Sara Pascoe’s novel wins inaugural Jilly Cooper award

Sara Pascoe has won the inaugural Jilly Cooper award at the 2025 Comedy women in print (CWIP) prizes with her novel Weirdo.

The award, newly created in honour of the author and journalist Jilly Cooper, who died last month, recognises writing that embodies her spirit of “brilliant bawdy wit” and her longstanding support of female writers.

Pascoe’s novel follows the chaotic life of narrator Sophie. “Part of the joy of Weirdo is not knowing what to expect, or rather in having your expectations subverted by Sophie’s smoothie-maker of a mind”, writes Ella Risbridger in a Guardian review of the novel, adding that it will “stick with you for a long time”. The prize organisers said Cooper “would approve”.

The CWIP awards, founded by writer and comedian Helen Lederer and first awarded in 2019, celebrate “witty, intelligent writing” by women and non-binary authors across published, unpublished and self-published fiction. This year’s winners were announced at a ceremony in London on 3 November.

The top prize for a published novel went to Nussaibah Younis for her debut Fundamentally. Younis, a British academic and former UN peacebuilding consultant, was the unanimous choice for the award, which carries a £3,000 prize. Her book, shortlisted for the Women’s prize this year, centres on a queer Muslim academic working to deradicalise Islamic State brides, using humour to explore questions of faith and sexuality.

The runner-up was Holly Gramazio for The Husbands, a satire on modern dating that is also inspired by Gramazio’s background in the gaming industry.

This year’s judges included actor Chizzy Akudolu, Susannah Constantine of Trinny and Susannah, and broadcaster Ranvir Singh.

For the unpublished novel category, Natalie Willbe took the top prize with Music for the Samosa Generation, which earned her a debut book deal with Hera Books. The novel explores intergenerational relationships and the balance between love and duty.

Runners-up were Rachel Sambrooks for The Way of Nellie May, about a young woman who breaks her grandmother out of a care home, and Jeananne Craig for Some News, a Belfast- and Dublin-set exploration of family.

The self-published novel category – introduced this year to recognise independent female authors – was won by Ruth Foster for A Perfect Year, a story of three families told through round-robin letters. The runner-up, The Stand-Up Mam by Kay Wilson, follows a mother who tries out performing as a comedian.

“What unites all these novels,” said Lederer, “is that these are brave modern voices questioning key issues – marriage, religion, sexual desire, ageing, weirdness – with wit and warmth. The female comic novel has truly grown up.”

Among the evening’s honorary prizes, Alison Steadman received the witty impact award. The actor, best known for her roles in Abigail’s Party and Gavin and Stacey, was recognised for her enduring influence across stage, screen and comedy.

CWIP is now in its seventh year. “I never thought we’d have a hilarious winning novel about a queer Muslim academic deradicalising Isis brides,” said Lederer. “It feels like a contender for today’s modern British novel.”