Melinda Gates donates $250K to a new literary prize

The relatively new Carol Shields Prize for Fiction has received a huge boost: a $250,000 donation from Melinda Gates.

The Carol Shields Prize is the first English-language literary award to celebrate excellence in fiction by women writers in the United States and Canada; its creation was announced last year, and it will honor its first author in 2023.

Nonbinary authors are also eligible for the prize.

In a statement, Gates said: “The Carol Shields Prize for Fiction is an exciting step toward a future where books by women get the attention and prestige that they deserve.”

You can read more from her and the prize founders at Literary Hub.

Related posts 

• Introducing the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction 

• Revisiting the book awards of 2020