Early Career Bursaries

A. D. Aaba Atach, born in Iran and raised across Finland, Turkey, and France, now calls the UK home. She earned her education at King’s College London and the University of Oxford, with a stint at the University of California in Santa Barbara. As a social scientist and a communication strategist, she studies how new technologies shape society, focusing on agency and gender in the Middle East.

Her insights on Middle Eastern affairs, notably Iran, feature in international media such as The New York Times, The Telegraph, and CNN. An Emerging Writer’s Fellow at the London Library and a recipient of Spread the Word’s Early Careers Bursary, A. D. is currently working on her creative non-fiction debut, How Dare a Woman.

Sarah Cotton is from London. She is writing a series of linked stories about individuals who live side by side in a housing development yet experience a tripartite existence. Her writing explores fraught inner lives through tense and tenuous, primarily female, relationships and focuses on the way class, patriarchy and buildings are used to divide and confine. She is also working on a novel, and in 2022 she received a CHEERIO scholarship for Curtis Brown Creative’s Writing Your Novel course.

“It’s incredibly encouraging to be chosen for this bursary. The generous financial component will relieve pressure and allow me to focus on my writing while the tailored support will motivate me to progress and guide me to develop and sustain a creative practice. I’m so grateful for this opportunity and I’m looking forward to participating in the programme.”

Vic Eveline is originally from Suffolk but has lived in South London since 2001. She writes both creative non-fiction and autobiographical short stories, often exploring themes of class, memory, and the foster care experience.  For the bursary programme, she will be developing a book-length life writing project about severe, familial mental illness and institutionalised “care” from a cross-generational perspective. Alongside her writing, Vic is a freelance translator from French and Romanian into English.

“I feel immensely grateful to have been given this amazing opportunity to accelerate my development as a writer. The support of Spread the Word and the Early Career Bursary will allow me to put my writing front and centre of my life and really focus on getting the words out and taking my writing to the next level — something I am all too aware is an unaffordable luxury for so many writers.  It’s a big step forward for me and I’m both nervous and excited to see what the year will bring.”

Monique Roffey

Monique Roffey, FRSL, is an award winning Trinidadian born British writer of novels, essays, literary journalism and a memoir.  The Mermaid of Black Conch, won the Costa Book of the Year Award, 2020, and was nominated for eight other major awards. Her other Caribbean novels, The White Woman on the Green Bicycle and House of Ashes have also been nominated for awards. Archipelago won the OCM Bocas Award for Caribbean Literature in 2013. Her work has been translated into many languages. She is a co-founder of Writers Rebel within Extinction Rebellion. She is a Professor of Contemporary Fiction at Manchester Metropolitan University.

Monique says: 

“Emerging writers need all the support they can get. These bursaries for early career writers are a lifeline and a very substantial initiative. While it’s been 20 plus years I’ve been writing, I remember those early years vividly. Writers need this vital support, early on. I feel honoured to help and excited to read the entries. Spread the Word are at the forefront of London’s creative writing activist community.”

Website/social media:

Twitter:                         https://twitter.com/moniqueroffey

Instagram:                    https://www.instagram.com/moniqueroffey

Photo of Monique by Marcus Bastel

Patrice Lawrence is an award-winning writer for children and young people with a background in social justice and equality. Her debut book for young adults, Orangeboy, was shortlisted for the Costa Children’s Award and won the Bookseller YA Prize and Waterstones Prize for Older Children’s Fiction. Her subsequent books have been shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal, Little Rebels Book Award, Indie Book Award and many other regional awards and have won a number of prizes including the inaugural Jhalak Prize for Children and Young People and the CrimeFest YA Prize twice. Patrice works extensively in schools inspiring young people to become storytellers and mentors adult writers from backgrounds under-represented in traditional British publishing – occasionally popping up in the media as an arts reviewer or talking about children’s books.

 Patrice says: 

“I started Orangeboy in 2011; it was published in 2016. I wrote it at weekends and on buses and trains, to and from work. A bursary would not only have bought me vital time to write, but equally importantly, time to research the publishing industry. It’s such a privilege to be able support emerging writers on this early part of their journey.”

Website/social media:

Twitter:                         https://twitter.com/LawrencePatrice

Santanu Bhattacharya is the author of One Small Voice (Penguin Fig Tree), an Observer Best Debut Novel for 2023. He grew up in India and studied at the University of Oxford and National University of Singapore. Santanu is the winner of the 2023 Desmond Elliot Prize Residency and the 2021 Mo Siewcharran Prize, Spread the Word’sLife Writing Prize and aLondon Writers Award for literary fiction. His works have been nominated for the 4thWrite Prize, Blue Pencil Agency First Novel Award, and Pontas/JJ Bola Emerging Writers’ Prize. His short fiction has appeared in Commonwealth Writers’ adda and TOKEN magazines. He is a graduate of the Tin House Writers’ Workshop. He currently lives in London.

Santanu says: “Support and funding for writers who are just starting off and need to focus on their craft is critical to success. Some of the best things that happened to my writing in the initial years were thanks to Spread the Word, and it is my privilege to be involved in this initiative and help to select the next cohort of emerging writers for the Early Career Bursaries.”

Website/social media:

Twitter:                         https://twitter.com/santanu_bx

Instagram:                    https://www.instagram.com/santanu_bx

Sheila Atuona is a Nigerian-British writer and teacher of Modern Languages. Her short stories have been longlisted for the Write Now Penguin Random House prize (2020), the Alpine Fellowship Writing prize (2021), and the Bridport Prize (2022). Her favourite writers are Maryse Condé and Joseph Zobel. Sheila also enjoys playwriting and is part of the 2022 Old Vic Theatre Playwriting group.

Twitter: @_9vite_

Sheila says: “The Early Careers Bursary will support me in carving out quality time and space for creating and honing my work. This is crucial for carers like me, who often have to choose between writing and life events. I am excited about the year ahead, and I hope my award encourages applications from people in similar circumstances.”

C.E Cathcart grew up on a farm in Northern Ireland near the banks of Lough Erne. She moved to London when she was eighteen to study journalism at the University of the Arts, and has been in the city ever since. Always longing for the green of home, she now works as a horticulturist and amateur florist to support her writing. As a writer, with rural Ireland as her setting, she explores how the experiences of grief and trauma distort our realities and alter our lives. She is currently working on her first novel, Maudlin.

Instagram: @tendrils_lilee

C.E says: “Being awarded the Early Career Bursary is such a privilege. Having struggled on my own for so long to support and nurture my writing, to have this expert support and guidance will be life changing. Not only is it a recognition of someone else’s belief in me and my writing, but it will give me the most precious gift of all—time to devote to finishing my novel. I’m so excited to see where the year will take me.”

Selina Suzelle is a writer from London and in the early stages of developing a narrative, non-fiction project. Alongside working in media, she has steadily sought to hone her craft by partaking in multiple creative writing workshops. Completing these courses inspired her to start forming the autobiographical project, which was longlisted in the 2020 London Writers Awards.

Twitter: @selinasuze

Instagram: @selinasuze

Selina says: “I’m immensely pleased to have been chosen as a recipient for the Early Career Bursary. Not only is it extremely validating to have my work recognised, it’s also an exciting and encouraging prospect to be supported with the development of a project that I am so passionate about. Both the mentorship and funding are going to be vital assets that will allow me to commit to a dedicated writing practice and I can’t wait to get started!”

Jeffrey Boakye is an author, broadcaster and educator. He is a Senior Teaching Fellow at the University of Manchester with a particular interest in issues surrounding race, masculinity, education and popular culture. Jeffrey taught English to 11- to 18-year-olds for 15 years and now provides training for schools, universities and businesses on race, identity, masculinity and education. Jeffrey’s published books are: Hold Tight: Black Masculinity, Millennials and the Meaning of Grime, Black Listed: Black British Culture Explored, What is Masculinity? Why Does it Matter? And Other Big Questions (co-authored), Musical Truth: A Musical History of Modern Black Britain in 28 Songs and I Heard What You Said. Jeffrey presents BBC Radio 4’s Add to Playlist with co-host Cerys Matthews.

https://www.jeffreyboakye.com/

Jeffrey says: “I’m excited and energised by the opportunity to be a judge for the Early Career Bursaries. Unearthing new talent and helping guide the development of writers is hugely important, not only for the sharing of new narratives but also for the broadening of perspectives. I know this is going to be both fascinating and rewarding.”

Image of Jeffrey by Fossca Photography

Luan Goldie is a Glasgow born novelist and short story writer from East London.

Her debut, Nightingale Point, was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction and the RSL Ondaatje Prize. She is also the author of These Streets and Homecoming. In 2018 she won the Costa Short Story Award and her short stories have since appeared in Stylist, HELLO! Magazine and the Sunday Express.

https://www.luangoldie.co.uk/ 

Luan says: “Being a judge for the Early Career Bursaries was a huge privilege. I was blown away by the quality of work and how wide it ranged in terms of genre, topic and voice. I’m so excited to see what these talented writers do next and praise Spread the Word for helping writers break down barriers.”

Tice Cin is an interdisciplinary artist from north London. She has an MA in English: Issues in Modern Culture from UCL. Her work has been published in Extra Teeth, Lit Hub and Royal Society of Literature, and has been commissioned by organisations like St. Paul’s Cathedral, Cartier and Edinburgh International Book Festival. Her music journalism was commended amongst Complex Magazine’s best music pieces of 2021, and she has written for places such as DJ Mag and Mixmag. A DJ and music producer, she is preparing to release an accompanying album for KEEPING THE HOUSE with a host of talented features. KEEPING THE HOUSE has been named one of the Guardian’s Best Books of 2021, longlisted for the Dylan Thomas prize, and has been featured in The Scotsman, The New York Times, and The Washington Post.  She is currently writing and directing films, including her debut short To Your Head.

Tice says: “Judging the Early Career Bursaries was a fascinating and moving process. I found it really important to be able to appreciate the writers who sent their work in, and consider their personal stories too. So much of the journey of bringing a manuscript to fruition often misses out the humanity of the writer  – the routines and realities that make support as working-class writers ever necessary. I loved the poeticism and ambitious flair that all of the writers longlisted had – and it was such an honour to spend time with their writing. The writers selected will now be able to have their work championed by key industry stakeholders, and move forward with their writing in ways bespoke to their needs, this expansiveness and choice will provide a great example of what can be done when the keys are placed firmly in the hands of working class writers.”

Twitter:                   https://twitter.com/ticecin

Instagram:               https://www.instagram.com/tice.cin/

Image of Tice by Richard Dixon, lostintottenham

Dr Mark Blacklock is a novelist, cultural historian, journalist and lecturer. His first novel, I’m Jack, a fictionalised autobiography of Wearside Jack was published by Granta in 2015. His second novel, Hinton (Granta, 2020), was longlisted for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction in 2021. Mark’s journalism has been published broadly, in publications like The Guardian, The Telegraph, Granta, Dazed, The Fence and The Fortean Times.

Mark is a senior lecturer at Birkbeck College where he has taught creative writing, cultural theory and science fiction, and a current fellow of the Royal Literary Fund. His cultural history, The Emergence of the Fourth Dimension, was published by Oxford University Press in 2018. His next book is an edited collection of J.G. Ballard’s non-fiction, published with MIT Press in 2023.

Mark says: “Reading the incredible variety of work submitted by London writers was an absolute privilege. The range of experience and imaginative ability on show was terrifically exciting, and reading writers at this stage of their careers, as they experiment and find voice, was completely exhilarating. The winners are truly worthy of the opportunity the support will give them and I look forward to watching their careers blossom.”

Image of Mark by Joanna Crawford.