Author of 'Book of Memory' becomes first Zimbabwean to be longlisted for the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction

Petina Gapper, a lawyer who works in Switzerland has become the first Zimbabwean author to be nominated for the UK’s most prestigious award for women’s writing, thanks to her novel about an albino woman facing the death penalty in Harare.

Gappah made the 2016 Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction longlist for her novel 'The Book of Memory', few weeks after she was longlisted for the United Kingdom’s 2016 Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award – the world’s richest prize for a single short story.

She learnt the news of her nomination yesterday while in a video conference “It’s a bit surreal,” she added. “I am completely overwhelmed.

“To be the first Zimbabwean nominated for this award is incredible. To be flying the flag makes me very proud.”

Ms Gappah is planning to quit her job as a lawyer in June and become a writer full time. “I always knew that eventually I would want to try the writing thing for a while and see how far I go. The Baileys Prize nomination is an affirmation to say I’m making the right decision.”

The 2016 longlist of 20 books features seven nationalities and four previously shortlisted authors. Over half the list are debut novels.

The Baileys Prize was created with the intention of bringing “the best women’s writing and female storytellers to ever-wider audiences”.

2016 Chair of Judges Margaret Mountford said: “We had a hugely enjoyable and stimulating meeting, as there were a great many strong novels in contention.

“We are delighted with the quality, the imaginative scope and the ambition of our chosen books, a longlist which reflects the judges’ interests and tastes. We hope readers will enjoy the variety of outstanding work on offer.”

The Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction is awarded to the best full-length novel of the year written by a woman and published in the UK between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2016. Any woman writing in English is eligible.

Kate Atkinson's Costa novel prize-winning A God in Ruins and Booker-shortlisted A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara also make the cut.

The full longlist:

Kate Atkinson - A God in Ruins (Doubleday) - British - 9th Novel

Shirley Barrett - Rush Oh! (Virago) - Australian - 1st Novel

Cynthia Bond - Ruby (Two Roads) - American - 1st Novel

Geraldine Brooks- The Secret Chord (Little, Brown) - Australian/ American - 5th Novel

Becky Chambers - The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Hodder & Stoughton) - American - 1st Novel

Jackie Copleton - A Dictionary of Mutual Understanding (Hutchinson) - British - 1st Novel

Rachel Elliott - Whispers Through a Megaphone (One, an imprint of Pushkin Press) - British - 1st Novel

Anne Enright - The Green Road (Jonathan Cape) - Irish - 6th Novel

Petina Gappah - The Book of Memory (Faber & Faber) - Zimbabwean - 1st Novel

Vesna Goldsworthy - Gorsky (Chatto & Windus) - British/ Serbian - 1st Novel

Clio Gray - The Anatomist's Dream - (Myrmidon) - British - 8th Novel

Melissa Harrison - At Hawthorn Time (Bloomsbury) - British - 2nd Novel

Attica Locke - Pleasantville (Serpent's Tail) - American - 3rd Novel

Lisa McInerney - The Glorious Heresies (John Murray) - Irish - 1st Novel

Elizabeth McKenzie - The Portable Veblen (Fourth Estate) - American - 2nd Novel

Sara Novic - Girl at War (Little, Brown) - American - 1st Novel

Julia Rochester - The House at the Edge of the World (Viking) - British - 1st Novel

Hannah Rothschild - The Improbability of Love ( Bloomsbury) - British - 1st Novel

Elizabeth Strout - My Name is Lucy Barton (Viking) - American - 5th Novel

Hanya Yanagihara - A Little Life (Picador) - American - 2nd Novel

Winner will receive a cheque for £30,000 (15 million Naira) and a limited edition bronze known as a Bessie.

Last year's winner was Ali Smith for How to be Both (2015).

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Half of a Yellow Sun also topped a list of the last decade's winners of the Baileys Women's Fiction Prize.

She won the "Best of the Best" award as part of the celebrations to mark 20 years of the annual £30,000 prize.

RELATED: Award winning author wins top women's fiction award