Lisa McInerney wins Bailey’s Women’s Prize for Fiction

Irish author Lisa McInerney has claimed the prestigious Bailey's Women's Prize for Fiction for her debut novel.

The Glorious Heresies beat the other nominees, including fellow Irish writer Anne Enright’s The Green Road and Cynthia Bond’s debut Ruby to the €38,000 prize.

McInerney accepted her "Bessie" bronze trophy and prize money at an awards ceremony hosted by novelist and Bailey's prize co-founder Kate Mosse at the Royal Festival Hall in London on Wednesday.

Chair of judges Margaret Mountford said: "After a passionate discussion around a very strong shortlist, we chose Lisa McInerney's The Glorious Heresies, a superbly original, compassionate novel that delivers insights into the very darkest of lives through humour and skilful storytelling.

“[She is] a fresh new voice and a wonderful winner.”

The Galway-born author's debut, which was also longlisted for this year's Dylan Thomas Prize and the Desmond Elliott Prize, follows the lives of five misfits from the seedy underbelly of Cork in the aftermath of a messy murder.

Now in its 21st year, the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction is awarded to the best novel written by a woman from anywhere in the world.

Shortlist

Other titles on the shortlist were Hannah Rothschild’s debut The Improbability of Love, American author Elizabeth McKenzie’s The Portable Veblen and Hanya Yanagihara’s A Little Life.

Mountford, a lawyer and former right-hand woman of Lord Alan Sugar on The Apprentice, was joined on the judging panel by Naga Munchetty, Laurie Penny, Elif Shafak, and Tracey Thorn.

PA