Publishers put up £5k prize for funny female writers | HarperFiction backs award for new authors

Publishers put up £5k prize for funny female writers

HarperFiction backs award for new authors

A new award for funny new female authors has been given a major boost.

The new Comedy Women in Print Prize, launched by Helen Lederer at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe, has joined forces with publisher HarperFiction, to award the winning aspiring novelist a publishing contract and a £5,000 advance.

The runner-up will receive a free place on the MA course in creative writing at the University of Hertfordshire.

Bestselling writers Marian Keyes and Allison Pearson have also joined the judging panel, it has also been announced today.

Lederer said: ‘I thought it was Christmas when Marian and Allison came on board (people tend to swoon at the mention of their names and rightly so) but when HarperFiction came through with this unique and serious offer to publish new work…well, I had to sit down. 

‘It proves that witty female fiction is being taken seriously from the top down. I love HarperFiction for doing this. They will not be sorry, and they will definitely laugh more.’

HarperFiction editorial director  Martha Ashby, who is also a judge, said: ‘I’m absolutely delighted to support CWIP’s prize for unpublished writers in 2019. There are so many hilarious female writers in the UK and this prize is the perfect opportunity to shine a spotlight on an area of fiction that is often overlooked.

Entrants to the unpublished category are asked to submit a one-page synopsis and the first 5,000 words of their comedy novel, which, when completed must be at least 85,000 words in length. Entrants can be of any nationality but must be over 18.

There is also a £2,000 award for the best comedy writing by a published author.

 For more details about how to enter, visit www.comedywomeninprint.co.uk. Closing date is February 28.

• Chortle’s Comedy Book Festival is taking place at the British Library on January 13, with authors including Deborah Frances-White, Sofie Hagen, Adam Kay, Alex Horne, Robin Ince, Jonathan Coe and Elis James and John Robins. Click here for more details.

Published: 17 Dec 2018

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