The 2022 Baillie Gifford Prize shortlist was announced live from the Cheltenham Literature Festival on 10 October 2022.
The shortlisted books are:
| Author / translator | Title (Imprint) |
| Caroline Elkins | Legacy of Violence: A History of the British Empire (The Bodley Head, Vintage, Penguin Random House UK) |
| Jonathan Freedland | The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World (John Murray Press, Hachette) |
| Sally Hayden | My Fourth Time, We Drowned: Seeking Refuge on the World’s Deadliest Migration Route (4th Estate, HarperCollins) |
| Anna Keay | The Restless Republic: Britain Without a Crown (William Collins, Harper Collins) |
| Polly Morland | A Fortunate Woman: A Country Doctor’s Story (Picador, Pan Macmillan) |
| Katherine Rundell | Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne (Faber & Faber) |
The shortlist of 6 books was chosen by this year’s judging panel: writer and Associate Editor of The Bookseller, Caroline Sanderson (chair); writer and science journalist, Laura Spinney; critic and writer for The Observer, Rachel Cooke; BBC journalist and presenter, Clive Myrie; author and New Yorker writer, Samanth Subramanian; and critic and broadcaster, Georgina Godwin.
Caroline Sanderson, chair of judges, says: “The six books on the first-ever majority female-authored Baillie Gifford shortlist are marvelously wide-ranging, in terms of setting, era, and the creative approaches on display. But however different the canvas, all have enthralling human stories at their heart.”
To find out more about the shortlist, listen to the Read Smart 2022 shortlist podcast which will be available on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Soundcloud on Friday 14 October. Host, Razia Iqbal, will be joined by two of our judges – Rachel Cooke and Georgina Godwin, to discuss the reasons why they have chosen these 6 books as the Baillie Gifford Prize finalists.
To learn more about the books on the shortlist, join the Baillie Gifford Prize’s director, Toby Mundy, on The Read Smart podcast over the next few weeks. Toby will be talking to each of the shortlisted authors about their work and what it’s like to be a finalist for the top prize. Follow along on the Baillie Gifford Prize’s social media channels to see trailers for each of the shortlist, including readings by the authors and appearances from some familiar faces explaining why they love these books.
The winner will be announced on 17 November at an award ceremony at the Science Museum London. The announcement will also be live-streamed across the Baillie Gifford Prize social channels. The awards ceremony, along with the Read Smart podcast, is generously supported by the Blavatnik Family Foundation.
The winner of the 2022 prize will be interviewed at the Cambridge Literary Festival on Sunday 20 November. Click here for more information and to buy tickets.
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