The Women’s Prize Trust announced that Bernardine Evaristo has won its Outstanding Contribution Award, a special one-off prize given in honor of the 30th anniversary of the Women’s Prize.
The award, the trust said, “celebrates Bernardine’s body of work, her transformative impact on literature and her unwavering dedication to uplifting under-represented voices across the cultural landscape.” It comes with a cash prize of about $135,000.
Evaristo’s books include the novels The Emperor’s Babe, Soul Tourists, Blonde Roots, and Mr. Loverman, as well as the memoir Manifesto: On Never Giving Up. Her 2019 novel Girl, Woman, Other won the Booker Prize alongside Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments.
In 2023, the Booker Prize launched a naming contest for the award’s trophy, and the name “Bernie”—a tribute to Evaristo—got the most votes. She declined that honor, and the trophy was named “Iris,” after author Iris Murdoch, instead.
In a statement, Evaristo said, “I am completely overwhelmed and overjoyed to receive this unique award. I feel such deep gratitude towards the Women’s Prize for honoring me in this way. Over the last three decades, I have witnessed with great admiration and respect how the Women’s Prize for Fiction has so bravely and brilliantly championed and developed women’s writing, always from an inclusive stance. The financial reward comes as an unexpected blessing in my life, and given the mission of the Women’s Prize Trust, it seems fitting that I spend this substantial sum supporting other women writers; more details on this will be forthcoming.”
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
