<p>In this special episode recorded live at the 2026 Hay Festival in Wales, Julia Gillard sits down with Thangam Debbonaire to discuss their roles as judges for this year’s Women Prize.</p><br><p>Julia is chairing the judging panel for the Women's Prize for Fiction, while Thangam is the chair of judges for the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction.</p><br><p>In this entertaining conversation the pair take listeners behind the scenes of judging one of the world’s most prestigious literary prizes.&nbsp;</p><br><p>The prizes are awarded annually to a female author of any nationality for the best novel and non-fiction book of the year written in English and published in the UK.</p><br><p>Julia and Thangam talk about the rigours of reading dozens of books in a short time frame, heated debates amongst judges and the exceptional books on each shortlist.&nbsp;</p><br><p>The winners will be announced in London on June 11.</p><br><p>Show notes:&nbsp;</p><br><p>To learn more about the Women’s Prize and the books on the long and shortlists visit https://womensprize.com/</p><br><p><br></p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>