New Zealand author Saraid de Silva's novel Amma has been longlisted for the 30th Women's Prize for Fiction. Photo: Supplied - Hachette
New Zealand author Saraid de Silva stands among the line-up of writers longlisted for the 30th Women's Prize for Fiction.
Miranda July, Elizabeth Strout Karen Jennings and Laila Lalami also appear on the list of 16 writers in contention for the £30,000 (NZ$68,000) prize.
One of the judges on the five-woman panel, Glamour UK editor-in-chief Deborah Joseph, said of de Silva's Amma: "I didn't want this book to end. It's a multi-generational story about a Sri Lankan woman, her daughter and granddaughter, spanning decades and countries from Sri Lanka to New Zealand. There are so many powerful scenes which have stayed with me long after I finished it and shows how societal judgements on women have changed over time."
de Silva is a Sri Lankan/Pākehā writer living in Tāmaki Makaurau. She has worked as an actor, producer and voiceover artist. In 2022, she graduated from Auckland University's Creative Writing Masters and became the inaugural winner of the Crystal ArtsTrust Prize. She has also released three seasons of the documentary series Conversations With My Immigrant Parents for RNZ with co-creator Julie Zhu. Amma is her first novel.
Previous winners of the prize for fiction include Zadie Smith, Ali Smith and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (who is longlisted again this year).
A shortlist of six books will be announced on 2 April, while the winner will be revealed on 12 June, alongside the winner of the Women's Prize for Nonfiction - the longlist for which was unveiled last month.
To be eligible for this year's prize, books had to be published in the UK between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025.
Last year, VV Ganeshananthan won the prize for Brotherless Night.
