Overview

Discoveries

Discoveries is the Women’s Prize Trust’s transformative writer development programme designed to address the specific challenges that women face as writers.

Set up in 2020 in partnership with Audible, the Curtis Brown Group and Curtis Brown Creative writing school, and supported in 2026 by The Marks Family Charitable Trust, Discoveries aims to seek out, inspire and support unagented and unpublished women in the UK and Ireland to write their first novels, supporting them from those early pages to long-term careers.

Unlike most initiatives of this kind, Discoveries is completely free, and writers in the UK and Ireland are not required to have finished their novel to enter, but are instead invited to submit the opening of their novel in English (up to 10,000 words) along with a synopsis and a bit about them.

Submissions for 2027 open until 11 January 2027. Enter your submission here. If you have any queries about the programme, please see the FAQs here.

Are you an unpublished writer with a brilliant idea?

Free to enter, Discoveries invites unpublished and unagented women writers in the UK or Ireland to submit the opening of a novel for adult readers – up to 10,000 words – for the chance to receive an offer of literary agent representation and a bursary of £5,000, alongside access to: a bespoke creative writing course; personalised mentorships and workshops; practical advice and industry insight; a curated programme of outreach events and online content; as well as becoming part of a highly supportive and active writing community.

Each submission is read by a brilliant reading team made up of industry experts, before an approved selection is shared with our panel of judges to decide who will progress to longlist, shortlist and ultimately be the one promising writer named the ‘Discoveries Scholar’ or announced as the winner. Our readers and judges are looking for original new voices in fiction – with a focus on promise, not polish.

Terms and conditions for Discoveries 2027 can be found here. If you have any questions regarding your entry, please see the FAQ page here.

The 2027 judging panel will be chaired by Kate Mosse CBE FRSL, the international bestselling writer and Founder Director of the Women’s Prize for Fiction and the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction. Mosse is joined by bestselling novelist, screenwriter and 2019 Women’s Prize for Fiction shortlisted author Oyinkan Braithwaite (My Sister, The Serial Killer; Cursed Daughters); award-winning author and former litigation lawyer Ela Lee (Jaded; Minbak); Curtis Brown literary agent Ciara Finan; and Founder and Managing Director of Curtis Brown Creative Anna Davis.

Learn more about Discoveries 2027

Discoveries has inspired thousands of women to share their writing for the first time, with over 16,000 entries since the programme began in 2020. Out of the 96 writers selected in the first six years of Discoveries, 19% have published their debut novel or secured a publishing deal and over a third are signed with literary agents.

Meet the Discoveries 2026 Winner and Scholar

On Thursday 28 May we announced Ruixi Zhang as the Discoveries 2026 winner for her standout novel-in-progress, Confessions of an Alien and Mirha Butt was named this year’s scholar, winning a free scholarship to attend a three-month ‘Writing Your Novel’ course with Curtis Brown Creative to develop her ambitious novel-in-progress, Notes From The Valley of Unclaimed Daughters.

Click the below to learn a bit more about each of them and their writing.

Learn more

WRITER'S TOOLKIT

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Recommendations

Books from our Discoveries alumni to have on your radar

11 debut novels you should have on your shelves – all written by the brilliant Discoveries alumni! From explorations of grief and apostasy to baking competitions and National Trust art heists – there is something for every reader in this stack. 

 

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