Chanel and Women's Prize Trust launch Originators for US women novelists
Five unpublished women novelists in the US will get grants, mentoring and publishing contacts to help finish their first books.
Chanel, the French luxury house, announced Originators on 30 September with the Women's Prize Trust, the British charitable organisation that runs the Women's Prize for Fiction and the Women's Prize for Non-Fiction. The new scheme will run each year and is aimed at emerging women writers in the US. WWD
Entry is by public submission. Applicants are asked for two things. A sample of their writing. And a synopsis, the short summary that sets out plot, characters and arc.
Submissions opened on 30 September on the Women's Prize website. They close on 30 November. Five writers will be selected for this first edition.
The decision rests with a panel of five judges. They are A.M. Homes, Virginia Evans, V.V. Ganeshananthan, Tayari Jones and Nicole Krauss. All five are known for their own fiction. Their task is to pick new voices from the entry pile.
Each chosen writer will receive a grant to support work on the manuscript, the draft of the novel in progress. The package also includes mentoring, one-to-one guidance from an experienced practitioner, and access to industry contacts. That combination matters. Money buys writing time. Advice and introductions can help a draft move towards publication.
Winners of the inaugural edition will be announced in spring 2027. The announcement will form part of a celebratory event.
Originators sits within a wider literary footprint for Chanel. The house hosts the Literary Rendezvous, a conversation series at Rue Cambon in Paris, its historic address. It also backs the Nouvel Obs Literary Prize, awarded each year to a first-time woman novelist.
The Women's Prize Trust brings its own network. The charity champions women's writing through its two main prizes, for fiction and for non-fiction, alongside education work that encourages reading and new writing.
What makes this stand out is the timing. It intervenes before a publishing deal. For readers, that is the quiet part of the process. For the five writers chosen, it could be the stretch when a book starts to feel possible. It is practical help, not a trophy.
