Miles Morland Foundation awards annually 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. 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.
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 may receive a grant of up to £27,000,
paid over a period of up to eighteen months.
Scholar’s Undertaking
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.
Qualifications
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,. This will be evaluated by a
panel of readers and judges set up by the MMF. The work submitted will be
judged purely on literary merit. 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 Requirement
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
e-mail 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.
Proposed Work
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 a completely new work, not a work in progress, and must be in
English.
Biography
Please also tell us in 200 - 300 words something about
yourself and your background. People who reach the short-list will be asked for
further information about themselves and how they propose to write their book.
Fiction or Non-Fiction
The Foundation welcomes both fiction and non-fiction
proposals. We are aware that non-fiction Scholars may need extra time for
research, so the Foundation may exercise its discretion to offer non-fiction
writers a longer Scholarship period of up to 18 months.
Starting times
The Scholars may elect to start at any time between
January and June in the year following the Scholarship Award. Their payments
and the 10,000 word monthly submission requirement will start at the same time.
Accepted works
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.
Mentoring
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 editor or a publisher. Scholars will need to find their own agents and
publishers although the MMF is happy to offer advice.
Residency
Please note that this is not a residential Scholarship. It
is up to the Scholars what their living arrangements are during their
Scholarship year.
Important Dates
Applications will be received between 30th June
2017 and Oct 31st 2017. Applications submitted outside that period will
not be looked at.
