The Women’s Prize Trust’s Discoveries writing programme opens for submissions

The Women’s Prize Trust is launching the 2025 Discoveries writing development programme and prize to inspire unagented and unpublished women in the UK and Ireland to write their first novels.

Run in partnership with Audible, the Curtis Brown Literary and Talent Agency, and the Curtis Brown Creative writing school, the programme provides resources such as free online writing toolkits and events.

The winner will receive an offer of representation from Curtis Brown and £5,000. One writer will also be named the “Discoveries Scholar” and they will get a free scholarship to attend a three-month “Writing Your Novel” course with Curtis Brown Creative.

Submissions have opened today, 19th September 2024, and the window will close at 11:59pm on 13th January 2025. The longlist and shortlist will be announced on 1st May and 15th May 2025, with the winner announced on 29th May 2025.

A shortlist of six authors, including the winner and scholar, will each be offered a one-to-one mentoring session with a Curtis Brown agent, as well as a free place on a six-week Curtis Brown Creative course of their choice and a studio day focused on writing and recording for audio with Audible. Meanwhile, 16 longlisted authors will receive a place on a bespoke, two-week online “Discoveries Writing Development Course” taught by Women’s Prize shortlisted author Charlotte Mendelson, plus an Audible subscription.

Supported by new regional outreach partnerships, this year the programme will seek to reach writers currently under-represented in the UK publishing industry. According to the organisers, the Discoveries received more than 10,000 entries from new writers during its first four years. In the past year alone, 77% of these entries were from residents outside London, while 42% identified as working class or from a working-class background and 20% confirmed a disability.

Discoveries is open to all women aged 18 and above, residing in the UK or Ireland and writing in English, and the programme accepts novels-in-progress in any genre of adult fiction.

The judging panel will be chaired by writer and playwright Kate Mosse CBE FRSL, who is the founder director of the Women’s Prize for Fiction and the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction. She is joined by author and musician Claire Kohda, author Dreda Say Mitchell MBE, journalist, author and podcaster Chloe Timms, Curtis Brown literary agent Jess Molloy and Curtis Brown Creative founder and managing director Anna Davis.

‘‘In the first four years of Discoveries, we have been delighted with the range of writers submitting their cherished works-in-progress," Mosse said. "But as we enter our fifth year, we want to go further and reach an even broader range of emerging authors who, for whatever reason – perhaps due to caring responsibilities, health issues or economic barriers – have not yet been able to put their own writing career centre stage.”

Molloy added: “We are committed to fostering a robust writing community and encouraging inclusion – so, whether you’re currently toying with the beginnings of a novel, struggling to find the words to express an idea that you’ve nursed for years, or are perhaps already in the middle of writing your first draft, we warmly encourage you to join one of our events – such as our webinar on ‘Your Novel: How to Get Started’ on 2nd October – and engage with our free resources and Writers Tool Kit, and to enter this year’s competition.”

Aurelie de Troyer, head of regional content, Europe, at Audible, commented: “We’ve commissioned two Audible Originals from previous Discoveries winners, Sui Annukka and Paige Cowan-Hall, both of which delighted our listeners and were powerfully moving. We’re excited for the next year and what’s to come.”