The Programme, now going into its seventh year, is a unique opportunity which offers writers, in all genres, one year’s free membership of The London Library and includes writing development masterclasses, literary networking opportunities, peer support and access to and guidance in using the Library’s resources.

With its rich cultural heritage, extensive open access book collection, dedicated writing spaces and diverse community, The London Library has been an inspiration to writers, readers and thinkers for over 180 years.  

The Programme is open to anyone over 18 years of age who is committed to pursuing a career in writing and wants to develop their practice but has not yet had their work professionally published or produced. There is no application fee and participation on the Programme is funded.

How To Apply

Applications must be received by 11am on Wednesday 26 February 2025. You will not be able to submit applications after the deadline.

To apply, you must fully complete the online form which asks for:

Your personal/contact details;

A little about you and your writing project, including a personal statement (up to 250 words), why you are applying for the programme (up to 250 words), a very brief description or synopsis of the project you intend to work on throughout the Programme (up to 250 words) and the genre of your project. This section of the form will be judged anonymously so please do not include your name or any specific identifying information(i.e. a web address, weblinks, the year you won a particular prize, titles of your work in the public domain, the character you play on TV etc).

An uploaded sample of your writing, up to 1000 words, from the same project or in the same genre. (If you are submitting poetry, you can send multiple poems as long as the entire document does not exceed the wordcount.)

An Equal Opportunities Form.

All writing samples must be uploaded as Word documents or PDFs in 12pt font size and 1.5 or double spaced. Please do not send documents in Pages or Final Cut as we will not be able to open them. Do not lock your documents for editing as we will need to add your unique booking reference to it.

Please make sure your name is not anywhere on your writing sample (including the filename) as your sample will be judged anonymously. Please check headers/footers and if you are using screenwriting software, please take care that your name is not automatically included anywhere in the text. If your name appears on your writing sample, your application will not be considered.

Your writing sample must not exceed the word count of 1000 words. Any samples over the wordcount will not be considered and your application will be void.

Please do not include CVs as these will be disregarded.

You will be able to save your application and resume another time but, once submitted, your application cannot be altered.

We will only accept one application per person.