Women's Prize and CHANEL Open Originators for U.S. Writers

Can an unpublished woman novelist in the United States apply for a Women's Prize mentorship? As of September 30, 2026, yes. The Women's Prize Trust introduced Originators, a mentorship and development program presented by CHANEL, for emerging women fiction writers from across the United States. The announcement says the program builds on the charity's 30-year legacy and a shared mission with CHANEL to support women. It offers mentorship, funding, and industry access for new literary talent.

The program page describes the same offer in application language. Five writers will be selected. Each will be paired with an established novelist, receive a grant, and take part in a curated program of guest speakers and industry experts. Originators is open to unpublished writers based in the United States.

What an applicant sends, and when

The announcement invites emerging, unpublished novelists from across the U.S. to apply with a writing sample of 5,000 words, a synopsis, and information about themselves. The program page puts the sample at up to 5,000 words, with a synopsis and the same personal information. Publishers Weekly, reporting the launch the same day, describes the packet as a 5,000-word writing sample, a synopsis, and biographical information.

Submissions are open from September 30, 2026, to November 30, 2026. The program page names the close as Monday, November 30, 2026, at 6:59 p.m. EST. Publishers Weekly reports the same deadline: November 30 at 6:59 p.m. ET.

Who reads the applications

The selection panel is chaired by A.M. Homes. She won the 2013 Women's Prize for Fiction for her sixth novel, May We Be Forgiven, and is Professor of the Practice, Creative Writing, at the Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University.

Virginia Evans won the 2026 Women's Prize for Fiction for her debut novel, The Correspondent. A film adaptation is in development from Lionsgate and stars Academy Award winner Jane Fonda. V.V. Ganeshananthan won the 2024 prize for her second novel, Brotherless Night, and is McKnight Presidential Fellow at the University of Minnesota. Tayari Jones won the 2019 prize for her fourth novel, An American Marriage. She is the Charles Howard Candler Professor of English and Creative Writing at Emory University and the A.D. White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University. Nicole Krauss has been twice shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction, for The History of Love (2006) and Great House (2011), and is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship.

The Women's Prize says the five selected writers enter a bespoke mentorship for professional and artistic development. The panel of Homes, Evans, Ganeshananthan, Jones, and Krauss will work with them to refine the work and present it to the wider literary world, with further support from publishing experts, industry leaders, and creatives.

The grant, and a gathering in New York

In partnership with CHANEL, each writer will receive a grant to support the writing project. The Women's Prize pages do not print a dollar figure. Publishers Weekly does: each selected writer will receive a $5,000 grant from Chanel, and one writer will be chosen to receive an additional $5,000. The five writers will come together in New York City in the spring of 2027 for the winner announcement and a celebratory gathering with the selection panel.

What the Trust says CHANEL is bringing

The announcement presents Originators as part of CHANEL's support for creation in dance, cinema, exhibitions, and literature. It says that for CHANEL, literature is a source of inspiration, freedom, and transmission, and that this needs to be sustained through literary creation and diverse voices. The same page lists other CHANEL literary work: the Literary Rendezvous at Rue Cambon, the Nouvel Obs Literary Prize, the "Mot pour Mots" festival, reissues of works, and editorial projects through 7L Editions. With Originators, the Trust says, CHANEL aims to bring the same ambition, impact, and opportunity to the American literary field.

Claire Shanahan, executive director of the Women's Prize Trust, said the Trust believes every woman's voice has the power to elicit and inspire change, "regardless of age, race, nationality, or background," and that it puts "their words, their stories, and their ideas, into the hands of readers around the world." She said Originators draws "a golden thread between the hundreds of authors celebrated by the Women's Prize for Fiction, and the next generation of writers, with CHANEL serving as a vital partner in bringing it to life."

On the same page she said the Trust has heard "many, many times" in its 30-year history about "the essential role that community and peer support play in shaping a writing career." Originators, she said, "will provide a unique opportunity for five exceptional writers to receive mentorship from distinguished writers dedicated to paying it forward, supported by a wider roster of publishing and entertainment professionals." Publishers Weekly also reports a line from Tayari Jones: "The greatest gift of my writing life has been the women writers who have taken me under their wings."

How this sits next to Discoveries

The Trust says Originators complements Discoveries, its program for writers in the UK and Ireland. Discoveries launched in 2020 and focuses outreach on those most underrepresented in arts and culture. In its first five years, the program has inspired thousands of women to share their writing for the first time. Of the 96 Discoveries alumni selected for the intensive program, 20 per cent have secured publishing deals for their debut novels, and over a third are now signed with literary agents. Those figures are the Trust's account of Discoveries. They are not a count of deals for the five U.S. writers still to be chosen.

Why it matters for authors

Unpublished women fiction writers in the United States can apply from September 30 through Monday, November 30, 2026, at 6:59 p.m. EST. The program page asks for a sample of up to 5,000 words, a synopsis, and information about the writer. Five writers receive mentorship from the panel, a New York gathering in spring 2027, and, as Publishers Weekly reports it, a $5,000 grant from Chanel, with one writer receiving an additional $5,000. The precedent the Trust gives is Discoveries: 96 alumni, 20 per cent with debut publishing deals, and over a third signed with literary agents.

Sources

• Women's Prize Trust: Introducing Originators (September 30, 2026)
• Women's Prize Trust: Originators
• Ed Nawotka, Publishers Weekly: Women's Prize Trust, Chanel Team on Mentorship Program (September 30, 2026)