Grants for works in progress
Grants to assist writers with research costs or to 'buy time' are awarded twice a year through the Authors' Foundation and the K Blundell Trust.
Applicants are encouraged to apply for the Autumn 2013 round of grants from May 2013 onwards.
The Authors' Foundation
The Authors' Foundation gives grants to authors whose project is for a British publisher.
Please note, the Authors' Foundation does not cover self-published authors as grants cannot be awarded to help towards the costs of publication.
- Application should be made by letter with the necessary enclosures. Download the guidelines for next year's grant by clicking here
Additional grants
Grants in memory of Taner Baybars, Roger Deakin, John Heygate, John C Laurence, Elizabeth Longford, Michael Meyer, Arthur Welton, and by the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation are also available. Further details are given in the guidelines.
The K Blundell Trust
The K Blundell Trust gives grants to British authors under the age of 40 whose project is for a British publisher. The project must aim to increase social awareness, and can be fiction or non-fiction.
Please note, the K Blundell Trust does not cover self-published authors as grants cannot be awarded to help towards the costs of publication.
- Application should be made by letter with the necessary enclosures. Download the guidelines for next year's grant by clicking here
How to apply
Application should be made by letter with the necessary enclosures. Meetings of the assessors take place twice-yearly. Download the guidelines by clicking here
Please post your completed application to Paula Johnson, The Society of Authors, 84 Drayton Gardens, London SW10 9SB. You can contact Paula Johnson with any queries on 020 7373 6642.
Grants for writers in need
The Royal Literary Fund is the main charitable trust providing financial help to authors. See www.rlf.org.uk for information or contact the secretary, Eileen Gunn, at 3 Johnson’s Court, off Fleet Street, EC4A 3EA. Telephone: 020 7353 7150.
The Society administers three charitable trusts, which award occasional grants to professional authors who find themselves in sudden and temporary financial difficulty. Information about the trusts - the Francis Head Bequest, Authors' Contingency Fund and John Masefield Memorial Trust - is given below.
Grants cannot be made for education or research costs.
The Francis Head Bequest
Mrs Head, a well-known literary agent, generously established this trust in her will with the object of making grants to professional writers (writing in the English language) who were born in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, and who are over the age of 35. It is aimed at authors who by reason of illness or otherwise are in financial difficulty. She particularly wished to help authors who are temporarily unable to maintain themselves or their families owing to illness or an accident, but the terms of the trust are reasonably wide.
The Authors' Contingency Fund
A number of emergency grants are made each year to professional British authors who are in immediate financial difficulty or for the financial relief of their dependants. In association with the Contingency Fund are occasional awards for poets and women journalists:
- The John Masefield Memorial Trust provides grants to professional British poets or their dependants who are faced with sudden financial problems.
- Margaret Rhondda Awards assist and support women journalists who are in needy circumstances.
Please note: These trusts are only open to professional freelance writers for whom writing books or full length scripts has provided a principal source of income.
How to apply
To apply for these charitable funds, please download the guidelines and application by clicking here and post your completed application to Sarah Baxter, The Society of Authors, 84 Drayton Gardens, London SW10 9SB. The assessment process takes up to three weeks.
Please contact Sarah Baxter with any queries on 020 7373 6642.
Further help and assistance
Turn2us is a new independent charity that helps people access the money available to them – through welfare benefits, grants and other help. Their free, accessible website is a comprehensive and invaluable resource that helps you find sources of financial support, quickly and easily, based on your particular needs and circumstances. In some cases, you can make online enquiries to grant-giving charities listed on the site. For further information visit www.turn2us.org.uk.