THE MENTORING SCHEME 2026/27 IS OPEN FOR ENTRIES | Writing East Midlands

The Mentoring Scheme 2026/27 is now open! Writing East Midlands’s ever-popular FREE writer craft and career development programme is accepting applications, with just one month until the deadline.

Opening a little earlier this year to accommodate for changes in programming, the scheme welcomes writers aged 18+ who are living, working or studying in the East Midlands to send in their writing for the chance to receive free writer mentoring.

The scheme matches up to 10 emerging writers with experienced, professional writing mentors for a year of free, dedicated craft and career guidance while they work towards publication of a specific writing project. Its main goal is to support writers in reaching the next stage of their career—whether that is traditional publication of a novel or poetry collection, a spoken word performance debut or premiering a film script—through one-to-one mentorship from an established writer, exclusive writing masterclasses and peer feedback.

Over one year, the 10 chosen mentees will be awarded: at least 5 mentoring sessions with a professional writer, matched based on their needs; 3 peer network meetings with their mentoring cohort; 3 masterclasses, tailored to the interests of the group; and free attendance to The Writers’ Conference 2027. All. For. FREE.

Poetry collections, novels, short story collections, scripts and spoken word pieces are all accepted, though writers must have 80% of their first draft completed to apply—find out what this means on the Writing East Midlands website.

This year, Writing East Midlands is pleased to be partnering with Out-Spoken Press once again to ensure that poets are fairly represented in our 2026-27 mentoring cohort. We’re doubly delighted to announce some special bonuses exclusive to our successful poetry applicants.

What this means:

• At least 4 of our 10 mentees will be poets or spoken word artists
• Each poet will receive a £100 bursary to attend poetry events
• FREE access to Out-Spoken online workshops
• Dedicated poetry masterclasses by industry professionals
• Mentoring from award-winning poet Anthony Anaxagorou

In addition, as always, 3 of the 8 chosen mentees will be from a background currently underrepresented in the traditional publishing industry. Find out what this means on the Writing East Midlands website.

The Mentoring Scheme is an unmissable opportunity for ambitious and driven writers who want to seriously commit to their writing, take their career to the next level, chase their goals and achieve them over the course of one year.

If this sounds like you, or a writer you may know, make sure you have uploaded your application to the Writing East Midlands submissions portal by the deadline: Wednesday 5^th August 2026 at 11.59 pm.

To apply, you need to submit a written extract: 1,500 words for prose (novels/short stories), 15 pages for scripts, 15 minutes of spoken word or 6 poems at max. 60 lines each. Alongside your extract, you’ll also need a one-page (A4) synopsis and the answers to five questions from us, which you can find on the webpage here. Please ensure you’ve read the full eligibility guidelines before applying.

To apply, click the link here:
https://writingeastmidlands.co.uk/for-writers/mentoring-2/

Or here:
https://bit.ly/WEMMENTOR