Submissions have begun for the 2017 Miles Morland Writing Scholarship.

The most prestigious end-of-the-year award on the continent, the Miles Morland Writing Scholarship offers scholars writing fiction “a grant of £18,000, paid monthly over the course of twelve months.” Depending on the Miles Morland Foundation’s decision, “scholars writing non-fiction may receive a grant of up to £27,000, paid over a period  of up to eighteen months.” Entries must be book proposals for only fiction and creative nonfiction which must not be less than 80,000 words when completed. The scholarship opened for applications on 30 June 2017 and will close on 31 Oct 2017.

​The only mandatory requirement during the period of the scholarship is the submission of 10,000 new words. The other undertaking is considered a debt of honour:

Scholars are also asked to donate to the MMF 20% of whatever they subsequently receive from what they write during the period of their Scholarship. This includes revenues as a result of film rights, serialisations or other ancillary revenues arising from the book written during the Scholarship period. These funds will be used to support other promising writers. The 20% return obligation should be considered a debt of honour rather than a legally binding obligation.

The MMF does not accept proposals for collaborative writing or short story collections. The proposal should be for a completely new work, not a work in progress, and must be in English.

​The 2016 judging panel comprised Ellah Allfrey, Olufemi Terry, and Muthoni Garland.

Here are the guidelines.​

All enquiries and submissions relating to the Morland Scholarships should be directed to [email protected].

 1. A submission of between 2,000 to 5,000 words as a Word document of work that has been published and offered for sale.

 2. A description of between 400 – 1,000 words about the new book you intend to write. 

 3. A scan of an official document showing that you, or both of your parents, were born in Africa.

 4. A brief bio of between 200 – 300 words.

 5.Please tell us how you heard about the Morland Writing Scholarships.

Deadline: 31 Oct 2017.

The 2016 Scholarship was won by Somalia’s Abdul Adan, Nigeria’s Nneoma Ike-Njoku, and South Africa’s Lidudumalingani for fiction, and Ghana’s Haruna Ayesha Attah for nonfiction. The 22-writer shortlist included a diverse cast of well-known and emerging names.

Find out more on Miles Morland Foundation Website.

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