The 2026 Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction longlist

Here are the books that make up the 2026 Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction longlist, a hopeful lineup that reflects the belief that every woman’s voice has the power to elicit and inspire change. These captivating titles span politics, memoir, science, history, biography, art and more, in an extraordinary, international celebration of women’s writing.

Updated February 22, 2026
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Wyndham Library
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Daughters of the bamboo grove : from China to America, a true story of abduction, adoption, and separated twins
Demick, Barbara
Paper Book
In 2000, a Chinese woman gave birth to twins in a bamboo grove, trying to avoid detection by the government because she already had two daughters. Two years later, an American couple travelled to Shaoyang to adopt a Chinese toddler they thought had been abandoned. Their understanding...
The finest hotel in Kabul : a people's history of Afghanistan
Doucet, Lyse
Paper Book
The Sunday Times Bestseller Shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Non-Fiction Shortlisted for the Nero Book Awards Shortlisted for the RSL Ondaatje Prize Shortlisted for the RSL Christopher Bland Prize Longlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non...
Art cure : the science of how the arts transform our health
Fancourt, Daisy
Paper Book
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER Discover how art can improve our health, make us happier and even help us live longer with the inspiring new book from the award-winning scientist and world-leading expert. 'Every day we are overwhelmed by advice on...
The genius of trees : how trees mastered the elements and shaped the world
Rix, Harriet
Paper Book
The Genius of Trees tells a mind-expanding global story revealing the inventive and astonishing ways trees learned to shape our natural world. Over hundreds of millions of years, from prehistoric forests to the trees around us today, we see trees using...
Hotel exile: ; paris in the shadow of war
Rogoyska, Jane.
The Hotel Lutetia is a Paris institution, the only 'grand' hotel on the city's bohemian Left Bank. Ever since it opened, it has served as a meeting place for artists, musicians and politicians. Andre Gide took his lunch here, James Joyce lived in one of its rooms, Picasso and Matisse were regular...
Ask me how it works : love in an open marriage
Paul, Deepa
Paper Book
LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 'Stunningly poetic and vulnerable . . . If this book doesn't change your perspective on relationships, nothing will' GILLIAN ANDERSON 'A fascinating and big-hearted portrait of sex, intimacy and non-monogamy' CLOVER STROUD...
Death of an ordinary man
Perry, Sarah
Paper Book
**LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2026* **WINNER OF THE NERO BOOK AWARDS NON-FICTION AWARD 2025** **LONGLISTED FOR THE GORDON BURN PRIZE 2026** 'Please read this book. It may very well change how you live' Rachel Clarke 'I was spellbound'...
Mother Mary comes to me
Roy, Arundhati
Paper Book
Arundhati Roy's first work of memoir, this is a soaring account, both intimate and inspiring, of how the author became the person and the writer she is, shaped by circumstance, but above all by her relationship to her extraordinary, singular mother Mary, who she describes as 'my shelter and my storm...
To exist as I am : a doctor's notes on recovery and radical acceptance
Green, Grace Spence
Paper Book
A young doctor's life-affirming story of near-death, recovery and radical acceptance
Nation of strangers
Temelkuran, Ece
Paper Book
A powerful reappraisal of the concept of exile, migration and homelessness from internationally acclaimed author and political thinker Ece Temelkuran
Indignity : a life reimagined
Ypi, Lea
Paper Book
When Lea Ypi discovers a photo of her grandmother, Leman, honeymooning in the Alps in 1941 posted by a stranger on social media, she is faced with unsettling questions. Growing up, she was told records of her grandmother's youth were destroyed in the early days of communism in Albania. But there...
Don't let it break you, honey : a memoir about saving yourself
Evans, Jenny
Paper Book
'Don't Let It Break You, Honey is not simply a memoir. It is an indictment of failure at the highest levels of police, press and politics' Tom Watson 'Intensely personal ... turning fear into bravery and pain into power' Cosmopolitan ...
With the Law on Our Side: How the Law Works for Everyone and How We Can Make It Work Better
Hale, Lady
Paper Book
**LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2026* 'A principled, timely and vital reminder of why justice matters' PHILIPPE SANDS 'Accessible, forensic and breathtakingly humane' SHAMI CHAKRABARTI Told through captivating real cases in real...
To be young, gifted and black : creativity and race in the 21st century
Kanneh-Mason, Kadiatu
Ebook
What does it mean - and how does it feel - to grow up as a Black artist today? 'This exceptional book, written with a mother's love for her seven creative children, sensitively offers profound and original insights and perspectives that enrich our culture. I feel so much wiser...
Finding Albion : myth, folklore and the quest for a hidden Britain
Sewell, Zakia
Paper Book
**LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2026** 'I've been waiting for a book like this.' FLORENCH WELCH 'Hopeful and inspiring, Finding Albion is a vital quest for more authentic stories of Britain.' CAROLINE LUCAS 'Finding Albion is...
To Be Young, Gifted and Black
Kanneh-Mason, Kadiatu.
Paper Book
What does it mean - and how does it feel - to grow up as a Black artist today? 'This exceptional book, written with a mother's love for her seven creative children, sensitively offers profound and original insights and perspectives that enrich our culture. I feel so much wiser for reading...
Artists, Siblings, Visionaries: The Lives And Loves Of Gwen And Augustus John
Mackrell, Judith.
Paper Book
Shortlisted for the 2026 Women's Prize for Non-Fiction A gorgeously readable, insightful dual biography of British brother and sister artists Gwen and Augustus John by acclaimed biographer Judith Mackrell. Augustus was the larger of the two--vivid, volatile, and...

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