Women’s prize in non-fiction: powerful biographies, moving histories and creative approaches to health – six experts review the shortlist

By Barrie Llewelyn, Senior Lecturer in Faculty of Business and Creative Industries, University of South Wales
Adrian Paterson, Lecturer in English, University of Galway
Dominic O'Key, Teaching Associate, Faculty of English, University of Cambridge
Ludivine Broch, Lecturer in History, University of Westminster
Magnus Marsden, Professor of Social Anthropology, University of Sussex
Michaela Benson, Professor in Public Sociology, Lancaster University

The Women’s prize for non-fiction celebrates excellence, originality and accessibility in narrative non-fiction written by women. This prize acknowledges that while great gains have been made in representation for women in fiction, their voices remain systemically underrepresented in non-fiction.

In only its third year, the 2026 shortlist covers a diverse range of topics, examining themes from creativity and wellbeing to conflict and family ties.

Here we have enlisted…

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~	AI and journalism in southern Africa: editors are using it but balanced with human expertise and editorial judgement

~	Why the world’s most ambitious coal phase-out deal has failed – and what it means for climate finance

~	Getting through school in South Africa: how learners make it to the end after a poor start

~	Africa’s climate crisis is a legal crisis too: what are states’ duties under human rights law?

~	Mysterious signals keep coming from space. We have found their ‘Rosetta stone’

~	Turkish democracy on trial: how Erdoğan’s rule has undermined justice and weakened his rivals

~	In an age of ‘heteropessimism’, straight romcoms can make us cringe – but the story’s different when it comes to queer love

~	China: No Justice for Tiananmen Massacre 37 Years On

~	Birth rates are declining in most of the world, including Australia. Here’s why that really matters

~	View from The Hill: Could One Nation be the unofficial opposition at the 2028 poll?