Call for applications: Morland writing scholarships

it can be difficult for writers, before they become established, to write while simultaneously earning a living. To help meet this need, every year the Miles Morland Foundation (MMF) awards a small number of Morland Writing Scholarships to African writers.The proposal must be for a full-length book of adult fiction or non-fiction of no fewer than 80,000 words, in English. The MMF does not accept proposals for collaborative writing or short-story collections. Scholars writing fiction will receive a grant of £18,000, paid monthly over the course of 12 months. At the discretion of…

it can be difficult for writers, before they become established, to write while simultaneously earning a living. To help meet this need, every year the Miles Morland Foundation (MMF) awards a small number of Morland Writing Scholarships to African writers.

The proposal must be for a full-length book of adult fiction or non-fiction of no fewer than 80,000 words, in English. The MMF does not accept proposals for collaborative writing or short-story collections.

Scholars writing fiction will receive a grant of £18,000, paid monthly over the course of 12 months. At the discretion of the Foundation, scholars writing non-fiction may receive a grant of up to £27,000, paid over a period of up to 18 months. If the first draft of the book is completed before the year is up, payments will continue while the scholar edits and refines their work. 

Each scholar will also be offered the opportunity to be mentored by an established author or publisher. In most cases, the mentorship will begin after the book has been finished and the scholarship period has ended.

At the end of each month, scholars must send the Foundation 10,000 new words that they will have written over the course of the month. Scholars are also asked to donate to the MMF 20% of whatever they subsequently receive from what they write during the period of their scholarship. These funds will be used to support other promising writers.

Please note that this scholarship is not residential.

To apply, please send an email to [email protected]and submit the following:

• An excerpt from a piece of work of between 2,000 and 5,000 words written in English that has been published and offered for sale;
• A description of between 400 and 1,000 words about the new book you intend to write; 
• A scan of an official document showing that you, or both of your parents, were born in Africa (including Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia);
• A brief biography about you and your background of between 200 and 300 words;
• How you heard about the Morland Writing Scholarships.

The work submitted will be judged purely on its literary merit. 

The submission deadline is 31 October 2016. 

For more information, please click here or read the FAQs.

Based in London, the Miles Morland Foundation (MMF) is a UK charity founded in 2013, which aims to allow Africans to get their voices heard more widely. Over the past two years, it has supported literary and film festivals, cultural and educational initiatives, and scholarships. Last year, the Foundation received over 350 entries for the scholarship.