We are delighted to share that Lucy Apps has been longlisted for the 2026 Women’s Prize for Fiction for her debut novel, Gloria Don’t Speak. The novel was recently published in February by the small press Weatherglass Books and Apps is one of the eight writers selected for the Observer’s best debut novelists of 2026 list.

Gloria Don’t Speak stands among fifteen other nominees including The Correspondent by Virginia Evans, Heart the Lover by Lily King, and Audition by Katie Kitamura.

Julia Gillard, Chair of Judges and former Prime Minister of Australia said: “across a longlist that is international in both scope and setting, these sixteen books masterfully demonstrate the power of fiction to examine the messy business of being human. From climate change to artificial intelligence, they navigate the issues of our time with urgency and purpose, they immerse us in environments and experiences that are sometimes like our own, but more often are radically different, and they explore identities and perspectives that are often ignored or forgotten, amidst those inherently universal and recognisable…”

Gillard is joined on the judging panel by poet, novelist and essayist, Mona Arshi, author, presenter, poet and speaker, Salma El-Wardany, writer, podcaster, actor and comedian, Cariad Lloyd, and author, broadcaster and DJ, Annie Macmanus.

The judges will now narrow down the longlist to a shortlist of six, which will be announced on 22 April 2026. The winner of the 2026 Women’s Prize for Fiction will be revealed on Thursday 11 June 2026 at the Women’s Prize Trust’s summer party in Bedford Square Gardens, London.

The winner of the prize will receive £30,000, anonymously endowed, along with a statuette known as the ‘Bessie’, created and donated by the late artist Grizel Niven.

For more information, please read here.