Roy and Doucet on shortlist
The 2026 Women’s Prize for Non‑Fiction shortlist names six books, including Arundhati Roy’s memoir 'Mother Mary Comes to Me' and BBC journalist Lyse Doucet — a notable moment for contemporary nonfiction. (the-independent.com) (theguardian.com)
The full six‑book shortlist is: Lyse Doucet (The Finest Hotel in Kabul), Daisy Fancourt (Art Cure), Judith Mackrell (Artists, Siblings, Visionaries), Jane Rogoyska (Hotel Exile), Arundhati Roy (Mother Mary Comes to Me) and Ece Temelkuran (Nation of Strangers). (lithub.com) Publishers named for the shortlisted titles include Hamish Hamilton for Arundhati Roy, Hutchinson Heinemann for Lyse Doucet, Cornerstone Press for Daisy Fancourt, Picador for Judith Mackrell, Allen Lane for Jane Rogoyska and Canongate for Ece Temelkuran. (thebookseller.com) The winner will receive £30,000 and a limited‑edition sculpture titled “Charlotte,” with the winner to be revealed at a London ceremony on June 11, 2026. (lithub.com) Two shortlisted books centre on hotels in wartime — Doucet’s history of Kabul’s first luxury hotel and Rogoyska’s account of wartime Paris — a pairing highlighted by the Associated Press in the prize roundup. (abcnews.com) Lyse Doucet’s The Finest Hotel in Kabul is her first book, published in the U.K. by Hutchinson Heinemann and in Canada by Allen Lane, and was previously longlisted for the 2025 Baillie Gifford Prize for Non‑Fiction. (quillandquire.com) Arundhati Roy’s memoir focuses on her relationship with her mother Mary Roy, who won a landmark 1986 Supreme Court case on Syrian Christian women’s inheritance rights in Kerala — a thread central to the book’s narrative. (indianexpress.com) Thangam Debbonaire, chair of judges, described the list as “timely and timeless,” and the judging panel for 2026 includes Debbonaire alongside Roma Agrawal, Nicola Elliott, Nina Stibbe and Nicola Williams. (womensprize.com)
