CHESTER LITERATURE FESTIVAL WELCOMES THE WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR FICTION

A special day of events is planned at Storyhouse this November celebrating women and the written word.

The registered charity, the Women’s Prize Trust, is set to present a day of unmissable events kicking off the celebrations for the 30th anniversary of its prestigious Women’s Prize for Fiction, at Storyhouse next month as part of the 2024 Chester LitFest.

‘Women’s Prize Day’ will consist of a series of panels, talks and workshops on Sunday 10 November. Starting at noon in the Hunter Street cultural centre’s Garret Theatre, a Writing Workshop will be led by author Ayisha Malik, focused on plotting your novel, finding your voice, and how to draw readers in.

The award-winning London-born author and writing mentor worked as a publicist for Penguin Random House before she wrote her debut book, the heartwarming romantic comedy Sofia Khan is Not Obliged. Her other critically acclaimed novels include The Other Half of Happiness, This Green and Pleasant Land and The Movement.

This will be followed at 2pm by a panel event about Discoveries, the Women’s Prize’s pioneering free writers’ development programme which celebrates its fifth year in 2025.

The programme, run in partnership with Audible, the Curtis Brown Literary and Talent Agency and Curtis Brown Creative Writing School, aims to uncover, inspire and nurture the writing stars of tomorrow.

Submissions are currently open to any unpublished and un-agented women writers in the UK or Ireland. The 2025 judging panel is chaired by bestselling novelist, playwright and performer Kate Mosse, Founder Director of the Women’s Prize for Fiction and the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction.

Chaired by Ayisha Malik, who judged Discoveries in 2022, the panel will include two alumni of the Discoveries programme, Olivia Ford and Paige Cowan-Hall. Olivia has spent the last ten years in entertainment TV, most recently as a story producer. Inspired by her grandparents, her debut novel Mrs Quinn's Rise to Fame was longlisted for Discoveries 2021. Paige won Discoveries 2023 as well as the 2021 Desperate Literature Award and was a 2021 Spread the Word Awardee. She is working on her debut novel, Marooned - a historical fantasy that explores race, gender and Obeah and is set in 18th century Jamaica, her family's country of origin. Her debut audiobook, The Shouts Beneath, is available exclusively from Audible, narrated by Jade Anouka. They will be joined by Harriet Hirshman, publishing manager at Dead Ink Books. The panel will explore the journey to publication for inquisitive readers and offer top tips and practical guidance for aspiring writers.

A second special panel discussion considering ‘Why is the Women’s Prize still needed?’ will take place in the Main Theatre at 4pm, chaired by broadcaster, writer and triathlete Louise Minchin, who chaired the Women’s Prize for Fiction judging panel in 2023. Formerly one of the main presenters on BBC Breakfast for a decade, she recently published her debut novel, the gripping crime thriller Isolation Island.

Louise will be joined by award-winning author and director and founder of Black to the Future festival, Irenosen Okojie. Irenosen was a judge alongside Louise for the 2023 Women’s Prize for Fiction. Vice Chair of the Royal Society of Literature, she was awarded an MBE For Services to Literature in 2021. Her new novel, Curandera, is out now.

The day of events concludes on Storyhouse’s main stage at 6pm with a headline Book Club event with author Susanna Clarke, who won the 2021 Women’s Prize for Fiction with her novel Piranesi.

Clarke, whose debut novel was the acclaimed, multi-award-winning Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell now celebrating its twentieth anniversary, will discuss her Women’s Prize-winning novel Piranesi, and speak about her latest book, the enchanting seasonal novella The Wood at Midwinter, which is due to be published later this month.

The Women’s Prize for Fiction was launched in 1996 and is now considered the greatest celebration of female creativity in the world. The Prize is open to female authors of any nationality for the best original full-length novels written in English. Previous winners include Zadie Smith, Rose Tremain, Lionel Shriver, Andrea Levy and Barbara Kingsolver, who is the only author so far to win twice. The 2025 Women’s Prize for Fiction is supported by Audible and Baileys.

The 2024 winner was American novelist, essayist and journalist V. V. Ganeshananthan for her novel Brotherless Night, set against the backdrop of the Sri Lankan civil war and which chair of the judges, Monica Ali, described as “a masterpiece of historical fiction”.

The annual prize is run by the Women’s Prize Trust, which aims to enrich society by creating equitable opportunities for women in the world of books. The charity has launched a sister Prize, the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction, supported by Findmypast, which Canadian journalist and thought leader Naomi Klein won in June 2024 for Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World.

Meanwhile this year’s Chester Literature Festival takes place at Storyhouse from 6-21 November.

Festival-goers can expect 16 days of unmissable events, performances and conversations with a wide-ranging programme packed with special guests from the world of literature, poetry, stage and screen, along with workshops, debut writers’ panel, local authors’ party and the hugely popular annual Poetry Pub Crawl.

Storyhouse Creative Director Suzie Henderson said: 

“I’m absolutely delighted to be able to announce this very special collaboration with the Women’s Prize for Fiction which will take over Storyhouse for a day of exciting and invigorating events as part of this year’s Chester Literature Festival.

“Storyhouse is committed to promoting and empowering women in the arts, nurturing local writing talent and encouraging a love of reading from a young age. We’re home to Chester’s library, which is embedded in spaces throughout our building, while we also organise annual programmes which celebrate and platform a wide range of writers throughout the year, as well as supporting many women artists and creatives.

“I want to extend a warm welcome to the Women’s Prize Trust to the Storyhouse ‘family’, and I hope this will be the start of a long and rewarding relationship between our two organisations.”

Claire Shanahan, Executive Director at the Women’s Prize Trust, added: 

“We’re thrilled to be partnering with Chester Literature Festival and Storyhouse for this brilliant day of events. 30 years of the Women’s Prize for Fiction is a fantastic opportunity to engage new readers around the UK with the Women’s Prize library and to consider the value of women’s voices in today’s world – and what better place to do so than a great community venue like Storyhouse.”

Simon Savidge, Storyhouse’s associate literary curator, said:

I am beyond thrilled that The Women’s Prize Trust and Storyhouse are partnering for Women’s Prize Day and the launch of the Women’s Prize Book Club. Both will be fantastic celebrations of the prize, women’s words and writing. The line-up is fantastic and getting to bring these brilliant women to Chester and also showcase the incredible cultural community space Storyhouse is, an utter dream. I can’t wait!

 Chester Literature Festival is sponsored by Aaron and Partners. 

To find out more visit:

http://www.storyhouse.com

Pictured - Simon Savidge and Suzie Henderson.