'People don't expect women to be funny': Marian Keyes on Comedy women in print shortlist

Revealing the five books in contention for the inaugural prize, Keyes hit out at the internalised sexism leading readers to assume women can’t write comedy

Bestselling novelist Marian Keyes has railed against the sexist attitude that “people don’t expect women to be funny” as she announced the shortlist for the inaugural Comedy women in print prize.

The £2,000 award was founded by the comedian, writer and actor Helen Lederer last year, after Keyes slammed the “sexist imbalance” of the Wodehouse prize for comic fiction. The Wodehouse is the UK’s only prize for funny writing, and has been won by four women in 19 years. Keyes, part of a judging panel for the CWIP that also features comedians Katy Brand and Shazia Mirza, said that “we are all so steeped in internalised sexism that we’re not even aware that it’s there”.

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