About the prize

The Contemporary Women’s Writing Essay Prize aims to encourage new scholarship in the field of contemporary women’s writing, recognise and reward outstanding achievement by new researchers and support the professional development of next generation scholars.

The prize is open to anyone currently registered for a PhD, or anyone who has completed one within three years of the submission deadline. 

The winning entry will be:

• Submitted for publication in Contemporary Women’s Writing
• Awarded one year’s free membership of the Contemporary Women’s Writing Association, including one year’s free subscription to Contemporary Women’s Writing
• Awarded a choice of Oxford University Press books to the value of £100

Other entries of sufficient quality may also be considered for publication.

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2024

The editors of the journal are pleased to announce the winner of the 2024 Contemporary Women's Writing Essay Prize:

• Deirdre Canavan, "A break with tradition: Gail McConnell’s post-conflict elegy."

Explore previous winning articles

CWW Interviews

Contemporary Women’s Writing regularly publishes rigorous, formal interviews that probe the work of women writers in depth and make a significant contribution to the understanding of their writing.

Most of the interviews published in the journal are free to read online.

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Kim Thúy

“My Work Is to Show That It’s So Much More Beautiful When You Can Mix”: An Interview With Kim Thúy 
Interview by Eglė Kačkutė and Valerie Heffernan
Volume 18, Issue 2

Myriam Gurba

Atypical True Crime, Laughing at Offenders, and the Publishing Industry: An Interview with Myriam Gurba
Interviewed by Hannah Spruce
Volume 16 Issue 3

Jennifer Egan

"A Willingness to Do and Try Anything": An Interview with Jennifer Egan
Interviewed by Alicia J Rouverol and Valerie O′Riordan
Volume 15 Issue 2

Brigid Brophy

Guest edited by Sonya Andermahr

This special issue sets out to redress the egregious critical neglect of Brophy’s work and to explore her legacy, not only with reference to the women novelists of her own generation, such as Iris Murdoch, Maureen Duffy, Mary McCarthy, and Christine Brooke-Rose, but also to her influence, direct and indirect, on successive generations of women writers such as Angela Carter and Ali Smith. 

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Margaret Atwood

Guest edited by Fiona Tolan

The articles collected in this special issue are written by Atwood scholars of international standing. This special issue points to the enduring vitality of Atwood's work, which continues to carve out new directions in the twenty-first century and to ensure that the remarkable career of a formidable writer remains open to new developments and unexpected discoveries.

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Browse all special issues

Contemporary Women's Writing periodically publishes special issues of the journal on specific themes of interest to the discipline.

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Why everyone loves I Love Dick

“How is it that a novel about a 39 year-old failed filmmaker in a sexless marriage has come to have such enduring influence and interest?”

Why everyone loves I Love Dick by Anna Poletti

In this blog post, based on her interview with Chris Kraus, Anna Poletti looks at the cult phenomenon that is I Love Dick.

Image credit: Oxford Journals End-User Marketing team really do love I Love Dick by Alex Beaumont. Used with permission.