HW fisher novel-writing scholarship for writers of colour

Closing date for applications: Monday 23rd March 2026

Location: London

Course dates: 21st April to 27th July 2026

Take your writing to the next level with a fully funded novel-writing course, featuring mentoring from top industry professionals.

Study with Curtis Brown Creative – the only writing school from a major literary and talent agency. We've been helping writers tell their stories since 2011.

The HW Fisher Novel-Writing Scholarship will award one talented writer of colour a free place on our three-month Writing Your Novel course with teaching in London. This hugely popular course features direct input from our literary agent team and top publishers. With weekly in person teaching and workshopping led by author-tutor Charlotte Mendelson or Abi Daré, plus one-to-one tutorials, and advice from renowned authors and literary agents, our flagship course will help you hone your craft and make real progress with your story. The course will run from 21 April to 27 July 2026.

This scholarship is funded by top London chartered accountancy firm HW Fisher. The CBC team are hugely grateful to HW Fisher who have been providing a writing bursary for writers of limited financial means on our writing courses since 2016.

Eligibility

The scholarship is open to writers of colour over the age of 18, who fulfil our low-income eligibility criteria.

Applicants must have one of the following categories of ethnicity: East Asian (Chinese; Japanese); South Asian (Indian; Pakistani; Bangladeshi); Southeast Asian (Vietnamese; Korean; Filipino); any other Asian background; Black African; Black Caribbean; Black Other; Mixed – White and Asian; Mixed – White and Black Caribbean; Mixed – White and Black African; any other mixed background from more than one group; or any other background by which you identify as a person of colour.

Financial criteria

• Unmarried and not co-habiting with a partner, with an annual (gross, pre-tax) income of less than £30,000 and personal savings of less than £10,000.
• Married or co-habiting with a partner, with a total annual (gross pre-tax) household income of less than £45,000 and personal savings (jointly or individually) of less than £10,000.

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

Our form asks you to make a statement about your ethnicity, your financial income and the reason you deserve this fully funded opportunity.

Terms & conditions

• Applicants to the HW Fisher Novel-Writing Scholarship must fulfil our eligibility criteria. Our form asks you to make a statement about your financial circumstances and the reason you deserve the scholarship.
• With respect to the earnings thresholds set out in our eligibility section: for salaried applicants, your current salary at date of application must be under the threshold. For self-employed applicants, your gross pre-tax profits (average figure for the last two financial years) must be under the threshold. State benefits such as jobseeker’s allowance should be counted as income.
• Applicants may be asked to provide proof of their financial circumstances in support of their scholarship applications.
• Because the scholarship is open only to those who do not have the means to attend the applicable course without financial assistance, applicants should bear in mind that their application will be considered only for the scholarship place on the relevant course and not for other fee-paying places on the course.
• Applicants must not be currently represented by a literary agent.
• Applicants must not have previously published a full-length book with a traditional, non-academic publisher.

How to apply

Curtis Brown Creative offers places on our courses on the basis of proven writing ability. We ask applicants to send us the first 3,000 words of a novel in progress, with a one-page synopsis, and to fill out our application form. Please note that those with the financial means to attend our courses should not apply to this scholarship.

The HW Fisher Novel-Writing Scholarship will be awarded to the applicant whose submission material shows the greatest potential and promise in our view. The decision will be made by the Curtis Brown Creative team. The winner will be awarded a place on our Writing Your Novel – Three Months course in London, starting April 2026. The CBC team will place the winner with tutor Charlotte Mendelson or Abi Daré.

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.

The deadline for applications is Monday 16 March 2026, and we will respond to applicants by Friday 20 March 2026.

We welcome and encourage applications from candidates who are under-represented in the creative industries.

Please make sure that you state in your application that you found this role via Creative Access.