Women’s Prize for Fiction Announces New Sponsorship Model for 2018

The Women’s Prize for Fiction – one of the biggest celebrations of women’s creativity anywhere in the world – will be adopting a new sponsorship model from 2018, it was announced today, Wednesday 31 May.

From next year, the Prize – to revert in title to the ‘Women’s Prize for Fiction’ – will be supported by a family of sponsors, a group of leading brands and businesses from different sectors, rather than by a single title sponsor. The Prize is delighted to confirm that Baileys, which has held the title sponsorship for the past four years, will be part of this family of sponsors. The full line-up will be announced in the autumn as part of the launch of the 2018 Prize.

Kate Mosse, novelist and co-founder of the Prize, said: “We are excited to be announcing the next chapter for the Prize. Our family of sponsors model not only gives us a new sustainable way of working in a changing world – based on one already successfully used in other areas of the arts – but also will enable us to reach an even wider range of readers through the varied and long-term partnerships we are building.

“Thanks to the support of Diageo over the past four years, the Prize has engaged a broader audience than ever before. We are obviously thrilled that Baileys will be part of our future.”

Syl Saller, Chief Marketing Officer at Diageo, said: “Our partnership with the Prize has been mutually rewarding over the last four years. We are thrilled to continue the relationship in this new model of partnership. We look forward to collaborating with the new family of sponsors as we celebrate women’s voices from around the world.”

The 2017 Prize will be awarded at a ceremony at the Royal Festival Hall in London on Wednesday 7 June.

Ahead of the announcement, the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction will host two special events in London to celebrate the 2017 Shortlist: on Monday 5 June, the annual Shortlist Readings take place at Cadogan Hall, in partnership with Waterstones and on Tuesday 6 June, Foyles Charing Cross Road will hold the BWPFF Book Club, in association with Grazia.

The Women’s Prize for Fiction will also host an event at Latitude Festival 2017 on Sunday 16 July. Panelists include author and former BWPFF judge, Elif Shafak, author, journalist and co-founder of the Women’s Equality Party Catherine Mayer, novelist Naomi Alderman and 2017 BWPFF judge, Sam Baker.

The authors shortlisted for the 2017 Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction are: Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀̀, Naomi Alderman, Linda Grant, C. E. Morgan, Gwendoline Riley and Madeleine Thien.

Previous winners of the Prize include Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Andrea Levy, Lionel Shriver, Zadie Smith and Ali Smith.

The 2017 judges are: Tessa Ross, CEO House Productions (Chair); Sam Baker, journalist, author and co-founder of The Pool; Katie Derham, presenter and broadcaster; Aminatta Forna, award-winning novelist, memoirist and essayist; and Sara Pascoe, comic and author.
For media enquires please contact Kallaway:

Georgina Church Tel: 0207 221 7883 / 07867 335285, georgina.church@kallaway.com

For sponsorship enquiries please contact Rachel Clarke: Rachel.clarke@kallaway.com

About BAILEYS Women’s Prize for Fiction

• In June 2013, the Prize announced a new partnership with Baileys, the world’s first cream liqueur, with the first Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction being awarded in June 2014. The initial sponsorship agreement was for three years, to be renewed on an annual rolling basis.
• The Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction was known as the Orange Prize for Fiction between 1996 and 2012. From 2018, it will revert to being called the Women’s Prize for Fiction
• The Prize honours the best full-length fiction written in the English language by a woman anywhere in the world and has an all-female judging panel.
• The Prize’s spokesperson is novelist and Women’s Prize co-founder Kate Mosse, Harriet Hastings is Managing Director and Amanda Johnson is Project Director.
• The Prize’s Board comprises Joanna Prior (Chair), Harriet Hastings (Managing Director), Felicity Blunt (Company Secretary), Annie Coleman, Hannah Griffiths, Karen Jones CBE, Louise Jury, Martha Lane Fox CBE, Nicola Mendelsohn CBE, Arzu Tahsin and Syl Saller. Together they are responsible for the overall management and direction of the Prize and the sponsorship arrangements.
• The Prize’s Advisory Council comprises Kate Mosse OBE, Clare Alexander, Jane Gregory (co-founder), Susan Sandon and Carole Welch.
• The Prize’s Patrons are: Dame Gillian Beer DBE, Rosie Boycott, Liz Calder, ShamiChakrabarti CBE, Helen Fraser CBE, Fi Glover, Daisy Goodwin, Muriel Gray, Bettany Hughes, Paula Kahn, Martha Kearney, Jude Kelly OBE, Helena Kennedy, Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws QC FRSA, Kirsty Lang, Sue MacGregor CBE, Sheena McDonald, Dame Jenni Murray DBE, Penny Perrick, Dame Gail Rebuck DBE, Miranda Richardson, Gillian Shephard, Baroness Shephard of Northwold, Ahdaf Soueif, Sandi Toksvig, Polly Toynbee, Joanna Trollope OBE and Lola Young, Baroness Young of Hornsey OBE.
• In November 2015, a celebration marking the 20th anniversary of the Women’s Prize for Fiction saw Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, winner of the Prize in 2007, named ‘Best of the Best’ of the winners of the second decade of the Prize.
• Andrea Levy was named ‘Best of the Best’ of the first decade of the Prize in 2005 for her novel Small Island, which won the Women’s Prize in 2004.

About BAILEYS:

BAILEYS was the world’s first cream liqueur, the perfect balancing act of aged Irish whiskey woven with fresh Irish dairy cream, a hint of cocoa and vanilla. It’s also the world’s biggest seller, with over 82 million bottles sold worldwide each year. Every minute of every day over 2000 people around the world are enjoying a BAILEYS.

The BAILEYS word and associated logos are trademarks.

About Diageo:

Diageo is a global leader in beverage alcohol with an outstanding collection of brands across spirits, beer and wine categories. These brands include Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, JεB, Buchanan’s and Windsor whiskies, Smirnoff, Cîroc and Ketel One vodkas, Captain Morgan, Baileys, Don Julio, Tanqueray and Guinness.

Diageo is a global company, and our products are sold in more than 180 countries around the world. The company is listed on both the London Stock Exchange (DGE) and the New York Stock Exchange (DEO).

For more information about Diageo, our people, our brands, and performance, visit us at
www.diageo.com. Visit Diageo’s global responsible drinking resource, www.DRINKiQ.com, for information, initiatives, and ways to share best practice.
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