The Jen Eve Taylor novel-writing scholarship for disabled writers

Closing date for applications: Monday 27th July 10am

Course dates: 7th September to 18th December 2026

Develop your novel with expert tuition, one-to-one feedback and industry advice through this fully funded scholarship for disabled writers.

The Jen Eve Taylor Novel-Writing Scholarship for Disabled Writers will award one writer a free place on our online Writing Your Novel – Three Months course.

With weekly teaching and workshopping led by author Cathi Unsworth or Suzannah Dunn on our interactive platform, plus one-to-one tutorials, and advice from renowned authors and literary agents, this course will help you hone your craft and make real progress with your story. The course will run from 7 September to 18 December 2026.

Jen Eve Taylor was part of the inaugural Breakthrough Writers’ Class of 2021, she was awarded a place on our Novel-Writing Course for the Writers with Low Income. We’re proud to run this scholarship in her memory with the support of her loved ones.

Jen Eve Taylor was a musician, writer and blogger (known online for her blog The Cancer Chronicles). She was diagnosed with osteosarcoma (bone cancer) in her upper jaw in August 2017. Jen used her blog as a place to document her experience with osteosarcoma, and the many non-cancer related adventures she had, the friends she shared these adventures with, and her art. She finished recording, mixing and mastering her debut album ‘Dreams of the Lights’ (under 'Jen Eve') in between gruelling radiotherapy. She wrote, redrafted and edited an entire novel (‘not a cancer memoir or an autobiography!’) during the Coronavirus pandemic, her 2020 re-diagnosis, and the surgery that removed her eye. At the end of 2023, her cancer progressed further, resulting in complete loss of sight. Nevertheless, Jen succeeded in self-publishing her debut novel Rebel Rebel in 2024, just before she died in November of that year.

We are grateful to Rosa Hesmondhalgh for providing this scholarship, and to Jen’s family and friends for their support in establishing it.

This scholarship is part of the Breakthrough Writers' Programme, an initiative designed to break down barriers to entry for under-represented writers. We are keen to promote diversity in our student groups and to find a writer through this programme who we might not otherwise have heard from.

If you have the desire to write, a great idea for a novel and a compelling voice, and if you fulfil the eligibility criteria, this scholarship opportunity is for you.

Eligibility

This scholarship is open to all disabled writers over the age of 18, writing a novel in English.

Applicants must have a disability, as defined by the Equality Act 2010. You’re disabled under the Equality Act 2010 if you have a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities.

The Equality Act applies to people with cancer or those who have had cancer in the past. All cancers are included. And you are protected from the time you're diagnosed with cancer.

Our form also asks you to make a statement about why you should be awarded this scholarship opportunity.

TERMS & CONDITIONS

• Applicants to the Jen Eve Taylor Novel-Writing Scholarship for Disabled Writers must fulfil our eligibility criteria.
• 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.

Ready to apply?

Curtis Brown Creative offers places on our courses based on proven writing ability. Please apply with the first 3,000 words of the novel you’d like to work on during the course, 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 below). Please note that those with the financial means to attend our courses should not apply to this scholarship.

This 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 online Writing Your Novel – Three Months course, starting 7 September 2026. The CBC team will place the winner with tutor Cathi Unsworth or Suzannah Dunn.

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.

We will respond to applicants by Friday 7 August.

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.