Masterclass: The Author-Editor Relationship 

Join Women’s Prize-winning author Kamila Shamsie in conversation with her long-standing editor and friend Alexandra Pringle for a unique insight into the art of editing.

When Alexandra Pringle and Kamila Shamsie first met, Shamsie was a 21-year-old creative-writing student, armed with a four-page story and big aspirations. Now, decades on, Kamila Shamsie is a globally renowned author, with eight novels and numerous awards to her name. As her agent, and subsequently her editor, Alexandra Pringle has been there every step of the way – an advocate and supporter, partner and mentor. The duo have achieved the perfect alchemy for an author-editor relationship, one founded upon trust and perseverance.

Coming together for an evening of enriching conversation, Shamsie and Pringle will share valuable insights, observations and lessons on the professional and personal – and truly formative – relationship that exists between author and editor. What are the foundations of a strong author-editor relationship? How does the collaborative process of editing a novel work in practice? And, when there is a fine balance between the personal and professional, how does one navigate the trickier conversations? 

Brought to you by the Women’s Prize Trust and Fane, this is a unique opportunity to hear about the intricacies of a fruitful creative relationship, as well as taking away some practical advice on what to look out for in an editor and how to get your writing noticed by the right people in the industry. 

Whether you’re a writer looking to get published, an avid reader, or simply someone fascinated by creative partnerships, join us for an illuminating and inspiring evening with an international bestselling author and one of the publishing industry’s most renowned editors.

Kamila Shamsie’s latest novel, Best of Friends, is published in paperback on 8 June 2023. 

The Silk Road Slippers Writing Masterclasses, run by Alexandra Pringle’s company Silk Road Slippers, will take place in November over six days at a boutique hotel in Marrakesh, Morocco. Find out more here.

Date: 7pm, Thursday 8^th June 2023

Location: Online

Tickets: £20

Speaker bios 
Kamila Shamsie is the author of eight previous novels including Burnt Shadows, shortlisted for the Orange Prize, and A God in Every Stone, shortlisted for the Women’s Bailey’s Prize and the Walter Scott Prize. Her novel Home Fire won the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2018. It was also longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2017, shortlisted for the Costa Best Novel Award, and won the London Hellenic Prize. Her work has been translated into over thirty languages. Kamila Shamsie is a Fellow and Vice President of the Royal Society of Literature and was named a Granta Best of Young British Novelist in 2013. She is professor of creative writing at the University of Manchester. She grew up in Karachi and now lives in London. @kamilashamsie

Publisher and director of Silk Road Slippers – the fourth person to join Virago Press in the 1970s and editor-in-chief of Bloomsbury Publishing for more than two decades working with such authors as Khaled Hosseini, Kamila Shamsie, Elizabeth Gilbert, Ann Patchett, Madeline Miller, George Saunders and Susanna Clarke.  She is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and has been awarded Honorary Degrees of Doctor of Letters from Anglia Ruskin and Warwick Universities. With colleagues Nesrine Malik, Alex von Tunzelmann and Faiza Khan she runs the Silk Road Slippers Bookclub and Writing Masterclasses in Marrakech. @alexandrapring

Five free tickets for this Fane x Women’s Prize Trust event are available for women on a low income whose financial situation prohibits them from attending the event, resident in England or Wales, prioritising those from marginalised backgrounds (writers of colour, disabled writers, LGBTQ writers and other under-represented groups). If you are not sure what low-income means, the Citizens Advice Bureau has some useful guidelines here, and there are some helpful calculations here to show how these margins are measured by the Government across the country. If you are a full-time student or pensioner, or in receipt of any kind of Universal Credit, you are eligible to apply.

To apply, please email info@womensprizeforfiction.co.uk with the subject line: ‘Editorial Masterclass subsidised place’, with a little bit about yourself, why you are interested, how you think you will benefit from the session, and attaching any relevant paperwork you have. We will reply to successful applicants by Thursday 1st June.