Narrative Non-Fiction Mentoring Programme

Narrative Non-Fiction Mentoring Programme is sponsored by Women's Prize Trust and Hachette UK. A mentorship programme for unpublished and unagented women writing non-fiction, offering guidance from Hachette UK authors, editors, and a literary agent.

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Women’s Prize Trust announces Hachette UK partnership to support writer development We are thrilled to announce a new partnership with Hachette UK to support writer development, including a mentoring scheme for aspiring non-fiction writers and the first ever ‘Discoveries Day’.

Narrative Non-Fiction Mentoring The narrative non-fiction mentoring programme will form part of ‘Horizons’, the free writing toolkit by the Women’s Prize Trust, designed to inspire and support new voices in the world of non-fiction writing.

The mentoring programme will expand the existing resources offered by Horizons, including practical writing resources, features, prompts, free online events, and contributions from publishing industry experts and leading non-fiction writers, and compliment the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction, launched in 2024 to celebrate excellent, original and accessible narrative non-fiction, supported by Findmypast.

Free to enter, the mentorship scheme seeks applications from unpublished and unagented women writing non-fiction. Entries are particularly encouraged from experts in science (such as health, psychology and technology) and culture (such as politics and current affairs).

Three women will be selected for a six-month mentorship to support their writing, comprising of two sessions each with a Hachette UK author and editor as well as a literary agent (participating industry professionals to be announced); access to a two-night writing retreat in 2026 at Starcroft Farm Cabins in Sussex; and the invaluable opportunities and support from being part of the Women’s Prize community, including opportunities to network, and industry knowledge and insight.

Applications for the mentoring opportunity will open in early 2026. Entrants must submit a proposal of up to 8,000 words consisting of an overview, writing sample and chapter breakdown to the platform hosted by Changing the Story, Hachette UK’s commitment to ensuring they include all voices, perspectives, and ideas in their partnerships, people, and publishing, and coordinated by the Women’s Prize Trust.

To mark the completion of the fifth year of Discoveries, the Women’s Prize Trust and Hachette UK are co-hosting ‘Discoveries Day’, offering for the first time the programme’s now 80-strong alumni – writers who were all selected for the Discoveries programme across its first five years – an opportunity to come together for professional development and networking in person.

Taking place on Monday 3 November at Hachette UK’s London office, Carmelite House, the illuminating programme will focus on enhancing knowledge and understanding of the publishing process, inspiring and preparing writers as they come to market, and an enriching opportunity to network and socialise with peers in the expansive Discoveries community.

There will be presentations from five Hachette UK editors; sessions explaining rights, sales, design, contracts and finance; a case study of the winner of the inaugural Discoveries Prize in 2021, Emma van Straaten, whose debut novel This Immaculate Body was published to great acclaim in February by Little, Brown in the UK and US (as Creep); and practical one-to-ones with Curtis Brown literary agents offering feedback on pitches.

The day will conclude with an evening discussion featuring bestselling author and new writer champion Dorothy Koomson, published by Headline, and Founder Director of the Women’s Prize for Fiction and the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction, Kate Mosse.

Discoveries is the writing development programme and prize run by the Women’s Prize Trust – in partnership with Audible, the Curtis Brown Literary and Talent Agency, and the Curtis Brown Creative writing school – that recognises untapped diverse and exceptional writing talent. Submissions for Discoveries 2026 will open on Tuesday 16 September 2025.

Fresh from the joyful experience at the Edinburgh international Book Festival of showcasing three of the Discoveries writers publishing their debut novels next year, we are thrilled to bring together all of the writers from the past five years of the Discoveries programme.

Built with input from our ‘Disco Queens’, we have devised a CPD programme that will support each of them individually, alongside opportunities to celebrate and learn from each other in whole-group sessions, and the incredible roster of professional aces served up from across the Hachette group.

Hachette UK’s shared commitment to breaking down barriers to a creative career – that are particularly acute for women – enables us to continue to stimulate the talent pipeline with writers who otherwise would not have had the access or opportunity to publish, to disrupt the traditional commissioning model, and to relish time spent with the most wonderful group of writers.

Claire Shanahan, Executive Director of the Women’s Prize Trust Our new partnership with the Women’s Prize is the perfect collaboration with Hachette UK’s Changing the Story initiative. We are delighted to be hosting the first ever Discoveries Day, with so many of our talented Hachette colleagues supporting new writers across a packed programme.

As soon as the Women’s Prize team shared their brilliant idea for the Horizons mentoring scheme, we knew we wanted to collaborate. There is an urgent need to empower women who are experts in their fields, to support them to believe that they can and should write about their ideas and experience, and to remove barriers for their voices to be heard. We can’t wait to read them.

Katie Espiner, CEO, Adult Trade Divisions at Hachette UK Learn more about Discoveries here Learn more about Horizons here Join our 16 million-strong community of book lovers. Get weekly book recommendations Writing tips and inspiration First-hand updates on the Prizes Insider community updates & more Bailey's Women's Prize for Fiction announces 2014 shortlist Announcing our 2021 Judging Panel Announcing the 2024 Discoveries shortlist!

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