The Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction promotes excellence in writing, robust research, original narrative voices and accessibility, showcasing women’s expertise across a range of fields. This year, Indian author Arundhati Roy’s memoir, Mother Mary Comes to Me, has been longlisted for the prize.

The 16 titles – of which seven are debuts – on this year’s longlist span politics, memoir, science, history, biography, art and more.

The Prize is awarded annually and is open to all women writers from across the globe who are published in the UK and writing in English. The winner will receive a cash prize of £30,000 and a limited-edition artwork known as the “Charlotte”, both gifted by the Charlotte Aitken Trust.

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This year’s Chair of Judges Thangam Debbonaire, CEO of UK Opera Association, cultural strategist and politician, is joined by Roma Agrawal, engineer, author and broadcaster, Nicola Elliott, founder of NEOM Wellbeing, Nina Stibbe, novelist and memoirist, and Nicola Williams, Crown Court judge and thriller author.

The shortlist will be announced on March 25 and the winner, on June 11 in London.

Here is the complete longlist:

  • Daughters of the Bamboo Grove: China’s Stolen Children and a Story of Separated Twins, Barbara Demick

  • The Finest Hotel in Kabul: A People’s History of Afghanistan, Lyse Doucet

  • Don’t Let It Break You, Honey: A Memoir About Saving Yourself, Jenny Evans

  • Art Cure: The Science of How the Arts Transform Our Health, Daisy Fancourt

  • With the Law on Our Side: How the Law Works for Everyone and How We Can Make It Work Better, Lady Hale

  • To Be Young, Gifted and Black: Creativity and Race in the 21st Century, Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason

  • Artists, Siblings, Visionaries: The Lives and Loves of Gwen and Augustus John, Judith Mackrell

  • Ask Me How It Works: Love in an Open Marriage, Deepa Paul

  • Death of an Ordinary Man, Sarah Perry

  • The Genius of Trees: How Trees Mastered the Elements and Shaped the World, Harriet Rix

  • Hotel Exile: Paris in the Shadow of War, Jane Rogoyska

  • Mother Mary Comes to Me, Arundhati Roy

  • Finding Albion: Myth, Folklore and the Quest for a Hidden Britain, Zakia Sewell

  • To Exist As I Am: A Doctor’s Notes on Recovery and Radical Acceptance, Grace Spence Green

  • Nation of Strangers: Rebuilding Home in the 21st Century, Ece Temelkuran

  • Indignity: A Life Reimagined, Lea Ypi