Opportunities
Welcome to Literature Wales’ opportunities page where we share internal and external literary opportunities, from competitions to residencies, from Wales and beyond. If you have any opportunities you’d like us to feature, please email us on: post@literaturewales.org
Due to the current situation in Wales regarding the Coronavirus, we suggest that anyone interested in taking part contacts the organisers directly for the most up-to-date information.
Funding Opportunities
The Authors’ Emergency Fund – rolling
Applications are open to all professional authors who are resident in the UK or British subjects – including all types of writers, illustrators, literary translators, scriptwriters, poets, journalists and others – for whom author-related activities make up a substantial amount of their annual income.
For further information, click here.
The White Pube Writers Grants – rolling monthly
The White Pube Writers Grant is £500 given out monthly to a working class writer based in the UK. This grant has been set up to support writers of all ages who are early in their careers and would benefit from this no-strings attached financial support to help them in whatever they like – be that money to cover time to write, books, web hosting, printing, subscriptions, research, development, travel, or even just money to fund life expenses and rent.
For further information, click here.
Society of Authors Grants for Works in Progress – 1 February
The Authors’ Foundation and K Blundell Trust award grants twice yearly to writers whose book project is for a commercial UK publisher. These grants assist writers with research costs or by buying them time to write, helping them to bring exciting new work into the world. We support writers from a range of genres and styles and at all stages of their literary careers.
For further information, click here.
Residencies
Our Picturesque Landscape Artist in Residency – 21 January
Our Picturesque Landscape is a 5-year National Lottery Heritage Fund Landscape Partnership Scheme which centres on the landscape of the Dee Valley and the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal World Heritage Site. The residencies will take place during year 3 of the Our Picturesque Landscape project, from February – October 2021. We are looking for creative and inspiring contemporary artists who are excited about the opportunity to explore the connections between people and place, past and present. We are particularly interested in hearing from practitioners of a variety of literary or spoken word disciplines; this could include anything from poetry, prose, travel or journal writing, to spoken word audio recording, song, video or digital media/podcasts. The budget for each residency is £3,000, however there may be scope to provide a higher level of funding should there be potential to develop ideas further.
Proposals should be sent to our.picturesque.landscape@denbighshire.gov.uk by the closing date of Wednesday 20 January 2021 at 12.00 pm.
Commissions
BBC Arts Culture in Quarantine – New Commissioning Strand to Support Disabled Artists – 12 January
To mark the 25th anniversary of the Disability Discrimination Act, BBC Arts, Arts Council England, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Arts Council of Wales and Creative Scotland have launched a new Culture in Quarantine commissioning round to celebrate the work of disabled, D/deaf and neurodiverse artists.
Ten established disabled artists will be commissioned from across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales to create new video or audio works to be published on BBC platforms in 2021.
For further information, click here.
Call-outs
Discoveries with Curtis Brown & Curtis Brown Creative – 17 January
Discoveries invites women from across the UK and Ireland of all ages and backgrounds to submit their works of fiction, with the possibility of securing a cash prize of £5,000 and an offer of representation by Curtis Brown Literary Agency. They don’t require writers to have finished a novel – only the first 10,000 words and a synopsis – and it is free to enter.
For further information, click here.
Reflection on Lockdown Storytelling Project – 31 January
During the initial Covid19 lockdown, Age Cymru made more than 20,000 check-in calls to older people and heard a wealth of amazing life stories. At this historic moment, we believe it’s vitally important to capture and celebrate the experiences of older people, who have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic; how their lives have shaped them, and how they have found ways to cope with the isolation of lockdown.
We understand the benefits of taking part in creative activity, and whilst access to many arts and social clubs is still limited, we want to hear your stories. Whether you write yourself, or whether your friends or family help you to capture your experiences, we’d love to hear your story.
For further information, click here.
Freelance Work by The National Library of Wales – 1 February
The Unlocking Our Sound Heritage Project (UOSH)* is pleased to announce an exciting opportunity for freelancers to apply to win a fee for holding workshops with the public to create a new piece of work based on oral history interviews. The purpose of this call is to enable freelancers to create unique works during this period of uncertainty, by using sound files from the collection to inspire the work, demonstrating the importance of Sound Archives. The final work will be displayed on the web, and will be a way of inspiring others to get creative with Welsh sound items.
View full details here.
Cipher Press Call for Submissions – 31 May
Queer indie publisher Cipher Press have opened up submissions for trans and gender non-conforming writers, writers of colour, and working-class writers who identify as LGBTQI+.
Full submission guidelines here: https://www.cipherpress.co.uk/submissions
Black Bee Call for Submissions
Newly launched Black Bee Books is currently open for submissions from under-represented voices in Wales. As a new publishing house based in West Wales, the company want to be reflective of a wide variety of experiences and are actively seeking those who are under-served by the industry.
We are looking to publish both adult and young adult fiction and non-fiction, but not children’s books.
For submission guidelines please see: www.blackbeebooks.wales/contact
Competitions
Spread the Word Life Writing Prize 2021 – 1 February
Launched in 2016 in association with Goldsmiths Writers’ Centre, Spread the Word’s Life Writing Prize was established to celebrate and develop Life Writing in the UK. Free to enter, the Prize is open to writers based in the UK who have yet to publish a full-length work or have a literary agent.
For further information, click here.
Adventures in Fiction Spotlight First Novel Award – 14 February
Writing a novel? Need a little help along the way? Hoping to atract the attention of agents and publishers? Adventures in Fiction are offering one lucky winner a major showcase and invaluable input and support. Winning prize inclused a Stage One mentoring package worth up to £1,270, a webpage for you and your novel and a synopsis or first page posted online.
For full details go to: http://adventuresinfiction.co.uk/spotlight-first-novel-award-2021/
Wales Young Poets Award 2020 – 15 February
The competition is open to poets aged 10-17 living in the UK at the time of submission. Poems can be sent in Welsh or English and must be inspired by the theme ‘Empathy’.
For further information, click here.
Wilbur & Niso Smith Adventure Writing Prize – 7 March
The Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize is an international prize that supports and celebrates the best adventure writing today. This award is open to aspiring, emerging, and also self-published writers anywhere in the world. First prize is a publishing deal with Bonnier Books UK with an advance of £15,000, and up to six shortlisted writers will be offered manuscript development from a top literary consultant.
For further information, visit their website.
2021 New Welsh Writing Awards: Rheidol Prize – 16 March
This year, the New Welsh Writing Awards champion works of 5,000 – 30,000 words in one category, the Rheidol Prize for Prose with a Welsh Theme or Setting, for writers from the UK and Ireland as well as those who have been educated in Wales for over six months. For the first time this year Gwen Davies will also consider one entry by a writer aged 18 – 25 for publication by New Welsh Review in print or online.
1st prize is £1,000 as an advance against e-publication plus a positive critique by Cathryn Summerhayes, literary agent at Curtis Brown.
2nd prize is a four-night stay at Literature Wales’ Nant writers’ retreat cottage within the grounds of Tŷ Newydd Writing Centre in Llanystumdwy, Gwynedd.
3rd prize is a two-day writing retreat at Gladstone’s Library in Flintshire.
For further information, click here.
Namibia-Wales ‘Stories for Children’ Competition – 30 April
Cardiff University & the University of Namibia are asking up-and-coming as well as experienced authors to submit short stories, written in English, suitable for children aged between 7 and 15 years.
For further information, click here.
2021 Bristol Short Story Prize – 5 May
The 2021 Bristol Short Story Prize is open for entries and is open to all writers around the world whether published or unpublished. 20 stories will be shortlisted and published in Bristol Short Story Prize Anthology Volume 14. The winner and 2 runners up will be selected from the shortlist and announced at an awards ceremony in October 2021. 1st prize is £1,000, 2nd prize is £500, 3rd prize is £250. 17 further prizes of £100 will be presented to the remaining shortlisted writers.
Discover more here.