THE RSL BROOKLEAZE GRANTS - Deadline Wednesday 30 April 2014

The purpose of these grants is to buy time for novelists, short-story writers, poets or playwrights with pieces of work in hand. The Council of the RSL, who will be responsible for awarding the grants, will be particularly interested in applications from writers who wish to buy time away from their normal lives – who need to take sabbaticals from their jobs, for example, or who need to travel abroad for the purpose of research.

A total of £5,000 will be available annually, and this may be awarded either as two grants of £2,500 or one grant of £5,000. Council reserves the right to withhold grants if applications are not thought to be sufficiently compelling.

To be eligible to apply, a writer must have had work previously published, or have been newly commissioned, by a trade publisher in the UK. Works must be written by a citizen of the UK, Commonwealth, Republic of Ireland or a writer who has been resident in the UK for at least three years.

If you wish to make an application, please write a short (one side of A4) letter, describing the project on which you are engaged, detailing your previous work, explaining how you would plan to use a grant, and giving a brief outline of your financial circumstances. Two references should also be submitted as part of your application. The closing date for applications in the first half of the year is Wednesday 30 April 2014.

Applications should be sent to Paula Johnson, The Royal Society of Literature, Somerset House, London WC2R 1LA (info@rslit.org; 020 7845 4676).