Running into its 15th year, The Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize is partnering with WME Literary Agency to relaunch this prestigious award.
Formed in 1898, WME is the longest-running talent agency in the world and is teaming up with The Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize which is renowned for championing and launching the careers of exceptional female writers. Many of the prize’s winners and shortlistees have gone on to become bestselling and award-winning authors including;
- Gail Honeyman (Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine)
- Sara Collins (The Confessions of Frannie Langton)
- Laura Marshall (Friend Request)
- Kelleigh Greenberg-Jephcott (Swan Song)
- Susan Stokes Chapman (Pandora)
The Prize is rooted in the Cambridge college of the same name which honours Lucy Cavendish, a reformer and pioneer of women’s education and empowerment. The college’s dedication to diversity and sustainability and Lucy’s life’s work of bridging socioeconomic divides will inspire WME’s vision for re-launching this prestigious prize. Each prize year will be filled with events, workshops and mixers to create opportunities for writers to connect and grow. With Lucy’s life’s work as the foundation, the aim is for the prize to be bigger than simply finding a winner each year. Through outreach and events, we’ll build a journey for female and non-binary writers so that by the time the prize opens for submissions, we’ll have brought together a community of writers who feel empowered and confident.
This year’s confirmed judges include author, journalist, podcaster, speaker and presenter, Candice Brathwaite; publishing director at Orion and début author, Leodora Darlington; English director of studies at Lucy Cavendish College, Dr Olivia Krauze; and former vice president and honorary fellow of the College, Dr Lindsay Traub. The head judge is poet, playwright and bestselling novelist Kiran Millwood Hargrave. The winner will be announced in May 2025.
The winner will receive a £1,500 prize, and all shortlisted authors will benefit from a one-on-one consultation with a literary agent at prize sponsor WME, including editorial feedback and invaluable publishing advice.
Submissions are open now and close 31st January 2025. Entry fee is £12. Find out more about the prize and follow the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize socials and newsletter for more information.
