British-Nigerian poet Theresa Lola is among the judges who will select the 2027 Women’s Prize for Fiction winner, bringing the experience of a writer working across poetry, visual art and broadcasting to a major literary selection process.

The Women’s Prize’s official panel page confirms that scholar and critic Merve Emre will chair the five-member group. Lola joins novelist and playwright Esther Freud, novelist Eimear McBride, and editor and broadcaster Charlotte Collins. The appointment was reported by African literary publication Brittle Paper on 4 November; this is coverage of that panel, ahead of the prize decisions next year.

For readers following African and diaspora literature, the appointment offers a chance to look beyond the eventual winner. Literary culture also takes shape through the people asked to read, compare and discuss books. Serving on a panel is a different form of participation from entering a prize: Lola will help make a collective judgement about other writers’ novels.

### A career across several forms

Lola’s own biography records two poetry collections, *In Search of Equilibrium* and *Ceremony for the Nameless*. It lists her 2018 Brunel International African Poetry Prize win, her service as Young People’s Laureate for London in 2019–20 and an MSt in Creative Writing from Oxford.

Her work extends beyond the printed page. The biography describes a visual poetry exhibition, residencies at the Wellcome Collection and Bethlem Museum of the Mind, and her presentation of BBC Radio 4’s *Poems at Dusk*. These activities give readers a fuller sense of her practice than nationality or a list of awards alone.

That range is relevant to the appointment without telling us how she will vote. A poet may bring close attention to rhythm, voice and the work a sentence performs. Those are useful ways to approach fiction, but any prediction about Lola’s preferred novels would be speculation.

Penguin’s description of *Ceremony for the Nameless* places Yoruba naming traditions and Nigerian-British identity within the collection’s exploration of belonging. The paperback was published on 7 November 2024. It is existing work through which readers can encounter Lola’s writing, rather than a new release attached to the judging announcement.

### How the prize will unfold

According to the official prize overview, the judges will select sixteen books for the longlist, six for the shortlist and ultimately one winner. The longlist is scheduled for 10 March 2027 and the shortlist for 28 April. The winner is due to be announced on 17 June at the Women’s Prize Trust’s summer party in London’s Bedford Square Gardens.

The award recognises novels written in English by women and published in the UK. Its stated judging criteria are excellence, originality and accessibility. The winner receives £30,000 and the bronze Bessie statuette. The process begins with submissions from UK publishers; authors do not enter themselves.

These details are useful for publishers and readers for different reasons. Publishers need to consult the official eligibility information rather than assume an author’s nationality establishes qualification. Reading groups can use the announced stages to plan discussions, while waiting for the actual selections before advertising a book as longlisted or shortlisted.

### Representation and the reading itself

RIM’s assessment is that Lola’s presence is meaningful as participation in literary decision-making. It should not be turned into a promise of particular outcomes for African writers. Five judges will deliberate together, and the books selected will provide the evidence of their collective choices.

There is also value in reading the judges’ work alongside the prize lists. It creates a wider conversation about craft and interpretation, without reducing books to a competition result. Our reporting on Leila Aboulela’s literary life and a forthcoming London discussion offers another route into the relationship between African writing, biography and readers.

For now, the confirmed development is the panel itself. The next public milestone is the March longlist, when attention can shift from who is doing the reading to the novels they have chosen.

*Illustration: AI-generated conceptual artwork of an unmarked book and interwoven paper ribbons; it is not a portrait of Theresa Lola or a depiction of a judging session.*

Why this matters

African and diaspora literary life includes the authority to assess and champion writing as well as the publication of new books. Lola’s appointment makes that role visible through a poet whose work crosses several forms. For readers, the useful next step is to explore that writing and follow the announced selections. For publishers, the official process and eligibility requirements remain essential; a judge’s identity cannot establish which books will advance.

Sources

Topics: Theresa Lola · Women’s Prize for Fiction · British-Nigerian literature · Poetry · African diaspora · UK

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