prize Trust’s summer party on June 11th.
The winner of the 2026 Women’s Prize for Fiction, sponsored by Audible and Baileys, will receive £30,000, anonymously endowed, along with a statuette known as the ‘Bessie’, created and donated by the late artist Grizel Niven.