The Wellcome Prize in Literature offers an annual award for excellent in science and health writing, pitting fiction against nonfiction. The 12 book longlist was announced in January and this year’s judges are author Simon Baron-Cohen, author Gemma Cairney, author, Val McDermid, author Tim Lewens and radio editor Di Speirs.
Now the list has been reduced to just six books who have made the shortlist. The Wellcome Prize Winner will be announced in late April and we’ll be back with news of that when it breaks. For today, here are the six books that made the Wellcome Prize shortlist.
New writing prize launched in memory of Hilary Mantel
September 29, 2025
New writing prize launched in memory of Hilary Mantel
A new literary prize that champions emerging writers has been set up in memory of…
Polari Prize 2025 cancelled following backlash over ‘TERF’ author’s inclusion
The Polari Prize has this year received a huge backlash following their longlisting of self-declared…
Authors & judges withdraw from Polari Prize due to inclusion of transphobic writer, John Boyne
August 14, 2025
Authors & judges withdraw from Polari Prize due to inclusion of transphobic writer, John Boyne
The Polari Prize 2025 has received criticism, including authors withdrawing their books and judges resigning…
Women’s Prize for Non-fiction confirms trans women are eligible
The Women’s Prize Trust, which runs both the Prize for Fiction and Non-fiction, have confirmed…
The For Reading Addicts Book of the Year 2023
December 28, 2023
The For Reading Addicts Book of the Year 2023
Another year comes to a close, our eleventh running For Reading Addicts, and for the…
Robert Maxwell Biography Among Costa Book Award Winners
January 7, 2022
Robert Maxwell Biography Among Costa Book Award Winners
A biography of Robert Maxwell, father of convicted sex-trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, has won a Costa…