4 years
of our Breakthrough Writers' Programme
200
writers supported so far
Breakthrough so far
Read all about the opportunities that have already taken place and meet the talented under-represented writers we’ve been working with through our free courses, scholarships and mentoring.
Our objectives
- Our objective is to seek out talented writers, who would not otherwise have joined our creative writing courses and give them the best of our tuition and mentoring, delivered by successful author-tutors, literary agents and publishers. We will draw on our expertise to help writers maximise the potential of their works-in-progress and pitch them with confidence to the book industry.
- Types of opportunities. We run regular specialist writing courses with free places for all students involved, individualised one-to-one mentoring with published authors as well as sponsored scholarship places for under-represented writers to join our elite six- and three-month selective-entry courses.
- Who are we supporting? We hope to address many barriers to entry faced by different under-represented groups. Each writing opportunity offered has a clear eligibility focus. Some current and past focuses of the programme have included reaching out to writers of colour, disabled writers, LGBTQIA+ writers and writers with low income.
- Free for all the writers taking part. Launched in 2021 – and now in its fourth year – our programme of intensive courses and mentoring for under-represented writers is funded in full by the Curtis Brown Group and Curtis Brown’s literary agents. Many of our scholarships are funded by our valued partners – both individuals and corporate sponsors.
Stories of disability and trauma are so often rendered invisible in our media and literary landscapes. But being mentored to develop my memoir was incredibly supportive and encouraging. Getting a place on this scheme has been transformative, both for my life and my book.
Former Breakthrough Mentee
Breakthrough Class of 2024
In 2024 we supported 20 talented, under-represented writers via our Breakthrough Writers' Programme – funded by Curtis Brown, HW Fisher and individual author-sponsors.
Breakthrough Class of 2023
We proudly supported 21 under-represented writers with our Breakthrough Writers' Programme in 2023. Find out more about their works-in-progress and what Breakthrough means to them.
Timeline
In January 2021, CBC launched a major, rolling programme of free opportunities for talented under-represented writers, funded by Curtis Brown Group, its agents and valued partners.
In its first four years, the programme provided substantial mentoring, courses and scholarships to over 200 writers.
Below are the free opportunities for writers that have taken place since we launched the programme.
2021
- An intensive five-day online novel-writing course for 15 Black writers.
- A nine-month mentoring programme for 5 Black writers, which began in March 2021.
- 4 sponsored scholarships, providing fully funded places on our selective-entry writing courses.
- An intensive five-day online novel-writing course for 15 writers with low income.
- A nine-month mentoring programme for 5 writers with low income, which began in May 2021.
- A nine-month mentoring programme for 5 talented disabled writers which began October 2021.
2022
- An intensive two-week online novel-writing course for 8 writers of colour.
- 9 sponsored scholarships, providing fully funded places on our selective-entry writing courses. This includes brand new scholarships for places on our Crime & Thriller, Memoir and TV Drama courses.
- A nine-month mentoring programme for 5 writers of low income, which began February 2022 .
- A nine-month mentoring programme for 5 writers who identified as part of the LGBTQIA+ community, which began in July 2022.
- A nine-month mentoring programme for 5 talented disabled writers which began November 2022.
2023
- 11 sponsored scholarships, providing fully funded places on our selective-entry writing courses. These scholarships include places on our Writing YA & Children's fiction and TV Drama courses.
- A nine-month mentoring programme for 4 talented Black women writers, in partnership with Black Ballad, which began May 2023.
- A nine-month mentoring package in partnership with Creative Future, which began September 2023.
- A nine-month mentoring programme for 4 talented disabled writers, which began November 2023.
2024
- 11 sponsored scholarships, providing fully funded places on our selective-entry writing courses. These scholarships included places on our new Writing Fantasy and Writing Short Stories – Advanced courses.
- A nine-month mentoring programme for 4 writers of colour.
- A nine-month mentoring package in partnership with Creative Future.
- A nine-month mentoring programme for 4 talented disabled writers, to begin Nov 2024.
Our Current Breakthrough Opportunities
Find out how to apply for the courses, mentoring and scholarships currently on offer to under-represented writers.