ABOUT
Kit de Waal was born in Birmingham to an Irish mother, who was a childminder and foster carer and a Caribbean father.
She worked for fifteen years in criminal and family law, was a magistrate for several years and sat on adoption panels. She used to advise Social Services on the care of foster children, and has written training manuals on adoption, foster care and judgecraft for members of the judiciary.
Her writing has received numerous awards including the Bridport Flash Fiction Prize 2014 and 2015 and the SI Leeds Literary Reader's Choice Prize 2014 and the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year.
MY NAME IS LEON, her first novel was published in 2016 and shortlisted for the Costa Book Award. She has two children and lives in the West Midlands.
Women's Prize for Fiction 2025
The judging panel is chaired by Kit, joined by:
Novelist, journalist Diana Evans
Author, journalist and mental-health campaigner Bryony Gordon
Magazine editor, Editor-in-Chief of Glamour UK Deborah Joseph
Musician and composer Amelia Warner
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The Women’s Prize for Fiction is the greatest celebration of female creativity in the world. 2025 celebrates the 30th anniversary of the Women’s Prize for Fiction, sponsored by Audible and Baileys.
Pictured, L-R:
Bryony Gordon, Amelia Warner, Diana Evans, Kit de Waal, Deborah Joseph
PRIZES
My Name is Leon
Shortlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize 2017
​My Name is Leon
Shortlisted for the British Books Awards 2017
Debut Book of the Year
My Name is Leon
Winner of the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year 2017
My Name is Leon Shortlisted for the Costa First Book Award 2016
My Name is Leon
Shortlisted for the Books are My Bag
Breakthrough Authors Award 2016
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Bridport Prize 2015 Flash Fiction First Prize Crushing Big
Bare Fiction Prize 2015 Flash Fiction Second Prize
I am the Painter's Daughter
Bridport Prize 2014 Flash Fiction First Prize
Romans 1 Verse 29 Sins Of The Heart
Bath Short Story Award 2014
Short Story Second Prize and BBC Radio 4 Drama
The Beautiful Thing
Readers’ Prize at the SI Leeds Literary Awards 2014
Blue in Green
Costa Short Story Award 2013 Second Prize
The Old Man & The Suit
Fish Prize 2011 Shortlisted
A Taste of Death
