Breakthrough Mentoring Programme for LGBTQIA+ Writers

Five talented LGBTQIA+ writers of limited financial means will receive nine months of mentoring from a published author.

This nine-month mentoring programme is part of the Breakthrough Writers’ Programme – our outreach initiative for under-represented authors.

This mentoring will run from July 2022 to April 2023 and seeks to support five aspiring authors with one-to-one guidance from a published author-mentor, plus a tutorial with a literary agent.

Applications close end of day, Sunday 12 June. We will get in touch with all applicants by Thursday 16 June.

Read full mentoring programme details

You can apply for mentoring with respect to a project at any stage of writing (from just starting to redrafting) and for a work written in any of the following genres/categories:

  • Novel written for adults
  • Novel written for children (older than 7) or young adults
  • Collection of short stories
  • Memoir
  • Narrative non-fiction

Eligibility

This mentoring is open to anyone over the age of 18, who identifies as LGBTQIA+ and fulfils our low-income eligibility criteria.

Your submission does not necessarily have to be about LGBTQIA+ experiences, although we are particularly interested in stories with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer characters or themes.

Our financial criteria:

  • Unmarried and not co-habiting with a partner, with an annual (gross, pre-tax) income of less than £25,000 and personal savings of less than £5,000.
  • Married or co-habiting with a partner, with a total annual (gross pre-tax) household income of less than £35,000 and personal savings (jointly or individually) of less than £5,000.

If you don’t quite fit our financial criteria but are nonetheless financially challenged, then do apply, explaining your circumstances in the form.

You are ineligible for this Breakthrough Mentoring Programme if you are currently represented by a literary agent and/or have previously published a book with a traditional, non-academic publisher.

Our form asks you to make brief statements about your gender identity and sexuality, your financial income and the reason you deserve this fully funded opportunity.

Application & selection

Curtis Brown Creative offers mentoring places on the basis of proven writing ability. We ask applicants to send us the opening 3,000 words of their writing project as well as a synopsis, and to fill out our application form.  Please note that those who do not fulfil the above criteria should not apply to this Breakthrough opportunity.

If you encounter any problems during the application process or have any questions, please email cbccourses@curtisbrown.co.uk for assistance.

Breakthrough Mentoring for LGBTQIA+ Writers

  • Contact Details

    Please provide some essential details so we can get in touch with you about your application. We won't share this data.
  • eg. name@domain.com
  • Please include country code if applicable

  • About You and Your Writing

    We'd like to learn a bit about you and your writing. Don’t worry if you haven’t done much writing before, please fill out in as much detail as possible. We won't share this data.
  • Date Format: DD slash MM slash YYYY
  • Please note that you will not be eligible for this Breakthrough Mentoring if you are currently represented by a literary agent or have previously published a full-length book with a traditional, non-academic publisher.
  • We'd like to hear about any jobs or studies that you feel may be of interest and/or relevant to your application.
  • In under 500 words please.
  • Accepted file types: pdf, txt, doc, rtf, docx.
    Please upload your synopsis and opening 3,000 words in one document. Only PDF, TXT and DOC files accepted, file size must be less than 8mb

  • The Breakthrough Writers' Programme

  • Please use this space to outline your personal/financial circumstances in under 500 words. In particular, we need to understand more about the circumstances of those who don't fit the above income thresholds.