J5 Spotlight on The Women's Prize for Fiction

The Women’s Prize for Fiction is the UK’s most prestigious annual book award celebrating and honouring fiction written by women. Every year, a panel of five women – all passionate readers and at the top of their respective professions – choose the winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction. One of this year’s judges, author Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ (A Spell of Good Things) joins Cathy Rentzenbrink and one of this year’s shortlisted authors, ahead of the prize announcement on 13 June, to talk about the prize’s impact and celebrate the work it has championed.

Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ is an award-winning novelist whose debut, Stay with Me, was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2017, and follow-up, A Spell of Good Things, was longlisted for the Booker Prize in 2023. Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Ayọ̀bámi, studied at Obafemi Awolowo University, earning degrees in Literature. She went on to study Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, where she now teaches. In 2017, Ayọ̀bámi won The Future Awards Africa Prize for Arts and Culture.