Deadline: October 31, 2016
Miles Morland Foundation (MFF) is currently accepting applications from young African writers for the annual writing scholarship. The MMF Writing scholarships aims to give three fiction writers and one non-fiction writer the financial freedom to complete an English-language book.
Eligibility
- The Scholarships is open to anyone who had been born in Africa or both of whose parents were born in Africa.
- To qualify for the Scholarship a candidate must submit an excerpt from a piece of work of between 2,000 – 5,000 words written in English that has been published and offered for sale.
- The Scholarships are meant for full length works of adult fiction or non-fiction. Poetry, plays, film scripts, children’s books, and short story collections do not qualify.
Note: It is not the purpose of the Scholarships to support academic or scientific research, or works of special interest such as religious or political writings. Submissions or proposals of this nature do not qualify.
Awards/Grants/Support
- Scholars writing fiction will receive a grant of £18,000, paid monthly over the course of twelve 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 eighteen months.
- Each Scholar will be offered the opportunity to be mentored by an established author or publisher.
Scholars Responsibility
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. This includes revenues as a result of film rights, serialisations or other ancillary revenues arising from the book written during the Scholarship period. These funds will be used to support other promising writers. The 20% return obligation should be considered a debt of honour rather than a legally binding obligation.
Proposed Work
The candidates should submit a description of up to 1,000 words of the work they intend to write. The proposal must be for a full length book of no fewer than 80,000 words. The MMF does not accept proposals for collaborative writing or short story collections. The proposal should be for a completely new work, not a work in progress, and must be in English.
How to Apply
Before applying, please read and understand the FAQs.
All enquiries and submissions relating to the Morland Scholarships should be directed to [email protected]. Have you enclosed all five things on the checklist below? If not, do not send a submission.
- A submission of between 2,000 to 5,000 words as a Word document of work that has been published and offered for sale.
- A description of up to 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.
- A brief bio of between 200 – 300 words.
- Please tell us how you heard about the Morland Writing Scholarships.
The short-list will be published in November and the winners announced in December 2016.
For more information, visit Miles Morland Foundation
