After reading history at Cambridge, Daisy Goodwin went to Columbia Film School as a Harkness Fellow. Daisy worked in TV for 20 years and created a number of groundbreaking formats including Grand Designs - now in its 24th year. Alongside her TV work, Daisy has written a memoir, Silver River and four novels: My Last Duchess (UK)/The American Heiress (US) and The Fortune Hunter, which were both New York Times bestsellers, Victoria – inspired by the 8-part TV series she wrote about the early life of Queen Victoria for ITV and WGBH Masterpiece Theatre – and the forthcoming Diva (2024), based on the life and legend of Maria Callas.
Daisy has also compiled nine poetry anthologies including 101 Poems that Could Save your Life and 100 Poems to See You Through.
Daisy takes over as Prize Chair from award-winning author Dame Rose Tremain.
The 2024 judging panel welcomes back Tim Bates, Head of the Books Department and literary agent at Peters Fraser Dunlop; Dr Isobel Maddison, Fellow Emerita of Lucy Cavendish College where she was Lecturer and Director of Studies in English; Jackie Ashley, political journalist, broadcaster and Honorary Fellow of the College; Gillian Stern, editor and ghost-writer; Lindsey Traub, Fellow Emerita; and Phoebe Morgan, Harper Collins Editorial Director and author of four novels published by HQ. Joining the panel this year is Cathy Moore, Founder, CEO & Artistic Director of the Cambridge Literary Festival, University of Cambridge.
Daisy Goodwin says: “I am honoured to have been asked to chair this prize - it has such a fabulous track record of picking the great female novelists of the future.”
Read more about the judging panel.
The Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize is now in its fourteenth year and has been a launch pad for novelists. Since its foundation in 2010, many shortlisted authors have been offered agency representation and have gone on to be published, becoming bestsellers. We are extremely proud to be the starting point in numerous entrants’ success stories, giving them the platform to launch successful careers.
Read more about the successful authors here.
Submissions for the 2024 Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize are welcome until February 2024.
Visit our website to find out more and enter.
About Lucy Cavendish College
Lucy Cavendish College’s mission is to unlock the potential of students from non-traditional and underrepresented backgrounds who are driven by a desire to make a difference and are committed to having a positive and lasting impact on society.
