In addition to Richardson, this year's judging panel includes journalist and former editor of The Lady Rachel Johnson, author Jojo Moyes and writer Natasha Walter.

BBC: Hilary Mantel and Zadie Smith up for women's fiction prize

Now comes the 2004 Nobel Prize-winning Austrian writer Elfriede Jelinek's irreverent, sharp-eyed imagining of the inner life of former first lady Jackie Kennedy.

WSJ: Review: 'Jackie' a sharp-eyed look at an icon