Arvon is a charity that has been supporting writers at every stage of their journey since 1968. We offer inspiring courses and retreats – both in-person and online – led by leading authors.

Funded by the Jerwood Foundation, Arvon is pleased to announce the Jerwood Arvon Writer Residencies, a new talent development programme for emerging writers. The residencies will support 12 writers working in fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry and playwriting, giving them the opportunity to bring a project to completion over the course of the self-guided 18-month programme.

Who we’re looking for

The Jerwood Arvon Writer Residencies are a fully funded, self-directed development opportunity for 12 emerging writers. Residents must be working on a project across one of four disciplines: fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry and playwriting.  

Writers must be aged 18+ and based in the UK. If you could not attend an Arvon course without some financial help, or are from a background underrepresented in mainstream publishing, then we especially encourage you to apply. 

To be eligible for the Jerwood Arvon Writer Residencies you must be an emerging writer, by which we mean you can be unpublished, or have published one full–length work of fiction or non-fiction, collection of poetry, or have had one full-length work professionally produced for film, TV or the stage. Writers who have published more than one full–length work are not eligible to apply.  

We are looking for writers who are working on a full-length project with the aim of completing it during the period of the Jerwood Arvon Writer Residencies.  

What’s included in the scheme

Each Jerwood Arvon Writer Residency is fully funded and consists of: 

• Two Residential Writing Courses chosen from Arvon’s public programme, including a contribution to travel costs to and from our writing houses 
• One Online Writing Week or one Online Writing Month chosen from Arvon’s public programme 
• Ten online Masterclasses chosen from the public programme 
• Six 1-to-1 tutorials with a writing mentor in your chosen discipline 
• Free access to Arvon’s extensive online resource of over 400 writing tips and exercises from tutors 
• Opportunities to meet with and learn from leading industry professionals
• Peer networking both within and across disciplines 

Residencies will run from February 2026 to July 2027, culminating in an online showcase event to which literary agents, publishers and other industry professionals will be invited.

Timeline

• Applications open on Monday 20th October 2025 
• Applications deadline is on Monday 17th November 2025 at 5pm 
• Online interviews will be held week commencing 19th January 2026 
• Successful writers will be informed during week commencing 26th January 2026 
• Online welcome meeting for successful writers and mentors will take place on Wednesday 11th February 2026, time TBC
• Course bookings open to Residency writers from February 2026 (with priority booking available on any courses running from this date) 
• Two Residential Writing Courses and one Online Writing Course from Arvon’s public programme to be attended between 1st March 2026 and 4th July 2027 
• 10 Arvon at Home Masterclasses to be attended between 1st March 2026 and 4th July 2027 
• 1-to-1 tutorials will be scheduled to take place in the following months: March 2026/July 2026/September 2026/December 2026/March 2027/June 2027 
• Online industry professionals showcase to be held in summer 2027 
• Online final showcase event to take place in July 2027 

Eligibility

1. The Jerwood Arvon Writer Residencies are open to anyone aged 18 or over (as of 20th October 2025). 
2. Applicants must be UK residents. 
3. Applicants must not be enrolled in full-time formal education during the mentoring period.  
4. Applicants can be unpublished or have published up to one full-length work of fiction, non-fiction or a collection of poems, or have had one full-length work professionally produced for film, TV or the stage. This does not include self-published work; work published online; chapbooks and pamphlets; short stories, articles or poems published within an anthology; works produced non-professionally for film, TV or the stage; textbooks or academic texts. Note that this applies across categories – so, for example, if you have a full poetry collection and a novel published, then you are not eligible to apply. 
5. Applicants may have a publishing contract for a first or second book or be represented by an agent. You must include details of this arrangement in your personal statement.  
6. The scheme is open to writers of any genre, but you must be working on a project in Poetry, Fiction, Creative Non-Fiction or Playwriting, and submit work of that genre in your application. 
7. Past Jerwood Arvon mentees are not eligible to apply again. Staff and Trustees of Arvon are not eligible to apply.  
8. Applications must be submitted in accordance with the submission guidelines. We reserve the right to disqualify any submissions that do not fully comply.  

Please note: Each applicant’s place is fully supported by funding from Jerwood Foundation. Financial support covers each successful applicant’s online and in-person course costs, reasonable travel costs and mentoring throughout the year. 

If you have any queries, please email jerwood@arvon.org