GENDER, race, migration, climate change, disability, reproductive loss, and sexuality are among the topics explored in books on the longlist for the 2023 Michael Ramsey Prize, Lambeth Palace announced on Friday.

Among the selected authors are the poet and Church Times columnist Malcolm Guite and A.D.A France-Williams, author of Ghost Ship: Institutional racism in the Church of England (Books, 28 August 2020).

The Prize, established in 2005 by the Archbishop of Canterbury, then Dr Rowan Williams, seeks to recognise the most promising contemporary theological writing from the global Church, and commend it to a wider readership.

After a hiatus during the pandemic years, it was re-launched by the present Archbishop for 2023 (News, 19 May).

The criteria for nominations were that: the book is by a living author; it was published between 1 January 2019 and 31 December 2022; it is written in, or has been translated into, English; and it is by no more than three authors.

More than 110 books were submitted for consideration, of which 13 have been selected for the longlist. They are:

• A Journey through the World of Leviticus: Holiness, sacrifice, and the rock badger by Mark W. Scarlata (Cascade Books: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2021; 978-1-66671-372-5);
• At The Gates: Disability, Justice and the Churches by Naomi Lawson Jacobs & Emily Richardson (Darton, Longman & Todd, 2022; 978-1-91365-718-5);
• Ghost Ship: Institutional racism in the Church of England by A. D. A France-Williams (SCM Press, 2020; 978-0-33405-935-60);
• God is Not a White Man by Chine McDonald (Hodder Faith, 2021; 978-1-52934-907-80);
• Holiness and Desire by Jessica Martin (Canterbury Press Norwich, 2020; 978-1-78622-126-1);
• Lifting the Veil: Imagination and the Kingdom of God by Malcolm Guite (US publisher: Square Halo Books, 2021; 978-1-94110-622-8; UK publisher: Canterbury Press Norwich, 2022; 978-1-78622-454-5);
• The Dark Womb by Karen O’Donnell (SCM Press, 2022; 978-0-33406-093-2);
• The Love That Is God: An invitation to Christian faith by Frederick Christian Bauerschmidt (William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2020; 978-0-80287-795-6);
• The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the subjugation of women became Gospel Truth by Beth Allison Barr (Brazos Press, 2021; 978-1-58743-470-9);
• The Wayfarer: Perspectives on forced migration and transformational community development by Barnabé Anzuruni Msabah (Langham Publishing, 2021); 978-1-83973-225-6);
• This Sacred Life: Humanity’s place in a wounded world by Norman Wirzba (Cambridge University Press, 2021; 978-1-00901-258-4);
• Where is God in All the suffering? by Amy Orr-Ewing (The Good Book Company, 2020; 978-1-78498-276-8); and
• Women and the Gender of God by Amy Peeler (William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2022; 978-0-80287-909-7).

The announcement on Friday says: “The longlist is varied and wide-ranging, yet each book addresses questions Christians have throughout their journey of faith and encourages the reader to think deeply about these ideas.”

The winner — to be announced at a prize giving at Lambeth Palace library on 14 December — will receive a £15,000 prize and the opportunity to give a series of lectures across the UK and the United States. Previous winners include Mark Oakley, John Swinton, and Luke Bretherton.

The titles on the longlist are available to buy on discount at the Church House Bookshop.