1st February, 2017

Bailey's drops title sponsorship of Women's Prize for Fiction

The Women's Prize for Fiction – one of the most respected and successful literary awards in the world – and Baileys have announced jointly that 2017 will be Baileys' last year of title sponsorship.

The Prize is now seeking a new sponsor for 2018 and beyond. Baileys will continue their support for the prize with Syl Saller, Chief Marketing Officer at Diageo, joining the Women's Prize for Fiction board.

Previously known as the Orange Prize, the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction honours the best full-length fiction written in the English language by a woman anywhere in the world.

The £30,000 Prize has continued to grow in reputation and awareness, sparking debate and attracting widespread international media attention, at the same time as introducing new audiences, both male and female, to the best fiction by women.

Kate Mosse, novelist and co-founder of the Prize, said: "We are enormously grateful to Baileys for all it has done to support the Prize over the past four years. As illustrated by Baileys and Orange, the Prize's stature and unique global positioning attracts world-class brands.

"While we look forward to making 2017 a fabulous final year for Baileys, we are also excited about the possibility of building a partnership with a different sponsor for 2018 and beyond".

Martha Lane Fox, Women's Prize for Fiction Board member added: "This is an unparalleled commercial opportunity to access an increasingly important financial market and provide an inspirational brand platform to champion the voices of women. All the latest research shows that customers want to engage with brands with a social purpose – what better way than to help celebrate women’s voices across the world".

Syl Saller, Chief Marketing Officer at Diageo, commented: "We are very proud to have supported the Women's Prize for Fiction for four years. It has been an honour to champion the very best international fiction written by women and to help connect that work with the large readership it deserves.

"However, Baileys now needs to increase its investment behind global activities that work across both English and non-English speaking markets. Regretfully, therefore, we have decided to make way for a new sponsor. We look forward to making 2017 an exceptional year. Baileys will remain a staunch advocate for the Prize and I am delighted to be continuing our support by joining the Board".

The Prize continues to evolve and has formed highly successful partnerships with leading brands such as Whistles, Waterstones, Grazia Magazine and Amazon, enabling it to engage with even more readers across the UK and beyond.

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

The Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction 2017 will be awarded on 7th June, 2017 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London. The judges will be 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.

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