The Women’s Prize Trust has officially launched its 2025 Discoveries writing development programme, offering a golden opportunity for unagented and unpublished women writers in the UK and Ireland, per thebookseller.com. Aimed at helping these women bring their first novels to life, the initiative is run in partnership with Audible, the Curtis Brown Literary and Talent Agency and the Curtis Brown Creative writing school.
The programme offers participants a range of resources, including free online writing toolkits and events. One lucky winner will walk away with £5,000 and a representation offer from Curtis Brown. Additionally, one standout writer will be named the “Discoveries Scholar” and will receive a free place on the coveted three-month “Writing Your Novel” course with Curtis Brown Creative.
The 2025 Discoveries competition opened for submissions on 19th September 2024, and the deadline to submit is 11:59pm on 13th January 2025. Winners will be announced on 29th May 2025, following the announcement of the longlist and shortlist in May.
A shortlist of six authors will receive a one-on-one mentoring session with a Curtis Brown agent and a studio day with Audible, while 16 longlisted authors will take part in a two-week writing development course taught by award-winning author Charlotte Mendelson.
This year’s programme aims to reach under-represented writers in the UK publishing industry. The initiative’s fifth edition seeks to attract women from various backgrounds, providing much-needed support to writers with economic or health barriers.
Kate Mosse, chair of the judging panel, expressed excitement for the programme’s potential to reach an even broader spectrum of emerging authors, encouraging those at any stage of writing to take part in this enriching opportunity.
- Featured image: 2025 Discoveries judges
