Barely hours after its release on March 4, Chimamanda Adichie’s Dream Count has earned a longlist nomination for the 2025 Women’s Prize for Fiction.
The longlists, each comprising sixteen finalists, feature four African writers. They include Crooked Seeds by South African author Karen Jennings (published by Holland House Books), The Dream Hotel by Moroccan Laila Lalami (published by Bloomsbury Circus, Bloomsbury), and Dream Count by Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (published by 4th Estate, HarperCollins).
The chair of judges, Kit de Waal, praised the diversity of themes and genres represented on the list, saying:
These are important, far-reaching novels where brilliantly realised characters navigate the complexities of families and modern relationships whilst pushing the boundaries placed around them. It’s a list that readers will devour and shows the echoes of world events on everyday lives as well as the power and brilliance of women writing today.
It is quite interesting to note that every one of Adichie’s novels has been longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction. She won the prize in 2007 for Half of Yellow Sun.
The judges will now nominate six titles, which will be announced on April 2, 2025. The winners will be announced on June 12, 2025, during the Women’s Prize Trust’s summer reception in central London. The winning author will receive £30,000 prize money from an unknown donor, as well as a limited-edition bronze figurine called the Bessie, designed and given by artist Grizel Niven.