The shortlist for Wellcome Book Prize 2019 has been revealed.
Celebrating the best new books that illuminate the many ways that health, medicine and illness touch our lives, the shortlist for the 10th anniversary prize is:
- Amateur: A reckoning with gender, identity and masculinity (Canongate Books) by Thomas Page McBee (USA) Non-fiction
- Heart: A history (Oneworld) by Sandeep Jauhar (India/USA) Non-fiction
- Mind on Fire: A memoir of madness and recovery (Penguin Ireland) by Arnold Thomas Fanning (Ireland) Non-fiction
- Murmur (CB Editions) by Will Eaves (UK) Fiction
- My Year of Rest and Relaxation (Jonathan Cape) by Ottessa Moshfegh (USA) Fiction
- The Trauma Cleaner: One woman’s extraordinary life in death, decay and disaster (The Text Publishing Company) by Sarah Krasnostein (Australia/USA) Non-fiction
The judging panel have selected a wonderfully eclectic shortlist that showcases the breadth and depth of this exceptional genre. Chair of judges, Elif Shafak, commented on behalf of the panel:
“The judging panel is very excited and proud to present this astonishing collection of titles, ranging from the darkly comic to the searingly honest. While the books selected are strikingly unique in their subject matter and style, the rich variety of writing also shares much in common: each is raw and brave and inspirational, deepening our understanding of what it truly means to be human through the transformative power of storytelling.”
The six titles in contention for the £30,000 prize explore our complex relationships with gender, identity, mental health and mortality. The shortlisted authors are from the UK, USA, India, Australia and Ireland, and include two debuts (Mind on Fire and The Trauma Cleaner).
The winner will be revealed at an evening ceremony on Wednesday 1 May at Wellcome Collection.