Bloomsbury Academic Writing Fellowship 2026 at Bloomsbury Academic, United Kingdom (£1,000 + £250 Books + One-Year Mentorship)

Bloomsbury Academic and Writers & Artists have confirmed that the Bloomsbury Academic Writing Fellowship will run for a fourth year in 2026. The Fellowship exists to help early career academics get a book idea into a form that is ready for publication.

Applications are open to UK-based, up-and-coming authors and researchers who identify as Black, Asian or Ethnically Diverse (BAED). The recipient receives a package of creative support running throughout 2027, built around editorial mentorship, financial support, practical resources and networking. Bloomsbury describes the end goal as getting the author to a point where they feel able to begin approaching prospective publishers.

Bloomsbury Academic is the scholarly publishing arm of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, a listed UK publisher registered in England (No. 01984336) with its registered office at 50 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3DP. Its academic list spans the humanities and social sciences, including Law, and takes in imprints such as Hart, Methuen Drama and The Arden Shakespeare.

Writers & Artists is Bloomsbury's writing-advice and community platform, publisher of the Writers' & Artists' Yearbook. It runs the submissions portal for this Fellowship and co-manages the mentoring programme.

Bloomsbury links the Fellowship to its Belonging & Inclusion Action Plan, and frames the programme philosophy as one book at a time, mentoring a single author towards a lasting career.

To keep the subjects wide-ranging and topical, the proposed manuscript must sit within one of the following thematic topics from across the Humanities and Social Sciences:

• 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

The successful recipient (or recipients) receives a package of creative support throughout 2027:

• Editorial support and mentorship: a bespoke one-year mentoring programme managed by Writers & Artists and Bloomsbury, with the mentor appointed to match the applicant's field of work, career history and aspirations. A typical programme runs four milestone meetings of one hour each. Submission deadlines are agreed ahead of every session, the mentee submits a sample of original writing in advance, and the mentor provides a written report after each meeting. Where possible at least one meeting takes place in person at the Bloomsbury Publishing offices in London.
• Financial support: £1,000 paid to the recipient at the start of the fellowship year.
• Events and networking: registration to a UK-based academic conference attended by Bloomsbury in 2027, a complimentary place on Writing Non-Fiction (a five-week online Writers & Artists course), a complimentary place at any appropriate Writers & Artists event in 2027, an invitation to relevant Bloomsbury Academic author events, and invitations to take part in relevant Bloomsbury Academic fellowship panels, recordings or events.
• Literary agent access: the option of a thirty-minute one-to-one consultation with a literary agent, covering proposal feedback and marketplace insight.
• Resources: full access to the Writers' & Artists' online listings, a one-year subscription to a database of thousands of industry contacts, plus £250 of Bloomsbury Academic books.

Runners-up also receive £250 worth of Bloomsbury's books, the opportunity to attend one Evening Masterclass through Writers & Artists, and access to the W&A Listings Subscription.

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

Projects submitted for the Fellowship in previous years are not eligible, although a past applicant may apply again with a new project.

A note for readers in India: this is a UK-residency Fellowship, not a UK-citizenship one. Indian scholars who are based in the UK, or who will be living in the UK through 2027, fall within the stated criteria, and the BAED requirement expressly includes applicants who identify as Asian. If you will not be resident in the UK during 2027, you are not eligible.

Applications are made through the Writers & Artists submissions page, not directly to Bloomsbury. Entrants must:

• Provide a 200-word synopsis of the work, including a statement on how it aims to educate and inspire within one of the key thematic topics listed above
• Provide a provisional Table of Contents and a projected word count
• Upload a 1,000 to 1,500 word sample extract of the work. Only 1,500 words will be reviewed by the judges
• Hold an account with writersandartists.co.uk, which is free to create
• Submit the entry through the online form

An internet connection is required to submit an entry. Bloomsbury invites applicants with questions or specific accessibility queries to write to the fellowship address given in the contact section.

The application window for the 2026 Fellowship opened at 9:00am UK time on 1 July 2026 and closes at 23:59 UK time on 1 August 2026. Applicants in India should note that the closing time falls in the early hours of 2 August IST, so treat 1 August as the working deadline.

The successful applicant or applicants, chosen by the judging panel, will be announced in December 2026. The Fellowship itself then runs across the 2027 calendar year.

The 2026 Fellowship will be awarded by a panel that brings together researchers and lecturers Richard Kerridge, Claire Alexander, Ulrika Maude, Lisa Pine, Elvis Imafidon and Kadian Pow, alongside literary agent Eli Keren and Emily Drewe, Global Editorial Director at Bloomsbury. Bloomsbury publishes the full panel with biographies on its 2026 judging panel page.