Writing Producers’ Scheme

Please note, applications for this call are now closed. We are immensely grateful to everyone who has expressed their interest in the Writing Producers’ Scheme and spread the word. Our next step is to shortlist applicants. We will ask shortlisted applicants for a full application in early April.

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As part of Paper Nations’ ongoing quest to establish the South-West region as a place for writers, we are launching the Writing Producers’ Scheme.

The Writing Producers’ Scheme will support writing producers to create, expand, and sustain writing initiatives. We’ll do this by mentoring writing producers to develop their writing project ideas, create sustainable business plans, and write proposals for financing and grants.

The application process is open and can be found at the bottom of this page. Please share this call with anyone who you think may be interested.

We are looking for:

Producers with ideas and proposals that will contribute to the development and sustainability of a ‘place for writers’ in the upper South-West region of England.

Writing producers are simply those who create or help to run writing initiatives. Producers may come from a strictly writing or publishing background or they may have produced events or schemes in another industry. They could be entrepreneurs, workshop leaders or other kinds of writing educators.

A Place for Writers is a region where writing and storytelling are nurtured, and where diverse voices are developed and valued. As part of this we are supporting the development of villages, towns, cities, writing destinations, and communities. We’re also working closely with creative industry partners to incubate community interest companies, social enterprises and micro businesses and SMEs that support writers.

How could the Writing Producers’ scheme help me?

Successful applicants can propose ideas for writing initiatives and projects. You may have a project that you want to launch or an existing initiative that needs support. We will help candidates make this project happen by providing a sponsored 1-2-1 mentoring session as well as a place on our 2020 Dare to Write? Academy Habit Camp. Producers can use the scheme to incubate ideas, and get mentoring and support for writing funding proposals.

All successful applicants will receive an events pass, gaining free access to events provided in collaboration with the Dare to Write? Academy. You will also be able to access a coworking space in Palace Yard Mews, central Bath.

In addition to providing mentoring support, producers will have the option to be added to a database of writing producers within the upper South-West region. The database may be shared with other organisations who have paid opportunities for writing producers and/or educators.

How do I apply?

Applicants can fill in an expression of interest (EOI) form using the button at the bottom of this page. The EOI form will take about 15 minutes to complete. It asks applicants to tell us about themselves, their experience, and their project idea.

Applications closed at midday on Thursday 12th March. Successful applicants will be informed in April 2020. More information on the application process is available in our downloadable FAQ, which is available below.

Who can apply?

Those who apply for this scheme must value creativity and be organised, with a practical mindset. They must also believe in our vision to make writing accessible to everyone and be able to contribute to our mission to establish the South-West as a Place for Writers.

This call is open to people from all backgrounds but we are keen to broaden the range of voices in the world of writing and publishing, to hear from people from backgrounds that are not currently well represented. These include: people of colour, working class people, people from areas of rural or coastal deprivation, people who have experienced homelessness, refugees, people from the LGBTQ+ communities, people who have survived abuse, disabled people, and people with chronic health conditions.

You must live and work in Wiltshire, Gloucestershire (inc. South Glos), or Somerset to be eligible.

What do you mean by a writing project or initiative? How do I know if my idea ‘counts’?

Writing initiatives and projects could be any number of things. We don’t wish to be too specific as we would like to support a range of different ideas. Your project could be purely creative writing-based, or it could be interdisciplinary (take, for example, the way in which the Maths Poems project blended poetry and mathematics).

Your project could involve a series of workshops or events, or you could build something like an app, website, or resource that will serve the writing community. It could be mentoring-based, focused on developing networks and partnerships, or offer showcasing opportunities such as publishing. It could be enterprise-focused, like helping charities or local start-ups write about the work that they do or it could aim to be an established writing business, like The Good Literary Agency. Or it could be more of an installation. Your concept could be large or small, for a specific demographic, or be open to everyone. The options are endless.

What do we expect from successful applicants?

We will ask you to keep journals of your progress and document your work through any of the following: written reports, blogs for the Paper Nations website, and quotes to be used on public-facing media.

Your experiences will be showcased as part of our Writing for All events planned for 2020-2021. You will be expected to demonstrate the impact of the commission on your creative practice. We will provide templates and support to help you do this.

I don’t have an idea of my own but I am a project manager or producer with skills to offer. Can I apply to work for Paper Nations?

If you are a writing producer without their own concept, who is looking to work on and support Paper Nations’ own projects you should fill out this separate EOI form.

Need more information?