We are delighted to reveal the shortlist for Wellcome Book Prize 2018
Of the six titles on the list, five are written by women and five are debuts.
• Stay With Me by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ (Nigeria) Canongate Books
• The Butchering Art by Lindsey Fitzharris (USA) Allen Lane, Penguin Press
• With the End in Mind by Kathryn Mannix (UK) William Collins, HarperCollins
• To Be a Machine by Mark O’Connell (Ireland) Granta Books
• Mayhem: A memoir by Sigrid Rausing (UK/Sweden) Hamish Hamilton, Penguin Books
• The Vaccine Race by Meredith Wadman (USA/Canada) Doubleday, Transworld
This year’s judging panel have selected a rich and varied shortlist – one novel, one memoir and four non-fiction books – connected by our complex relationship with mortality. The titles explore bereavement, loss and the fragility of life, consider medical innovations developed to escape death, and reflect on why we should talk more about dying.
Edmund de Waal commented on behalf of the judging panel:
“The demand of judging the Wellcome Book Prize is to find books that have to be read, books to press into people’s hands, books that start debates or deepen them, that move us profoundly, surprise and delight and perplex us, that bring the worlds of medicine and health into urgent public conversation: books that show us what it is to be human. These are six powerful books to read and share.”
The winner will be revealed at an evening ceremony on Monday 30 April at Wellcome Collection.