The Sunday Times / University of Warwick Young Writer of the Year Award celebrates and nurtures the very best talent from writers under 35. From 2017, the winner of the Award is offered a 10 week residency with the University of Warwick’s Warwick Writing Programme.

The winner of the Award works with the WWP to shape a bespoke programme that best suits their needs at the current stage of their writing career. True to Warwick’s ethos, the Warwick Project is aimed at providing the winner of the Young Writer of the Year Award with the space and support to develop their own ideas, giving them the opportunity to pull on the wealth of talent available from students and staff in faculties across the University.

The winner, with a programme co-ordinator, will organise a range of activities could include masterclasses, events, readings or a focus on a specific project. Past projects have included a digital publishing idea, a collaboration with the city’s schools, a film, a collective writing project with students.

Full details:

The winner will work closely with a Programme Coordinator who will support them in planning and setting up their residency.

For maximum flexibility the residency can be split across Terms 1 and 2 or even across 2 academic years and includes 20 nights accommodation. The writer can choose where they base themselves for the residency and this does not have to be on the University campus.

The winning author of the 2019 Award will have between January 2020 and July 2021 to complete their residency. Should the winner be unable to take up the residency within the timeframe then the opportunity will be offered to the Award runners up.

Previous recipients: Adam Weymouth, winner 2018