Zimbawean author did not make the short list for Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction

Zimbabwean author Petina Gappah did not make the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction shortlist.

This year's Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction shortlist features one previously shortlisted author, Anne Enright, and three debut writers.

Margaret Mountford, chair of judges, said the final six were chosen after "a long and often passionate debate".

Gappah, a lawyer who works in Switzerland became the first Zimbabwean author to be longlisted but unfortunately her book 'The Book of Memory' was unable to make the shortlist.

Cynthia Bond, Lisa McInerney and Hannah Rothschild are the debut writers, while Hanya Yanagihara and Elizabeth McKenzie complete the shortlist of six.

The Baileys Women's Prize For Fiction is the UK's most prestigious annual book award for fiction written by a woman, and is awarded for the best novel of the year.

The shortlisted books are:

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

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

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

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

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

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