Comedy Women in Print Prize 2019 longlists

The Comedy Women in Print Prize 2019 (CWIP) has announced the longlist of "witty women writers" for its inaugural year.

Sunday Times bestsellers Gail Honeyman, Lindsey Kelk, Jane Fallon, Gill Sims and AJ Pearce are in the running for the Published Female Writers alongside up-and-coming authors Lucy Vine and Asia Mackay, and a Young Adult debut from Laura Steven. Also longlisted are: Balli Kaur Jaswal, Catherine Robinson, Olga Wojta and Zara Stoneley.

The CWIP Prize was launched by actress, author and stand-up Helen Lederer in response to the lack of exposure for female comedy writing, and as a way of celebrating fresh and established talent.

Lederer says: "It's overwhelming to see how much interest and support there is for CWIP - ably demonstrated by the high quality of wit in our first longlist - easy proof this award was needed and that witty women authors are alive, well and writing. Laughing can be as baffling as it is thrilling, but we salute anyone who can make us do that with words on the page."

Comedy Fiction by Published Female Writers longlist

Dear Mrs Bird by AJ Pearce (Picador)
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman (Harper Collins)
Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal (Harper Collins)
Faking Friends by Jane Fallon (Penguin Random House)
Forging On by Catherine Robinson (Orion)
Hot Mess by Lucy Vine (Orion)
Killing It by Asia Mackay (Bonnier Zaffre)
Miss Blaine's Prefect and the Golden Samovar by Olga Wojta (Contraband/Saraband)
One in a Million by Lindsey Kelk (Harper Collins)
The Exact Opposite of Okay by Laura Steven (Electric Monkey)
The Wedding Date by Zara Stoneley (HarperImpulse)
Why Mummy Swears by Gill Sims (Harper Collins)

Comedy Fiction by Unpublished Female Writers longlist

Captain Mintcake by Kristen Bailey
The Ladies' Guide to Finding Love by Helen Doyle
I Blame Jane Austen by Laura Dugdale
Cow Girl by Kirsty Eyre
The Kiss of Death by Stella Glorie
TEFLland by Catherine Higgins-Moore
The Best Days by Catherine Knight
New Year at the Duck and Grapes by Jo Lovett-Turner
The Lonely Fajita by Abigail Mann
Love is Strange by Lotte Mullan
It's (Not) Unusual by Sarah Palmer
Little Lives Like Mine by Eva Verde

The judges for the CWIP Prize for published authors are comedians Katy Brand and Shazia Mirza; international bestselling authors Kathy Lette and Marian Keyes, and journalist Allison Pearson, whose novel I Don't Know How She Does It was made into a film starring Sarah Jessica Parker.

The winning author in the published category will be offered a £2000 cash award, with £250 for each shortlisted author.

Alongside this, the CWIP Prize will offer the winner of the unpublished category a publishing contract and £5000 advance with HarperFiction. The unpublished runner-up will receive a free place on the MA course in Creative Writing at the University of Hertfordshire.

The Comedy Women in Print Prize shortlist will be announced on 30th May 2019, and the winners will be announced at an award ceremony at the Conduit Club on Wednesday 10th July.

More details on the competition can eb found at comedywomeninprint.co.uk