Festival authors make Baileys Prize longlist

Festival authors make Baileys prize longlist

Two FT Weekend Oxford Literary Festival authors have been long-listed for the prestigious Baileys Prize, writes Lucy Atkins. Sarah Perry’s historical novel The Essex Serpent and Naomi Alderman’s feminist sci-fi novel The Power are under consideration for the £30,000 prize alongside a diverse and impressive selection that ranges from the debut contemporary noir writer Emma Flint to literary heavyweights Margaret Atwood, Annie Proulx and Rose Tremain. The Baileys Prize (formerly known as the Orange Prize) celebrates fiction by women writing in English. Previous winners include Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Zadie Smith. Chair of judges Tessa Ross said there were ‘a large number of books of extraordinary quality to choose from this year’. It is an enormous achievement to be long-listed. Come and meet the Baileys long-listers in Oxford: Sarah Perry Wednesday 29 March at 6pm and Naomi Alderman Sunday 2 April at 10 am.