John Broderick Emerging Writers Bursary 2024

A partnership between Westmeath County Council and the Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon

JOHN BRODERICK EMERGING WRITERS BURSARY 2024

INTRODUCTION

John Broderick, born on 30 July 1924 in Athlone, was a distinguished author and literary critic. Throughout his lifetime, he authored 12 novels, with notable works including The Waking of Willie Ryan and the once-banned, The Pilgrimage. Broderick passed away in Bath, England, in 1989.

Alongside his career as a writer, Broderick was an avid supporter of the visual arts and music. Following his death, be bequeathed his estate to the Arts Council for “the benefit and advancement of the Arts in Athlone”. This year, for the first time, Westmeath County Arts Office and the Arts Council will support an Emerging Westmeath writer with a bursary designed to encourage and facilitate the creation of new work.

2024 is the centenary of John Broderick’s birth. Centenary celebrations kicked off on Tuesday July 30^th with a special event which saw author Eithne Shortall announced as this year’s recipient of the John Broderick writer’s residency. This was accompanied by the relaunch of John’s acclaimed novel, The Waking of Willie Ryan, in print and for the first time as an audio book.

€7,000 will be granted to a selected emerging writer living in or from Westmeath to support the creation of new work.

WHO CAN APPLY

The John Broderick Emerging Writers Bursary is open to emerging writers in all genres. Writers must be over 18 years of age and resident on the island of Ireland. You must be from Westmeath or currently living in Westmeath. The bursary is aimed at emerging writers with a proven track record who are committed to developing their writing practice. Applicants should be working, or planning to work, on a specific project, with the aim of publication or production, and have a clear idea of how they might use the bursary to achieve this.

We are committed to taking positive measures to promote equality of opportunity, regardless of their gender, sexual orientation, civil or family status, religion, age, disability, race, socioeconomic status or membership of the Traveller Community. We welcome applications that are representative of the diversity of Irish society, including but not limited to any of the characteristics outlined above.

BURSARY DETAILS

• €7,000 bursary to a selected emerging writer from, or currently living in Westmeath to support the creation of new work.
• The selected writer will have the opportunity to avail of 2 free mentoring sessions with the 2024 John Broderick Writer-in-Residence Eithne Shortall.
• The emphasis of the award is on facilitating time for your creative work. Therefore, the amount you request should include the amount you will pay yourself for the time you will spend developing your practice as a writer. This can be up to 100% of the award. The award also allows for other costs intrinsic to supporting the development of the artist’s practice – e.g.

• Appropriate fees for the time given by other mentors or collaborators working with you on the activity or activities for which you are seeking support.

• Materials or the hiring of services that are critical to the development of your artistic practice provided these costs are clearly linked to your proposal.

ACCESS FOR WRITERS WITH DISABILITIES

We do our best to accommodate people with disabilities who want to submit an application or who have difficulties in accessing our online application form. We will tailor support to individual requests. For help submitting your application, please contact laura.mccormack@westmeathcoco.ie

In addition to the residency stipend, the Arts Council and Westmeath Arts Office will consider access costs specifically relating to the needs of writers with disabilities. If you wish to apply for additional funding on this basis, you will be asked to clearly outline what these costs are as part of your application. 

TIMELINE

• Applications open Thursday 22 August
• Deadline 16^th September 2024
• Selection panel will meet on 24^th September
• The successful candidate will be contacted by last week of September

HOW TO APPLY

Writers can apply via our online submission form.

You will be asked to provide the following:

• A cover letter with an introduction to your writing practice and a description of a project or publication you intend to work on with your bursary award.
• A typed curriculum vitae (maximum 3 pages)
• Samples of previous work, such as.
  • Prose writers should submit no more than 5,000 words
  • Poets should submit no more than 10 pages of poetry
• An outline of how you will allocate the bursary budget to your proposal.

Please ensure that all submitted files are clearly named with the writer’s name.   

Deadline for applications: 16 September at 5pm.

Please note that late applications will not be accepted.

SELECTION PROCESS

• Applications will be reviewed by an independent selection panel for eligibility, strength of proposal, and the range and quality of writing samples provided.

SELECTION CRITERIA

1. Quality of existing work (40%)

2. Relevance and timeliness of proposal to the development of your practice (30%)

3. Track record (30%)

FURTHER INFORMATION

Freedom of Information

The provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 1997-2003 apply to Westmeath County Council. Applicants should state if any of the information supplied by them is confidential or sensitive and should not be disclosed to a request for information under the aforementioned Act. Applicants should state why they consider the information to be confidential or commercially sensitive.

Prompt Payment

Under the Prompt Payments Accounts Act, the Local Authority is obliged to pay within 15 days, upon receipt of a valid invoice.

Further information is available from:

Laura McCormack, Westmeath Arts Office laura.mccormack@westmeathcoco.ie or katie.lowry@artscouncil.ie