Freelance Writing Jobs: the November round-up
All the upcoming award, residency and bursary deadlines you need to know about.
Hello! How are you doing this morning? This special monthly edition is coming to you from the Canary Islands, where I’ve got Meg Mason, Sarah Moss, and Kate Sawyer for company by the pool. Jilly Cooper might join next week if there’s time.
There are dozens of opportunities in this issue, including a prize that I was shortlisted for last year, all with upcoming deadlines. They’ll fill your creative well – and your pockets – and take you from the Scottish Highlands down to Cornwall. I hope your words find a wonderful home.
"A career-changing book... if you're thinking about going freelance, read this first," says GQ’s Oliver Franklin-Wallis.
My book The Pyjama Myth: the Freelance Writer's Survival Guide will make you a better, happier freelancer and you can order your copy from Bookshop.
Closing before the end of November: (last day to apply after the link):
The Happiful Poetry Prize 2025 is open for entries for pieces about mental health and well-being. It’s free to enter. (18th)
The BFI Early Development Fund has grants of between £3,000 and £5,000 for writers in England who have an idea for a feature-length movie but no first draft. (19th)
There’s still time to enter the Scottish Book Trust’s Gaelic New Writers Awards 2025. (21st)
The deadline for the Female Pilot Club script call has been extended. Working class women writers who were either brought up in, or are currently living outside of London, are eligible. (22nd)
The Playwrights’ Studio Scotland has three programmes for budding bards : a playwright mentoring programme; a bursary and support scheme for disabled playwrights; and a fund for self-led playwright projects. (25th)
Based in Wolverhampton, London, or Newcastle? The Rebecca Swift Foundation seeks three women poets to serve as Creative Associates – one in each city. (25th)