Jamaican novelist Diana McCaulay shortlisted for prestigious Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize

Jamaican author Diana McCaulay has secured a place on the shortlist for the 2026 Royal Society for Literature Ondaatje Prize, with her sixth novel A House for Miss Pauline competing against works from five other countries for the £10,000 annual award.

McCaulay is the only Caribbean writer among the six shortlisted authors, with the list drawing on works set across Afghanistan, Ireland, India, the United States, England and Jamaica.

The RSL Ondaatje Prize, first awarded in 2004, recognises a distinguished work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry that evokes the spirit of a place — a remit that McCaulay said sits at the heart of her literary mission.

"I'm thrilled that A House for Miss Pauline has made the RSL Ondaatje Prize shortlist," McCaulay told The Gleaner on Friday. "This is one of my favourite prizes because it celebrates novels which evoke the spirit of a place. And I have always tried to do that for Jamaica in my writing."

Published in the United Kingdom by Dialogue Books and in the United States by Algonquin Books in February 2025, A House for Miss Pauline joins the following titles on the shortlist: The Finest Hotel in Kabul: A People's History of Afghanistan by Lyse Doucet; The Benefactors by Wendy Erskine; Helm by Sarah Hall; Saraswati by Gurnaik Johal; and Greyhound by Joanna Pocock. The winner will be announced at a ceremony in London on June 1.

McCaulay is among Jamaica's most decorated literary and environmental voices. A Gold Musgrave Medal laureate, the island's highest honour for lifetime achievement across the arts and sciences and a two-time winner of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize for the Caribbean region, having claimed the honour in both 2012 and 2022.

She was also shortlisted for the IMPAC Dublin Award and is a recipient of the Watson, Little 50 Prize for unrepresented writers aged 50 and over.

McCaulay is the founder and retired chief executive officer of the Jamaica Environment Trust and has received multiple honours for her conservation work, including the Ewan P McFarlane Award for Outstanding Environmental Leadership, a Bronze Musgrave Medal and the Order of Distinction.

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