The Comedy Women in Print Prize (CWIP) today announced their longlist in the Published Novel category, featuring a range of satire, sharp wit and dark humour from both established names and debut writers.
CWIP was established to celebrate women’s wit and to enable writing careers where doors had been closed. The act of publishing an unknown writer, by a well-known publisher, plays a significant part in achieving this aim.
This year’s list is very different! Covering a sparkling list of genres, from rom coms to queer fiction, YA to sci-fi, this year’s titles tell us about how we live now: witty fiction has evolved from confessional headline grabbing vulnerability – to tackling love, grief, sex, guilt, class and race with wit, and vigour. These books are smart, funny and life-affirming.
This year’s entries have shown that a truly funny book is also beautifully written. The 2022/23 longlist is not just funny fiction, but a reaction of what is funny right now. This is literature for where we are in 2022 – authentic voices that help us navigate current events.
This is the fourth year of the UK and Ireland’s first and only prize to shine a light on witty novels by women - celebrating diverse female voices and kick-starting comedy writing careers.
We are currently living though a Golden Age of female comedy writing, such as Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Sharon Horgan, Michaela Coel, and Daisy May Cooper. And the 15 writers longlisted in CWIP’s Published Comic Novel category are similarly anarchic and daring.
From a small village in Ireland and the hair salons of Peckham to the scientific community of 1960s America, these books circle the globe, demonstrating the multitude of ways women can express wit and humour, even about the darkest, most urgent topics.
The Longlist for the CWIP Published Comic Novel 2022/23 is:
• Love Marriage by Monica Ali
• The Startup Wife by Tahmima Anam
• Either/Or by Elif Batuman
• The Writing on the Wall by Jenny Éclair
• Factory Girls by Michelle Gallen
• Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
• Again, Rachel by Marian Keyes
• Impossible by Sarah Lotz
• The Lock In by Phoebe Luckhurst
• Are We Having Fun Yet? by Lucy Mangan
• Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason
• Wahala by Nikki May
• The Exhibitionist by Charlotte Mendelson
• Did You Miss Me? by Sophia Money-Coutts
• One Day I Shall Astonish the World by Nina Stibbe
• Sedating Elaine by debut novelist Dawn Winter
Celebrity Judge Michelle de Swarte says: "I feel absolutely honoured to be one of the first to read these exciting new stories…here’s to a bright start to 2023". Michelle De Swarte is an actress, writer, and comedian having established herself on the New York comedy scene with her own material. Recently starring as a series regular in Katherine Ryan’s Netflix series The Duchess as well as the lead role of Natasha in HBO/Sky dark comedy series The Baby.
Celebrity Judge Susie Blake says: "I am so excited by the current ebullience of witty women writers, and the time is so right to celebrate them!" As well as playing the iconic, deadpan news reader in BBC’s ‘Victoria Wood Show’ Susie Blake has appeared in almost every comedy drama on British television including ‘Sunburn’, ‘Cuckoo’ and ‘The Darling Buds of May’. Her extensive theatre work marks her out as one of Britain’s finest comedy character actresses.
The CWIP Prize was launched by actress, author, and stand- up comedian Helen Lederer in 2019 as a literary platform to increase exposure for diverse female witty voices in comedy fiction, and as a way of celebrating fresh and established talent. Helen Lederer, Founder of the CWIP Prize, says: “I can’t believe how CWIP has grown and evolved in four years! Apart from celebrating a wider reach of topics in witty fiction this year, we can also celebrate a growing list of new ‘career writers’ who may not have been published without this platform. Our USP has to be having a publisher, trusting enough to publish an unknown writer from the start. Not boasting but just saying…”
This year’s judges of CWIP’s published category include comedy actor Susie Blake; comedian Arabella Weir, broadcaster, and head judge Angie Greaves as well as national treasure Anita Dobson, actor, and presenter Michelle de Swarte; Unpublished judges include Ab Fab comedy actress and writer Llewella Gideon, Journalist Liz Hoggard and last year’s unpublished winner Rebecca Rogers.
To celebrate the announcement we're thrilled to be working with CWIP to give one lucky person the chance to win the entire longlist! Click to find out how to enter.
https://www.comedywomeninprint.co.uk/
#CWIPprize
#CWIP2022
Comments (79)
lynn n - 22nd January 2023
Again Rachel, by Marion Keyes looks great!Deborah B - 22nd January 2023
I would read 'The Lock In' first, it looks fab!Annie M - 22nd January 2023
I'd read 'Did You Miss Me?' first.Ellen S - 22nd January 2023
I would love to read Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie GarmusAmy Jo M - 22nd January 2023
I'd love to read Are We Having Fun Yet?Sarah K - 22nd January 2023
I love Marian Keyes so I’d choose Again, Rachel xxCaroline J R - 22nd January 2023
The Exhibitionist sounds a great readAdrian B - 22nd January 2023
I'd like to read The Lock In by Phoebe Luckhurstkathryn d - 22nd January 2023
The Lock In by Phoebe Luckhurst sounds right up my street.Rosalyn B - 21st January 2023
I'd go for Lessons in Chemistry firstSarah S - 21st January 2023
Looking forward to reading Lessons in Chemistry firstLauren O - 21st January 2023
Great list! I'd love to read Again, Rachel by Marian KeyesStephanie H - 20th January 2023
I would definitely read Lesson in Chemistry first!Tracy B - 20th January 2023
I'd read Wahala or Lessons in Chemistry firstAnthea H - 19th January 2023
I would love to read One Day I Shall Astonish The World by Nina Stibbe first of all.Kerry A - 18th January 2023
I'd love to read lessons in chemistry! I've only seen good things about it!Hayley T - 16th January 2023
I love Marian Keyes, so would love to read Again, Rachel firstClaire N - 15th January 2023
I think "Are We Having Fun Yet?" sounds very relatable to me and my crazy, non-stop life! I'd love to read that one first xFiona W - 12th January 2023
I'd choose Sorrow and Bliss first I think!Angela N - 10th January 2023
I would love to read Did You Miss Me? because I do love a good rom-com!Gareth B - 10th January 2023
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. It's next on my to buy list alreadyPippa A - 10th January 2023
Definitely Lessons in Chemistry, I've heard so many rave reviews so I'm really looking forward to reading it myself.Laura P - 9th January 2023
I'd read Lessons in Chemistry first, as I've heard amazing reviews!Tunde T - 9th January 2023
I would read Lessons in Chemistry first.Chris C - 9th January 2023
Again, Rachel. I love Marian Keyes books.Laura S - 8th January 2023
I'd love to start with lessons in chemistry!Cherry L - 8th January 2023
I am drawn to Factory Girls by Michelle GallenLesley S - 8th January 2023
I haven’t read any yet! I’d really like to read Lessons in ChemistrySarah P - 8th January 2023
I’d read first Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie GarmusMia T - 7th January 2023
Lessons in Chemistry is one I've been wanting to read for a while.Debbie T - 7th January 2023
I'd love to read Again, Rachel as Marian Keyes is one of my favourite authors and her books are always fantastic!Louise C - 7th January 2023
I would start with The Lock In by Phoebe Luckhurst.Tracy N - 7th January 2023
Did You Miss Me? by Sophia Money-Coutts. This sounds right up my streetCharlotte R - 7th January 2023
I'd read 'The Lock In' by Phoebe Luckhurst first!Sarah W - 7th January 2023
I loved lessons in chemistry. I think I’d read The Lockup next.John T - 7th January 2023
I would try Sophia Money-Coutts' "Did You Miss Me?" first.Laura J - 7th January 2023
The first book I'd read would be Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie GarmusDenise W - 7th January 2023
Did You Miss Me? by Sophia Money-Coutts is where I'd start, but these all have intriguing summaries and I'd want to make a pile beside me and work my way through them! :)Laura J - 7th January 2023
My first choice would be Wahala by Nikki May.MARIA R - 6th January 2023
I would read "Are we having fun yet!" from this amazing listKaren D - 6th January 2023
Sedating Elaine sounds interestingJulia L - 5th January 2023
I would love to read The Exhibitionist by Charlotte MendelsonJean V - 5th January 2023
Again, Rachel by Marian Keyes, who never fails to entertain me.Claire L - 4th January 2023
Loads of great ones here, but I'd love to read Are We Having Fun Yet? by Lucy ManganJayne T - 4th January 2023
Some great books there, I'd read the Did You Miss Me? by Sophia Money-Coutts first.Mary L - 4th January 2023
I would read Lessons In Chemistry as I have read good reviews of the bookfiona w - 3rd January 2023
Factory Girls by Michelle Gallen would be my firstMANDY D - 3rd January 2023
I'd have to read Again Rachel by Marian Keyes firstMaria D - 2nd January 2023
I would like to read Factory girls by Michelle GallanShreeya N - 2nd January 2023
The longlist looks fantastic, so it's not easy to choose but I think I'd start with Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus.Julia F - 2nd January 2023
Can’t wait to read them all! One Day I Shall Astonish The World by Nina Stibbe will be my first read she is HIGHlarioustessa p - 1st January 2023
I'd go for the Monica Ali first - love her writing.Richard H - 30th December 2022
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus would seem a good one to start withLynne B - 29th December 2022
I'd read Lessons in Chemistry firstMarion G - 29th December 2022
Love Marriage. It sounds like a fairly close representation of my life.Hannah B - 29th December 2022
I think 'Are We Having Fun Yet?' would be first.Susan B - 29th December 2022
A brilliant list! One Day I Shall Astonish The World would be my first choice.Susie W - 28th December 2022
Sedating Elaine by debut novelist Dawn Winter sounds funny!amy S - 28th December 2022
Again Rachel-Marian Keyes as love her books and style of writingJanet F - 28th December 2022
I’d start with Lessons in ChemistryMark F - 27th December 2022
One Day I Shall Astonish The World by Nina Stibbe, although I could have picked any from the list because they sound like a good read.Sheena B - 27th December 2022
Lessons in chemistryLorraine D - 27th December 2022
I think i'd read Lessons in Chemistry firstClaire F - 27th December 2022
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie GarmusAna N - 27th December 2022
Lessons in Chemistry!!Priscilla S - 27th December 2022
Monica Ali Love Marriage would be my first choiceMargaret C - 27th December 2022
Margaret Clarkson Again, RachelSally C - 27th December 2022
The Writing on the Wall by Jenny Éclair would be the first one I would read!claire w - 27th December 2022
• Sorrow and Bliss by Meg MasonAnnabel G - 26th December 2022
I would read Impossible by Sarah LotzHekna K - 25th December 2022
I've heard a lot of good things about Lessons in Chemistry. Think that would be top of the TBR pile for me.Jacqui G - 24th December 2022
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus - I’ve seen great reviews for it, feels like I’m the only one in the UK who hasn’t read it!Natalie B - 23rd December 2022
Factory girlsLinda J - 22nd December 2022
I would read The writing on the wall by Jenny ÉclairNancy T - 22nd December 2022
First, I'd like to read Are We Having Fun Yet? by Lucy Mangan.Ruth R - 21st December 2022
Factory GirlsJulie T - 21st December 2022
I would like to read Again, Rachel by Marian Keyes first.brenda H - 21st December 2022
Factory Girls by Michelle GallenLisa D - 21st December 2022
This is such a superb longlist. It's a difficult decision but I think I'd read Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason first.Leave A Reply
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