Writers at Work

Hay Festival is inviting new applications for Hay Festival Writers at Work 2024, its professional development opportunity for Welsh writers, in partnership with Literature Wales, funded by Arts Council of Wales.

Writers at Work 2024

Deadline for submissions is 2pm, Tuesday 27 February 2024. 

This opportunity for professional development will take place during Hay Festival (23 May–2 June) from Friday 24 May to Sunday 2 June 2024. The fully programmed 10 days will allow selected writers to attend masterclasses, workshops, and to network with Welsh, UK based and international writers, publishers, press and agents.

We invite applications fiction (all genres), non-fiction writers, and poets in English and Welsh. This programme is not aimed at scriptwriters (stage nor screen). Eligible applicants are writers (born, schooled, or currently living in Wales) or writers who write in the Welsh language, who show a clear commitment to professional development citing evidence of publication, no matter how small, in print or online. Participants could be keen writers who may be starting out on their careers, or writers who need support to reach the next level of their careers.

There is no age limit, beyond the minimum age of 18, and there are 10 places available.

The unique gathering of the literature and publishing industry that takes place at Hay Festival will enable the selected writers to increase confidence, skills, and to form peer group support to support their writing development and career, leaving the programme inspired to create new work and achieve their personal ambitions.

Writers at Work is free to attend. A Writers at Work Bursary will cover accommodation, travel from within Wales or the UK and subsistence on site. The Festival site is fully accessible for wheelchair users and performance venues are fitted with induction loops. Guide dogs are permitted. All accommodation will be booked by Hay Festival, but participants must make their own travel arrangements; costs for travel will be reimbursed.

How to Apply

Please fill out this digital application form.

A large print and dyslexia friendly version can also be downloaded.
We suggest preparing and saving a copy of your application on a word processing document.

The application will ask for the following:

  • A writer’s biography - including professional experience and information on publication/s (no more than 200 words).
  • A statement outlining your commitment to professional development as a Welsh writer and how a place on the Writers at Work scheme will enhance this (no more than 300 words).
  • A short outline of your current project or work-in-progress (no more than 200 words).
  • An anonymous Equality and Diversity Monitoring Form which will be emailed to you on receipt of your application.

Only digital applications are accepted, either via the digital form, or if returning a large print or dyslexia friendly version, by email to writers@hayfestival.org

Applications delivered by post and late applications will not be considered. Only digital applications are accepted, either via the digital form, or if returning a large print or dyslexia friendly version, by email to writers@hayfestival.org

Applications delivered by post and late applications will not be considered. 

To find out more about the application and selection process, and for a more detailed overview of the programme, please read our FAQs.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS:

The aim of the week is to broaden creativity, output, peer group support and publishing contacts. Your commitment will be for the entire Hay Festival. Hay provides accommodation as part of the bursary, and selected writers will have to be resident close to Hay-on-Wye from Friday 24 May (arrive in the afternoon) for workshops to begin on Saturday 25 May, and leave Hay either on the evening of Sunday 2 June or the morning of Monday 3 June 2024. Most workshops begin at 10.00 am each day. Each writer will be expected to complete a full and detailed evaluation of the week and to write for Hay Festival’s blog during the Festival week.

After reading the FAQs, if you have any questions or require additional information, please contact: writers@hayfestival.org

FAQs

How will my application be assessed?

The assessment panel will include members of the Hay Festival and Literature Wales team, and Tiffany Murray – the curator and leader of the programme. We will be looking for innovation, passion, and a clear focus in terms of your ambitions and aspiration as a writer.

The assessment will focus on bringing together a diverse and representative group of writers in terms of geography, writing experience, languages, and any lived experience noted in the application that will present a new perspective to Welsh writing.

When will I know if my application has been successful?
We will contact all applicants in the week beginning 1 April 2024.

What will the structure and the content of the week look like?

The programme will be an intense immersion in professional writer development and will start at 10.00 am on Saturday 25 May on site at the Festival, and come to an end on Sunday afternoon 2 June. Each day will be different, and will feature talks, workshops, visits to the Festival events and more. Further information on the structure and content of the week will be provided as soon as possible beforehand. You will meet several guest readers, speakers, facilitators and industry representatives during the week.

How does the catering arrangements work? & I have food allergies and/or dietary requirements, can you cater for me?

You will receive all meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) on the Festival site in the crew catering facility. There will be provision for those with food allergies and/or dietary requirements. Coffee, tea and other drinks will be available throughout the day. Please note you will have to pay for any other food or drink purchased outside of crew catering, workshop or Green Room facilities.

How will my travel be reimbursed?

We will reimburse out of pocket expenses for one, standard class, return journey to the Festival from within the UK.

This includes:

  • Standard Return Rail Fare
  • Coach or Bus Return Fares
  • Mileage @ 45p per mile

Expenses could be a combination of the above i.e. a train and bus ticket. We can purchase tickets in advance for you, otherwise please retain a receipt, or complete a form for mileage and your travel costs will be reimbursed when you arrive at the Festival.

Where will I be staying?

Participants will be allocated accommodation in houses in Hay-on-Wye or the surrounding area, depending on availability. Unfortunately, accommodation can be scarce during the Festival period and we are unable to guarantee en-suite rooms.

If I am unsuccessful, will I receive feedback?

Unfortunately, due to the high volume of applications we will receive, we will not be able to provide feedback to unsuccessful applicants. However, with your permission as outlined in the application form GDPR Consent section, Hay Festival and Literature Wales may contact you again to mention further opportunities.

In which language will the programme be delivered?

The programme welcomes writers writing in English, Welsh and other languages. However the majority of the programme itself will be delivered through the medium of English.

I have a disability or an illness that might make it difficult to take part, can you help?

The Hay Festival and Literature Wales teams are available to discuss any concerns and requirements before and throughout the programme. The Festival site is fully accessible for wheelchair users and performance venues are fitted with induction loops. Guide dogs are permitted. Please contact us to discuss accessibility, and we will invite all successful writers to send an Access Rider in advance of the Festival week.

Do I need experience to apply? Or am I too experienced?

We are mainly looking for emerging and mid-career writers with potential. You don’t necessarily need much previous experience of writing, only good ideas and a positive and determined attitude. Like any other craft, writing can be challenging and requires a lot of effort and attention. This course will help you develop the toolkit you need to start, and continue on your journey as a writer.

However, if you are already an experienced writer, for example you might have published your own pamphlet or a book, you might still find that there are barriers which prevent you from reaching your full potential, or you might want to experiment with a different literary form or language. Everyone will have a different definition of what experience means, and where they believe themselves to be on their journey as a writer.

 

Previous Writers at Work

Hay Festival's Writers at Work

Connor Allen is an award-winning multidisciplinary artist and was the Children’s Laureate Wales (2021-2023). He has written for the BBC, Wales Millennium Centre, Sherman Theatre, Dirty Protest, and others. His debut poetry collections Dominoes (for general audiences) and Miracles (for children) were published in 2023 by Lucent Dreaming.

Sophie Buchaillard’s debut novel This Is not who we Are (Seren Books, 2022) was shortlisted for the Rhys Davies Trust Fiction Award and the Wales Book of the Year 2023. He new novel Assimilation will be published in Feb 2024. Her short stories and essays have appeared in an array of literary magazines and newspapers, including The ByLine Times and Wales Arts Review.

Brennig Davies was the winner of the inaugural BBC Young Writers Award in 2015 and the Crown at the Urdd Eisteddfod 2019, and was shortlisted for the Rhys Davies Short Story Prize 2021. His work has appeared in Poetry Wales, The Cardiff Review and various anthologies, and he was the creative editor of Deffro (Urdd Gobaith Cymru, 2021).

Nia Davies’s first book-length collection of poems All Fours (Bloodaxe Books, 2017) was shortlisted for the Roland Matthias Prize for Poetry in the Wales Book of the Year awards (2018) and longlisted for the Michael Murphy Memorial Prize for First Collection (2019). She was editor of Poetry Wales (2014–2019) and has published several pamphlets and collaborative publications.

Gwenllian Ellis published her first book Sgen I’m Syniad: Snogs, Secs, Sens in September 2022 with Y Lolfa. Part memoir, part social commentary, the collection follows the life of the author as she deals with the trials and tribulations of growing up and navigating her way through the world.

Louise Mumford’s debut book, Sleepless, was published by HQ in 2020. It reached the Top 50 UK Kindle Chart and was the Karin Slaughter July 2021 Killer Read in UK Asda stores nationwide. Her latest thriller, The Safe House, was released in May 2022 and her next book The Hotel, out in June 2023, is set on the coast of West Wales.

Taz Rahman’s first poetry collection is out in February 2024 from Seren Books. He was shortlisted for the 2022 Aesthetica Creative Writing Prize and has been published in Poetry Wales, Bad Lilies, South Bank Poetry, Anthropocene, Honest Ulsterman, Planet, Barddas, Abridged Magazine, Propel and in various anthologies.

Francesca Reece’s debut novel, Voyeur, was published by Tinder Press in 2021, and has been translated into German and Polish. Her new novel Glass Houses will be published in 2024. She was the 2019 recipient of the Desperate Literature Prize, and has had work featured in The London Magazine, Banshee and Elle UK.

Anthony Shapland is a co-founder of g39, an artist-led space in Cardiff. In 2022 he was shortlisted for the Rhys Davies award for his short story, Foolscap, available in the anthology Cree, published by Parthian.

Emma Smith’s debut YA novel, The Million Pieces of Neena Gill, was published by Penguin Random House and shortlisted for the Waterstones Children’s Book Award, the Branford Boase Award and the Romantic Novelists' Association Debut Romantic Novel Award

Literature Wales
Arts Council of Wales
Lottery Funded
Sponsored by Welsh Government