Overview:
The Miles Morland Foundation is pleased to announce that the 2020 Morland Writing Scholarships for African writers. It can be difficult for writers, before they become established, to write while simultaneously earning a living. To help meet this need the MMF annually awards a small number of Morland Writing Scholarships, with the aim being to allow each Scholar the time to produce the first draft of a completed book.
Scholarship Grant:
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, who require additional research time, could receive an additional grant, paid over a period of up to eighteen months.
Scholarship Benefits:
The Foundation will not review or comment on the monthly submissions as they come in. However, each Scholar will 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 discretion of the Foundation, the cost of the mentorship will be borne by the MMF. It is not the intention of the MMF to act as an editor or a publisher. Scholars will need to find their own agents and publishers although the MMF is happy to offer advice.
Scholarship Eligibility:
- The Scholarships are open to anyone writing in the English language who was born in Africa, or both of whose parents were born in Africa.
- 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.
- 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 have been published and offered for sale. *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.
Scholarship Requirements:
- The only condition imposed on the Scholars during the year of their Scholarship is that they must write. They will be asked to submit by email at least 10,000 new words every month until they have finished their book, or their Scholarship term has ended. 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.
- 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 the book they write during the period of their Scholarship. This includes revenues as a result of film rights, serialization, 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 honor rather than a legally binding obligation.
- The candidates should submit a description of between 400 - 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 completely new work, not a work in progress, and must be in English.
- Please note that if you are shortlisted for a Morland Writing Scholarship, you will be asked to send us a 3,000 - 4,000-word "chapter" of the book you are proposing to write on your scholarship year to help the judges assess your ability. Writers will be notified that they are on the shortlist at the end of October. Shortlisters will then have 15 days to return the sample "chapter". In view of that, please do some advance thinking about the sample "chapter" you will have to provide if you are shortlisted.
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. Please send proof of publication.
- A description of between 400 - 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.
For More Info Please go to FAQs to answer any further questions concerning the Morland Writing Scholarships
