Save this story Save Story Save this story V. V. Ganeshananthan, Claire Shanahan, Rebekah McCabe, A. M. Homes and Nicole Krauss Jamie McCarthy On Thursday evening, the faces around the room at The Twenty Two’s Living Room were those more often seen in byline-avatar or author-headshot size. To join Chanel and the Women’s Prize Trust in celebrating the launch of their new Originators program, a guest list filled with scriveners, storytellers, and Substackers turned out in droves.
Originators is searching for—you guessed it—undiscovered original voices. The inaugural edition of the mentorship and development initiative is now underway, calling for entries from fiction writers across the country who have not yet been published. Five budding writers will be chosen by a selection committee and each paired with an established novelist to help hone their work. They will also receive all-important funding to further their path in the literary world.
A. M. Homes, chair of the five-member selection committee, a professor at Princeton, and the 2013 Women’s Prize for Fiction winner, told Vogue that the program is not just aimed at young writers, either. “We’re looking for writers who have things on their mind. It might be someone from the previous generation, too. There’s women working on books who could use the space and time because they maybe didn’t earlier in their lives—which is the nature of women’s lives.”
“Not everyone has the same opportunities,” Homes added. “Here, all you need is to be able to submit something. You don’t have to know somebody or you don’t have to have graduated from a writing program.”
Joining Homes on the committee is Nicole Krauss, who has been twice shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction. In a twist of fate, Krauss name-checks Homes as the first “real world” writer to mentor her a few decades ago when she was working on her own first novel. “I hope, and I’m sure I will be, surprised by the submissions,” she said. “Seeing something on a page that you really didn’t expect: the sound of a voice, a way of using language, or a way of thinking that is completely unlike my own. Some people have an internal engine that drives the writing, and I always love that. It doesn’t matter what the story is, where it’s coming from, or where it’s going to take me. I’m along for the ride.”
V.V. Ganeshananthan, who won the 2024 Women’s Prize for Fiction for her second novel, Brotherless Night, is in agreement. “I’m excited to see what they bring us. I don’t want to put any bounds or limits on what could be of interest. A strong voice can make any topic interesting—and there’s certainly no lack of things to be concerned about these days.”
While everything from the publicity machine and the book tour format to the bookselling industry has irrevocably changed, there’s one constant, Holmes said. “Somebody who is taking risk,” will rise to the top, she noted. “Somebody who’s not just trying to get it right, but playing with and exploring an idea that they are compelled by.”
Around the leopard-print-carpeted room, guests were welcome to leaf through copies of books, including those by the other two selection committee members Tayari Jones (An American Marriage) and Virginia Evans (The Correspondent), as well as fashion tomes about the life of literature-loving Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel herself.
The only break from the constant martini-fueled chatter was a pause to hear remarks by Claire Shanahan, executive director of the Women’s Prize Trust. “Literary talent occasionally finds a way to shine regardless of circumstance, but our work—and our joy—is to clear the path for those who haven’t yet had the opportunity. As our truthtellers, writers reimagine what might be possible for us all: hopefully richer, kinder, more insightful, more empathic lives.”
Submissions are open until Monday, November 30. In the words of Homes: “The first place you have to start is with a piece of paper.”
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Source: Lifestyle
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