The Women’s Prize Trust, which runs both the Prize for Fiction and Non-fiction, have confirmed that trans women will be eligible to enter the 2026 Women’s Prize for Non-fiction. This decision marks a further move toward inclusion, updating the prize’s eligibility criteria, to ensure that the award is representative of all women’s voices.
The Women’s Prize for Non-fiction, launched in 2024, is a sister award to the long-established and esteemed Women’s Prize for Fiction. The prize celebrates “excellence, originality, and accessibility in narrative non-fiction written by women”, and is open to authors writing in English and published in the UK.
A spokesperson for the Women’s Prize Trust stated that the updated eligibility guidelines are designed to “recognise and honour the full diversity of women’s experiences,” adding that the Trust is committed to “amplifying underrepresented voices in literature.”
Trans women have previously been included in the Women’s Prize for Fiction, notably in 2021, Torrey Peters’ novel ‘Detransition Baby’ marked the first time a trans woman had been longlisted for the prize.
When Peters was targeted with an open letter from those opposing her inclusion on the longlist, the Women’s Prize Trust issued a statement condemning the online attack, explaining: “The prize is firmly opposed to any form of discrimination on the basis of race, age, sexuality, gender identity and all other protected characteristics, and deplores any attempts to malign or bully the judges or the authors.”
The Women’s Prize for Non-fiction 2026 is open for submissions now. The Prize is awarded annually, and the winner receives a cheque for £30,000 and a limited-edition artwork known as the ‘Charlotte’, both gifted by the Charlotte Aitken Trust.
The 2025 Prize winner was Rachel Clarke’s The Story of a Heart, while Naomi Klein’s Doppelganger won the inaugural prize in 2024. 2025’s Women’s Prize for Fiction was award to Yael Van Der Wouden’s The Safekeep, who used her acceptance speech to reveal that she is intersex.
