WriteNow is publisher Penguin’s programme to find, nurture and publish writers and illustrators from communities under-represented on the UK’s bookshelves.

This includes (but is not isolated to) writers from BAME (Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic) or LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer) communities, those who have a disability, or come from a socio-economically marginalised background. When applying writers are given the opportunity to say why they feel that their voice has been under-represented in books and publishing.

The programme is open to writers in all genres, including fiction and non-fiction, adult and children’s. You must be at least 18 years old and be resident in the UK or the Republic of Ireland. You must submit your manuscript in English.

Deadline

26th April 2020 (writers)

To protect the health and wellbeing of WriteNow applicants and our colleagues, we have made the decision that our WriteNow workshops will be held remotely. Applications are still open. We are working out the details of how this will work, and more information will follow soon.

Of those 150 writers, 10 of the most talented will be invited to join the WriteNow programme, where they will each work with one of Penguin’s editors (with special expertise in their genre) to develop their manuscript over the course of a year. So far six books have been published through WriteNow, with a further eight due to be published in 2020.

https://www.penguin.co.uk/company/creative-responsibility/writenow.html