The Jerwood Fellowships

The Jerwood Fellowships at New Writing North will be awarded to three early career published writers, currently living in the North of England. Each writer will receive a bursary of £10,000 and a bespoke package of support, including mentoring, over the course of a year, beginning in 2026.

The fellowship will be open to writers of fiction, poetry or narrative non-fiction who have had work professionally published. With a focus on artistic excellence, this opportunity aims to support writers at a pivotal point in their careers, as they develop new work towards publication. The three writers will be invited to participate in at least one event scheduled towards the completion of the programme in late 2026.

These Fellowships are generously supported by the Jerwood Foundation and managed by New Writing North.

To be eligible to apply, you must:

• Be living and working in the North of England and planning to remain here for at least another 12 months.
• A writer of fiction, poetry and/or creative non-fiction who has published at least one full-length work (such as a novel, poetry collection or memoir). Your previous work should have received industry recognition, which may include publication by an established trade publisher and/or being shortlisted for/winning awards for your work.
• Identify as an emerging early career writer. This can vary between genres and art forms but, as a guide, this may approximate to having published between one and three full-length works.
• You must have an outline of your current writing project. You should be working towards a new full-length work. This does not have to be in the same genre or art form as your previous books. You will be required to submit a writing extract.

Awardees will receive:

• A £10,000 bursary, paid via four payments across the year, to support the development of a new project towards being ready to submit for publication.
• Three sessions with an experienced writer or industry mentor appointed by New Writing North.
• Support from the Talent Development team at New Writing North.
• Invitations to participate in events and networking opportunities delivered by New Writing North.

There are three parts to the application:

Written Statement

• You must upload a written statement of up to 1000 words. This should include the following:
• Your career as a writer, listing previous titles and their publishers. You may provide links to reviews and endorsements, as well as your own or publisher websites.
• How you believe you will benefit from the support offered by the Fellowship.
• Any specific challenges you face as an early career writer.
• An outline of the project that you will develop during the Fellowship. Explain why you are excited about this book and how it fits within your wider artistic practice.
• Details of the progress you have made with your new project. You may want to include your current word count, or an estimate of how many poems are completed. If you have a full draft, explain how you anticipate working on subsequent drafts.
• Details of any relevant industry relationships, such as agents and publishers you are currently working with.

Letter of Support

Your application must be accompanied by a letter of support from an industry professional. This may include your publisher or agent, a published writer, or a representative at a writer development agency. Please note that New Writing North cannot provide a letter of support for this opportunity.

Letters should be up to 500 words and should cover how the referee knows you, their opinion on how your work is artistically excellent and their confidence in you completing the programme of work in your application.

Writing Extract

For fiction and narrative non-fiction, submit a 3000 to 6000-word extract of your work-in-progress and a synopsis of up to 500 words. For short story collections, please supply at least two stories and an overview of the collection you are working on.

For poetry, submit up to 30 poems from your work-in-progress (or, if longer poems, an equivalent amount) and a commentary of up to 500 words that outlines the key concerns of your collection.

Further Information:

Timeline

3 September 2025, 12pm: Applications open 

15 October, 12pm: Applications close 

5 January 2026: All applicants informed 

February 2026: Awardees announced and Fellowships begin 

How your application will be assessed

Your application will be assessed by a team of five experienced external readers and a judging panel made up of a guest writer judge alongside representatives of New Writing North and the Jerwood Foundation.  

Enquiries

For any application enquiries, please contact Will Mackie, Senior Programme Manager (Talent Development): will@newwritingnorth.com.