Deadline: August 1, 2026
Applications are open for the Bloomsbury Academic Writing Fellowship 2026. The purpose of the Bloomsbury Academic Writing Fellowship is to help early career academics get their book idea into a form which is ready for publication.
To ensure that the subjects covered by these works are wide-ranging and topical, your manuscript should cover a key theme from across the Humanities and Social Sciences, which include:
- Gender and Sexuality
- Economics and International Development
- Social Welfare, Society and Communities
- Politics, Current Affairs and Government
- Equality and Diversity
- Climate and Environment
- History and Cultural Heritage
- Popular Culture and Media
- Literary Studies
Benefits
The successful recipient(s) of the Fellowship will receive a package of creative support throughout 2027. This will include:
- Editorial support and mentorship:
- A bespoke, one-year mentoring programme offering industry-leading creative support and unique insight into working with a publisher. The programme will be managed by Writers & Artists and Bloomsbury, and will include milestone editorial meetings throughout the year. The mentor will be appointed based on the successful applicant’s field of work, career history and aspirations.
- A typical programme includes four milestone meetings between the mentor and the fellow. Submission deadlines will be agreed ahead of each session, with mentees expected to submit a sample of original writing (to an agreed word count) in advance so that their mentor can prepare accordingly. Each one-hour meeting will focus on discussing progress, editorial suggestions and next steps. Following each session, the mentor will provide a report summarising the discussion.
- Where possible, at least one of the meetings will take place in person at the Bloomsbury Publishing offices in London.
- Financial support:
- The Fellowship will offer £1,000 in financial support to the recipient at the start of the fellowship year
- Events and networking opportunities:
- Registration to a UK-based academic conference attended by Bloomsbury in 2027
- A complimentary place on Writing Non-Fiction, a five-week online course from Writers & Artists
- A complimentary place at any relevant Writers & Artists events taking place in 2027
- An invitation to attend all relevant Bloomsbury Academic author events
- Invitations to participate in any relevant Bloomsbury Academic fellowship panels, recordings or events
- The option of a thirty-minute one-to-one consultation with a literary agent, who will provide proposal feedback and marketplace insight
- Resources:
- Full access to Writers’ & Artists’ online listings: a one-year subscription to a database of thousands of industry contacts
- £250 of Bloomsbury Academic titles
- Runners-up receive £250 worth of Bloomsbury’s books, have the opportunity to attend one Evening Masterclass through Writers & Artists and have access to the W&A Listing Subscription.
Eligibility
To enter the Fellowship, all entrants must:
- Identify as Black, Asian or Ethnically Diverse (BAED)
- Be over 18 and living in the UK during the Fellowship year (2027)
- Not have a publishing contract or agent for the proposed work
- Have passed their viva if the proposed work is based on their PhD thesis
Application
To enter:
- Provide a 200-word synopsis of the work, including a statement about how it aims to educate and inspire within one of the key thematic topics listed above
- Provide a provisional Table of Contents and projected word count
- Upload a 1,000-1,500 word sample extract of the work. Please note only 1,500 words will be reviewed by the judges
- Have an account with writersandartists.co.uk, which is free to create
For more information, visit Bloomsbury Academic Writing Fellowship.
