Frequently Asked Questions
***Applications for the 2024-25 Emerging Poets Development Scheme are OPEN until 22 March 2024 ***
What is the Out-Spoken Emerging Poets Development Scheme?
Organised in conjunction with our partners Spread the Word and New Writing North, the programme is a year-long writer development programme for emerging poets, offering targeted, integrated support and resources to three emerging poets over the course of a year — including regular one-to-one feedback, together with craft and practical resources — aiming to ready you for publication.
Why are you running this programme?
We believe that early-career support is key to a vibrant poetry sector and are keen to offer an ethical space for this to happen. We want to provide both craft and pastoral support to ensure your work reaches its full potential and that you’re empowered enough to navigate and advocate for yourself within the industry.
We hope that this scheme will help create a practical opportunity to open up access to what may still feel like a ‘closed shop’ sector.
Who is Scheme for?
The Scheme is aimed at 18+ emerging poets residing in the UK.
We define ‘Emerging’ as: your work may have appeared online, in magazines, pamphlet form or anthologies, but you are yet to publish a full-length work (however the work you submit as part of your application, and the majority of the work you would be looking to develop over the course of the Scheme, must be unpublished, including self-published online or on social media). ‘Emerging’ is about where you are at in your career, not your age — there is no upper age limit.
The scheme is for poets with a committed writing practice who have not yet published a full collection, who are keen to develop a body of work into a full manuscript and pursue publication.
What does the Scheme offer?
The four mentees will be offered creative and practical support including:
Twelve (12), monthly written feedback and one-to-one creative manuscript development sessions with Anthony Anaxagorou (over a period of 14 months, with no session in August or December), aiming to have a full manuscript in publishable form by end of the year;
free access to our programme of online craft workshops;
£100 cash bursary to be applied to attending in-person or online poetry events;
insight on the less-visible industry knowhow that empowers writers to pursue their careers in the poetry sector.
Do I have to pay anything?
No.
Will it be online or in person?
With a view to both public health concerns, accessibility and inclusivity, all sessions are currently planned to take place online.
There may be potential for sessions to take place in person, should the parties agree, but transport costs to London would not be covered.
What are the Scheme dates?
Submissions will be open from 12 January 2024 and will close at 11pm UK 22 March 2024.
Submissions will be reviewed by the judges and the selections made during April to May 2024.
The four selected mentees will be announced in July 2024, and the monthly mentoring sessions will commence that month. The Scheme will run from July 2024 to September 2025 (with a month’s hiatus in each of August 2024 and December 2024).
What kind of commitment would you expect from me?
A core aspect of the programme is the development of your body of work over the course of the year’s one-to-one sessions, with a view to readying you for publication.
To make the most of this, you will need to be available for monthly zoom meetings with Anthony (duration approx 1hr each) to be scheduled at your mutual convenience. In addition, you’ll need to be able to work on your poems between sessions, either to provide new work for feedback or to develop existing pieces further. You should bear this in mind when applying. We would also expect you to be available to attend the other online workshops and professional development sessions, though every reasonable effort will be made to schedule these at times which work for you.
How do I apply?
A. Poets who live in the North of England (defined as the areas covered by Arts Council England in Yorkshire, North East and North West), should apply through the New Writing North Northern Writers’ Awards portal here: www.northernwritersawards.com
B. Poets who live in the rest of the UK should apply:
(a) through our Submittable portal here: https://out-spoken.submittable.com/submit ; or
(b) on a paper form, which you can download here and post to us; or
(c) as an audio file, or as a video file if you use a BSL interpreter. Please contact us by email on press@outspokenldn.com if you wish to use this option.
In each instance you will need to provide a sample of your poetry (up to 5 poems or 4 pages of A4, whichever is shorter).
Who is eligible to apply?
You must be 18+ on the submission closing date, and resident in the UK.
You do not need to have a record of publication in magazines/journals. You may have published a pamphlet previously, and/or contributed to published anthologies, but if you have published a full collection of poetry you are not eligible.
The aim of the programme is to develop a publishable manuscript; self-published poets are eligible provided the writing sample you submit meets the judges criteria, and the work you are looking to develop is previously unpublished.
You do not need to have a manuscript draft, but you should have a body of poems to develop and build on, and a commitment to your writing practice, in order to make the most benefit from the scheme. The monthly mentoring sessions rely on your working on your poems between sessions each month, so you should bear this time commitment in mind when applying.
Where do I need to live?
You must live in the UK.
For the mentees to be selected as part of the Northern Writers’ Awards, you must be based in the North of England. The North of England is defined as the areas covered by Arts Council England in Yorkshire, North East and North West. Further information can be found on the Northern Writers’ Awards website here: www.northernwritersawards.com
If you live in the UK but are not resident in the North of England, you can apply for the other two places, via the Out-Spoken Submittable portal here.
Who are the judges?
For the mentees resident in the North East / North West / Yorkshire, selected in conjunction with the New Writing North administered Northern Writers’ Awards, the mentees will be selected by Malika Booker, the poetry category judge of this year’s Northern Writers’ Awards, together with Anthony Anaxagorou. The full eligibility criteria and T&Cs for these places can be found here: www.northernwritersawards.com
The two mentees resident elsewhere in the UK will be selected through our Out-Spoken submissions portal by our judge Sandeep Parmar, together with Anthony Anaxagorou. The judges will read all submissions, but due to the volume of submissions we anticipate getting we regret we are not able to enter into correspondence regarding the decisions reached by the judges.
Will applications be judged anonymously?
Yes.
Entries through both the Northern Writers’ Awards portal, for writers residing in the North of England, and through the Out-Spoken Submittable portal will be anonymised. Please do not include your name in your writing sample, nor your cover letter.
You are welcome and encouraged to provide context to your application including your aims, a publication record, and other writing experiences, but please do not include your name.
When is the application deadline?
Applications will close at 11pm UK on 22 March 2024. Applications received after this time will not be considered.
My question isn’t listed here, what do I do?
If you’ve read these FAQ, our Eligibility Guidelines and T&Cs, and you have a query that’s not addressed, do please email Patricia Ferguson on press@outspokenldn.com and she’ll be happy to help.