Published: 12 Sep 2023
Application deadline: Tuesday 17 October 2023
Creative Scotland invites applications from cultural, education, health and organisations within other environments to host a writer in residence. Funding from The National Lottery through Creative Scotland is available to organisations to host a Dr Gavin Wallace Fellowship which offers mid-career and established writers time to develop creative work during a year-long residency.
Previous Fellow partnerships include Times Bestseller and Waterstones Scottish Book of the Year winner, Mary Paulson-Ellis at Edinburgh City of Literature Trust; children’s author Maisie Chan at Peter Pan Moat Brae; author and poet, Jenni Fagan at Edinburgh’s Summerhall; playwriter, Morna Young at Aberdeen City Council’s Creative Learning resource; fiction writer, Kirsty Logan at the University of Glasgow’s Association for Scottish Literary Studies, playwriter/poet, Martin O’Connor at the Playwright’s Studio Scotland in partnership with the Royal Lyceum Theatre and Helen Sedgwick with Creative Scotland.
Reflecting on their experience of hosting of the 2023 Fellowship, Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature Trust’s Director, Ali Bowden said: “We’ve been delighted to host the Gavin Wallace Fellowship in 2023 and it’s been an experience that’s far exceeded our expectations. Writing Fellow, Mary Paulson-Ellis has been wonderful to work with and our international project is developing well. As an organisation, having an author working so closely with us, providing insights, challenges and encouragement as we plan our future programme has been fantastic and of huge value to us.”
Organisations applying to host the Fellowship are invited to suggest a broad theme related to their own work. The successful host organisation will then recruit a writing fellow. An award of £25,000 is available and will be split into a £20,000 stipend for the successful writer and £5,000 for the host organisation.
Harriet MacMillan, Literature Officer at Creative Scotland, said: “The Dr Gavin Wallace Fellowship invites applications from organisations to host a mid-career writer and form a strong creative partnership. The residency provides writers with the opportunity to engage with unique places or contexts and to create new work, and for Scottish arts organisations to support the development of and champion great new writing.
“The list of previously awarded authors includes some of Scotland’s most interesting and respected literary voices and speaks for itself in the variety and mutual benefit the results from these incredible collaborations can bring.”
Full application guidance and application details can be accessed on the Creative Scotland website.
The Dr Gavin Wallace Fellowship was established in 2014 in memory of Dr Gavin Wallace who dedicated his entire professional life to supporting Scottish literature. Following the sad loss of Dr Wallace in February 2013, Creative Scotland established an annual fellowship in his name to honour his memory and commemorate and continue his good work. The fund is supported by The National Lottery through Creative Scotland.
The National Lottery has raised more than £42 billion for over 625,000 good causes across the UK since 1994. Thanks to National Lottery players, more than £1.2 billion has been awarded in the last year to support communities and thousands of organisations across the UK to cope with the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic. https://www.national-lottery.co.uk/
Creative Scotland is the public body that supports the arts, screen and creative industries across all parts of Scotland distributing funding provided by the Scottish Government and The National Lottery. Further information at creativescotland.com. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Learn more about the value of art and creativity in Scotland and join in at www.ourcreativevoice.scot.
Jacqueline Munro, Media Relations & PR Co-ordinator, Creative Scotland
