Women's Prize Trust Opens Originators, Presented by CHANEL

Who can apply to the Women's Prize Trust's new US mentorship? Unpublished women fiction writers residing in the United States. The Trust has opened Originators, a mentorship and development program presented by CHANEL, for emerging women fiction writers from across the United States. The program page says applications remain open until Monday, November 30, 2026, at 6:59 p.m. EST. The introducing article dates the opening to September 30, 2026. The FAQ says the Trust, a UK-based charity, delivers Originators.

What to send

The FAQ tells applicants to create a writer profile, "telling us a bit about yourself," and to send the first 5,000 words of the novel plus a synopsis of between 500 and 1,000 words. The novel does not have to be finished. The synopsis should give the main plot, where the story is going, and how it may end. Five thousand words is a maximum; a shorter opening is allowed. There is no entry fee. A writer eligible for Originators 2027 may submit only one entry.

The program page says a sample of up to 5,000 words. The introducing article says a sample of 5,000 words. Ed Nawotka's Publishers Weekly report of September 30, 2026, calls it a 5,000-word sample and biographical information, and says submissions open that day and close November 30 at 6:59 p.m. ET.

The portal accepts entries from 9:00 a.m. New York (EST) / 2:00 p.m. London (GMT) on September 30 until 6:59 p.m. New York (EST) / 11:59 p.m. London (GMT) on November 30. It defaults to GMT. A completed entry produces a confirmation page and an email from originators@womensprize.com, and the text cannot be changed afterward.

Who may enter

Originators is open to women aged 21 and above residing in the United States and writing in English. They need not be a United States citizen or permanent resident, but they must be residing in the United States when they apply and through May 31, 2027. The novel must be aimed at adults. All genres and styles for an adult reader are welcome. Young adult and children's novels are not.

The novel in the application must be unpublished. Previous self-publishing of other work is still eligible. So is other writing in magazines or online, and a short story or short stories in magazines, anthologies published by traditional publishers, or online. Ineligible: a nonfiction book with a traditional, non-academic publisher; a poetry collection, a short-story collection, or young adult or children's fiction with a traditional publisher; and any writer represented by a literary agent. If she accepts an agent or a publishing deal after submitting, the FAQ says she becomes ineligible and should tell the Trust, which will withdraw the application.

The five, the money, and New York

Five writers will be selected. The FAQ says all applications up to a maximum of 5,000 will be read and sifted in rounds to a longlist of 20, before the judges pick the five they will mentor. The FAQ pairs each writer with an established author. The program page says each will be paired with an established novelist. The introducing article adds publishing experts, industry leaders, and creatives.

A.M. Homes chairs the panel. 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. With her: Virginia Evans, 2026 winner for her debut, The Correspondent, which the Trust says is in development as a Lionsgate film starring Academy Award winner Jane Fonda; V.V. Ganeshananthan, 2024 winner for her second novel, Brotherless Night, and McKnight Presidential Fellow at the University of Minnesota; Tayari Jones, 2019 winner for her fourth novel, An American Marriage, Charles Howard Candler Professor of English and Creative Writing at Emory University and A.D. White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University; and Nicole Krauss, shortlisted for The History of Love (2006) and Great House (2011), and a recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship.

In partnership with CHANEL, the introducing article says, each writer receives a grant. It states no 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. Nawotka quotes Jones: "The greatest gift of my writing life has been the women writers who have taken me under their wings."

The five finalists must attend the New York event. The FAQ says travel and accommodation are covered, with the five notified in spring 2027 and the event in May 2027. The introducing article says that spring gathering in New York City includes the winner announcement.

Claire Shanahan, executive director of the Women's Prize Trust, said the program 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."

Presented by CHANEL, beside Discoveries

The introducing article grounds the CHANEL presentation in the House's work in dance, cinema, exhibitions, and literature: the Literary Rendezvous at Rue Cambon, the Nouvel Obs Literary Prize, the "Mot pour Mots" festival, reissues, and 7L Editions. It says CHANEL aims to bring the same ambition, impact, and opportunity to the American literary field.

Originators complements Women's Prize Discoveries, for writers in the UK and Ireland, launched in 2020, with outreach aimed at those most underrepresented in arts and culture. Of the 96 Discoveries alumni selected for the intensive program, 20 per cent have secured publishing deals for their debut novels, with over a third now signed with literary agents.

Why it matters for authors

The deadline is 6:59 p.m. EST on Monday, November 30, 2026, and the portal displays GMT. The FAQ allows one entry and charges no entry fee. It asks for the first 5,000 words of an adult novel, or fewer, and a synopsis of between 500 and 1,000 words, from a writer aged 21 or older, residing in the United States through May 31, 2027, without a literary agent. The novel must be unpublished. Five writers receive a mentor, a $5,000 grant from Chanel in Publishers Weekly's account, an additional $5,000 for one writer, and a May 2027 New York event with travel and accommodation covered.

Sources

• Women's Prize Trust: Introducing Originators (submissions open September 30, 2026)
• Women's Prize Trust: Originators (program page; open until Monday, November 30, 2026, 6:59 p.m. EST)
• Women's Prize Trust: Originators FAQs
• Ed Nawotka, Publishers Weekly: Women's Prize Trust, Chanel Team on Mentorship Program (September 30, 2026)