We set up the Primadonna Prize because we wanted to open up access to the publishing industry.

Now Primadonna Publishing is an imprint of Renard Press, continuing the good work, initially through a relaunched Primadonna Prize, in 2026.

The original Primadonna Festival and associated prize was the brainchild of a group of founding volunteers, all united in a desire to open the publishing industry and book festivals to wider audiences and full participation of voices too often excluded or marginalised.

The idea quickly grew into an annual festival, first held in 2019, under the slogan “The world as it should be, for one weekend”. The Primadonna Prize produced five brilliant winners over as many years, with Elissa Soave, now a three-time novelist, the first, and Natalie Gregory the most recent. Natalie’s debut novel, Mother Ghost Mango Seed, came out in June.

Other authors to secure publishing deals via Primadonna include Louise Mumford, Anita Lehmann and Jenny Knight. Many aspiring writers and festivalgoers found support, encouragement, contacts and community via Primadonna – and also joy.

Now Renard Press and Primadonna are joining together to relaunch the prize, and to found Primadonna Publishing – an imprint rooted in Primadonna and Renard Press’s shared core values and aims, including a commitment to inclusivity and opening up publishing for authors and readers. 

In selecting the theme for first-round submission for the 2027 Primadonna Prize, we unanimously alighted on one word – joy.

Watch this space…

Open call coming soon…

The next Primadonna Prize open call will run from the 1st November.

Leave your email address here to be the first to hear…