🌍 Writing Scholarship for African Writers ✍️ The Miles Morland Foundation Grant to Write Your First Book 📖 (£18,000)

Do you have a book in you but no time to write it? The Miles Morland Foundation Writing Scholarship gives writers born in Africa the time and support to produce the first draft of a completed book, with a grant of £18,000 paid over twelve months.

About the Scholarship

It can be difficult for writers, before they become established, to write while simultaneously earning a living. To help meet this need, the Miles Morland Foundation (MMF) annually awards a small number of Morland Writing Scholarships, with the aim of allowing each Scholar the time to produce the first draft of a completed book.

The Grant

💶 Scholars 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.

Who Can Apply

✍️ 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 Scholar's Undertaking

📝 At the end of each month, Scholars must send the Foundation 10,000 new words that they have written over the course of the month.

🤝 Scholars are also asked to donate to the MMF 20 per cent of whatever they subsequently receive from the book they write during the period of their Scholarship, including revenues from film rights, serialisations or other ancillary revenues. These funds are used to support other promising writers, and the 20 per cent return obligation should be considered a debt of honour rather than a legally binding obligation.

Qualifications

📖 To qualify, a candidate must submit an excerpt from a piece of work of between 2,000 and 5,000 words, written in English, that has been published and offered for sale, with clear evidence that the piece has been both published and offered for sale. Submissions are evaluated by a panel of readers and judges set up by the MMF, and the work is 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, and submissions of this nature do not qualify.

The Proposed Work

📚 Candidates should submit a description of between 400 and 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, must be for a new work rather than a work in progress, and must be in English. The MMF does not accept proposals for collaborative writing or short story collections.

✒️ The Foundation welcomes both fiction and non-fiction proposals. The Scholarships are meant for full-length works of adult fiction or non-fiction, so poetry, plays, film scripts, children's books and short story collections do not qualify.

📚 Another opportunity still open in 🇿🇦 South Africa: Scholarship in 🇿🇦 South Africa – One Young World Leading Scholarship → https://youthworkshub.org/20069

Shortlisting

📌 If you are shortlisted, you will be asked to send a 3,000 to 4,000 word "chapter" of the book you propose to write, to help the judges assess your ability. Writers are notified that they are on the shortlist at the end of October and then have 15 days to return the sample chapter, so it is worth doing some advance thinking about it.

📄 You will also be asked to tell the Foundation, in 200 to 300 words, something about yourself and your background, and people who reach the shortlist will be asked for further information about themselves and how they propose to write their book.

Mentoring

🧑‍🏫 The Foundation does not review or comment on the monthly submissions as they come in, but each Scholar is offered the opportunity to be mentored by an established author or publisher. In most cases the mentorship begins after the book has been finished and the Scholarship period has ended, and at the Foundation's discretion the cost of the mentorship is borne by the MMF. The MMF does not act as editor or publisher, so Scholars need to find their own agents and publishers, although the MMF is happy to offer advice.

Residency and Starting Time

🏠 This is not a residential Scholarship, so it is up to the Scholars what their living arrangements are during their Scholarship year.

🗓️ Scholars may elect to start at any time between January and June in the year following the Scholarship Award, with their payments and the 10,000-word monthly submission requirement starting at the same time. The only condition imposed during the year is that they must write, submitting at least 10,000 new words every month until they finish their book or their Scholarship term ends. If the first draft is completed before the year is up, payments continue while the Scholar edits and refines the work.

✒️ One more scholarship to consider: Scholarship in 🇬🇧 the United Kingdom – Marshall Scholarships → https://youthworkshub.org/20075

Application Checklist

✅ A submission of between 2,000 and 5,000 words, as a Word document, of work that has been published and offered for sale.

✅ Proof of publication and proof of sale.

✅ A description of between 400 and 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 and 300 words.

✅ A note telling the Foundation how you heard about the Morland Writing Scholarships.

Important Dates

🗓️ Applications are received between 1 July 2026 and 22 September 2026. Applications submitted outside that period will not be looked at.

How to Apply

Read and observe the requirements set out in the FAQs first, then apply by clicking the blue "Morland Writing Scholarship Application" box that appears on any page of the website, ensuring you have enclosed all six items on the checklist.