Last night in downtown Manhattan, Chanel and the Women’s Prize Trust, the British charity behind the Women’s Prize for Fiction, celebrated the launch of Originators, a new initiative offering five unpublished writers mentorship and funding to bolster their craft. Literary heavyweights and fashion insiders flocked to the Union Square private members club and hotel the Twenty Two for an elegant soirée celebrating the initiative.
The Occasion: Originators marks Chanel’s latest, but certainly not first, investment in the literary world. Its reading and discussion series Literary Rendezvous at Rue Cambon has hosted the likes of Katie Kitamura and Chantal Thomas, while the Nouvel Obs Literary Prize rewards female writers of French fiction. For Originators, five emerging novelists will receive grants and mentorship from a selection panel including writers A.M. Homes, Virginia Evans, V.V. Ganeshananthan, Tayari Jones, and Nicole Krauss.
The Locale: The Twenty Two played host to the intimate occasion, bringing together some of the literary world’s most recognizable names for an evening that put the spotlight on the next generation of female writers.
The Crowd: The proverbial book club of guests included literary mainstays, fashion authorities, and cultural tastemakers. On the scene to raise their glasses were novelists Homes, Ganeshananthan, Krauss, Brit Bennett, Coco Mellors, Megan Nolan, and Safiya Sinclair; designer and author Athena Calderone; photographer Sophie Elgort; and writers Leandra Medine Cohen and Naomi Fry.
The Scene: Over cocktails and post-fashion month chatter, the selection panel and gathered company celebrated the new initiative. Claire Shanahan, executive director of the Women’s Prize Trust, addressed the gathering, reflecting on the role that mentorship and community can play in a writer’s career. “Literary talent occasionally finds a way to shine regardless of circumstance, but our work—and our joy—is to clear the path for those writers who haven’t yet had the opportunity,” she told guests.
Submissions for Originators are open until November 30, 2026, at 10 AM (EST). To enter, visit: www.womensprize.com/originators
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