New women's fiction prize to address 'gender imbalance' in North America

The large prize, worth CAD$150,000, is ‘a statement of belief in the brilliance of women’s writing’ in the US and Canada

The late Canadian author Carol Shields wanted to “writ[e] away the invisibility of women’s lives”. Now a major new literary award is being set up in her name: worth CAD$150,000, the Carol Shields prize for fiction will be a North American equivalent to the UK’s Women’s prize, celebrating “excellence in fiction” by female and non-binary writers.

Launching in 2022, the prize – the first annual award for women’s fiction in North America – is supported by names including Margaret Atwood, Jennifer Egan and Scott Turow. It is intended to put “the work of women writers in the spotlight”, say its founders, and to “acknowledge, celebrate and promote fiction by Canadian and American women writers”.

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