Women's Prize for Fiction 2020s: A decade of winners

The early 2020s proved to be a remarkable era for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, a time when the award seemed to gravitate toward sweeping, ambitious narratives that refused easy categorization. Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet opened the decade with a luminous reimagining of Shakespeare’s personal tragedy, setting a tone of lyrical experimentation that would echo through the years to come. That restless energy persisted as Susanna Clarke returned to the spotlight with Piranesi, a bewildering, architecturally impossible novel that rewarded readers willing to surrender to its logic—a reminder that the prize has always championed writers willing to take risks. These weren’t works content to sit comfortably within familiar storytelling; they demanded active participation from their audiences.

By mid-decade, the Women’s Prize for Fiction had settled into a rhythm of recognizing novels that grappled with the weight of family, history, and belonging. Ruth Ozeki’s sprawling The Book of Form and Emptiness and Barbara Kingsolver’s devastating Demon Copperhead demonstrated how powerfully the award champions fiction that transforms lived experience into something mythic and resonant. As the period concluded with V. V. Ganeshananthan’s Brotherless Night—a harrowing exploration of Sri Lanka’s civil war filtered through intimate family bonds—it became clear that this decade belonged to writers who understood that personal stories contain entire worlds. The Women’s Prize has consistently used its platform to elevate voices that the mainstream might overlook, and these five years proved no exception.

Below, explore the complete roster of Women’s Prize for Fiction winners from 2020 to 2024:

2020

Fiction

• Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell

2021

Fiction

• Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

2022

Fiction

• The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki

2023

Fiction

• Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

2024

Fiction

• Brotherless Night by V. V. Ganeshananthan