Breakthrough mentoring programme for writers with low income

This nine-month mentoring programme is part of The Breakthrough Writers’ Programme – our outreach initiative for under-represented authors.
This mentoring will run from May 2021 to February 2022 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 11 April.
Eligibility and Applications
This mentoring is open to people over the age of 18, either:
- 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 very financially challenged, then do apply, explaining your circumstances in the form.
Our form will ask you to make a statement about your income and the reason you deserve this mentoring opportunity.
Please upload your application via the form at the end of this page. If you encounter any problems during the application process or have any questions, please email cbccourses@curtisbrown.co.uk for assistance.
Applications opening soon
Our application process is simple, and we encourage all writers meeting the eligibility criteria to apply.
Don’t worry if you have little or nothing to say in response to questions about e.g. writing experience or employment. Just fill out the form, upload your work and we’ll be in touch soon.
Please apply with the first 3,000 words of the writing project you’d like to work on during the mentoring programme, and a synopsis of no more than a page (both need to be in the same document, as you can only upload ONE file in the application form).
The CBC team will select applicants and allocate mentors based on the quality of the writing sample provided. The deadline for applications is midnight, end of day Sunday 11 April, and we will respond to applicants by Thursday 15 April.