Farrago joins forces with CWIP for Comedy Short Story Prize

Duckworth Books imprint Farrago has joined forces with Comedy Women in Print (CWIP) to launch the Comedy Short Story Prize, said to be the first award specifically celebrating funny short story writing by women.

The prize will be added to the annual CWIP ceremony and award roster, which includes the Unpublished Comedy Novel, Published Comedy Novel and Comedy Cringe Flash Fiction categories. Farrago, an imprint specialising in humorous fiction, will publish the shortlisted tales in a September 2023 anthology. All the shortlisted authors for the new prize will receive £100, while the winner will be awarded a further £1,000.

The competition is open to women authors, including writers who identify as non-binary, writing in English of any nationality over the age of 18. Stories between 5,000 to 15,000 words should be submitted. Writers from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds are actively encouraged to enter. 

Helen Lederer, the founder of CWIP, said: "The aim of CWIP has always been to enable unpublished witty authors as well as big up the best witty published talent in the land – now I can entice some CWIP stars to include their own short stories in the resulting anthology and set the bar high – what a Christmas present."

Publisher Pete Duncan said: “What Helen has created with CWIP is extraordinary and we could not be more thrilled now to be adding our part. The biggest half of our mission at Farrago is to champion the work of funny women writers.”

The longlist for all categories will be announced on 14th December, with the shortlist following on 22nd February 2023. Recent judges have included Maureen Lipman, Lolly Adefope, and Joanne Harris. Earlier judges included Marian Keyes, Joanna Scanlan, Pauline McLynn, and Shazia Mirza. The winners will be revealed at the Groucho Club on 17th April 2023. The top prize for an Unpublished Comedy Award went to Jessie Sutanto last year.