Books
Chanel Is Championing A New Generation Of Women Writers
The fashion label is collaborating with The Women’s Prize Trust to uplift emerging authors.
The name Chanel brings countless iconic images to mind: the little black dress, quilted handbags, and chic celebrity red-carpet looks. Now, you can add great literature to the list.
Today, Chanel and the Women’s Prize Trust unveiled Originators, a mentorship program championing a new generation of women writers. For 30 years, the Women’s Prize for Fiction (and more recently the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction) has celebrated important work by female authors, including previous winners Barbara Kingsolver, Maggie O’Farrell, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
Through the program, award-winning novelists A.M. Homes, Virginia Evans, V.V. Ganeshananthan, Tayari Jones, and Nicole Krauss will select and mentor five emerging writers. The mentors will support mentees with developing and refining their writing, as well as introducing their work to the wider literary community. In addition to their guidance, Chanel will support the writers with a grant for their project.
For many of the mentors involved, participating in Originators is a full-circle moment.
“Writing can be solitary, and so programs like Originators, spearheaded by the Women’s Prize Trust and Chanel, who have done so much to champion women’s writing, are essential because they have real impact,” Jones says in a press release. “There is such urgency, agency, and enthusiasm surrounding women’s writing today, and I am excited to read the inaugural submissions for Originators writers just discovering their voices, and the words that only they can say.”
Originators is the latest in Chanel’s efforts to support women in the arts. Since 2015, the brand has spearheaded Through Her Lens in partnership with Tribeca Enterprises to support, fund, and mentor aspiring female filmmakers in the United States.
Unpublished novelists across the United States are invited to apply to Originators, and submissions are open from Sept. 30 to Nov. 30 at 6:59 p.m. Eastern. The winners will be announced in New York City in spring 2027.
