Applications Now Open! The Double Negative Fellowship // Deadline Sunday 8 July 2018
Are you a writer from the North of England? Could your career benefit from a top-notch, internationally acclaimed mentor? Introducing: The Double Negative Fellowship 2018…
WHAT?
The Double Negative Fellowship 2018 aims to discover and encourage new, daring voices from the North of England.
A brand new support package for exceptional writers who are interested in art and culture, The Double Negative Fellows will each receive:
- Extraordinary, one-to-one mentoring throughout 2018 from writers of global repute: Stephanie Bailey (Editor-in-Chief, Ocula), Oliver Basciano (International Editor, ArtReview), Jennifer Higgie (Editorial Director, frieze) and Ellen Mara De Wachter (author, Co-Art: Artists on Creative Collaboration, Phaidon)
- A £450 commission to write about Liverpool, 10 years on from European Capital of Culture 2008 – published in a new, The Double Negative print and selected online platforms The Double Negative, ArtReview and Ocula
- Travel bursaries to research new writing and visit mentors
- Access to a little black book of national and international contacts, including publications, universities and art organisations
- Professional development training sessions from The Double Negative team.
Our Fellowship coincides with CreArt (Network of Cities for Artistic Creation), Liverpool 2018, and Liverpool Biennial: Beautiful World, Where Are You?. Fellows will be warmly invited to partake in linked events throughout the year – including the Biennial festival opening in July, a CreArt conference in October, and a celebratory Fellowship event in November.
WHO? GUIDELINES:
Our Fellows will be from or live in the North of England. They will be available to commit to a programme of flexible mentoring, training and writing during 2018, and aim to seize all the opportunities presented to them, including feedback and constructive criticism. They will take writing seriously, but not themselves. They will have already been published, online or in print (or both). They will be encouraged to write about art and culture in a way that they haven’t before – more creatively perhaps, or just with more confidence and freedom outside of the traditional magazine format.
We are looking to hear from early career writers we’ve never heard of, and early career writers we already know. Only writers should apply who don’t currently have a mentor (this is important), but need one – to ask basic questions about fees and pay, about structure and pace, about where to pitch… To ask an expert all the questions they’ve ever wanted to ask. To learn from their mentor’s career trajectory, triumphs and mistakes. To share research interests. To get vital contacts in the industry. To be invited into a conversation with people who are the best at what they do across the arts and publishing.
IS THIS YOU? THEN SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION NOW:
If you match our guidelines, outlined above, please submit an application by email. Send us two, key things:
- One example of your best work, 500-2000 words (PDF or Word doc, full text or excerpt). This can be something new you’ve been working on, or text that’s previously been published, we don’t mind. It can take the form of a review, interview, feature, non-fiction, experimental non-fiction, fiction, or an essay. Just make sure you’re proud of it.
- A cover email. You must include your name, current address and place of birth, email, phone number, age, and any relevant links; plus a short paragraph (100-250 words) about yourself, your aspirations, and what stage you consider yourself to be at with writing.
Submissions sent without these two, key elements will not be considered.
Please email your submission to Mike Pinnington, mike@thedoublenegative.co.uk, before midnight GMT, Sunday 8 July 2018, subject heading “The Double Negative Fellowship 2018”.
DEADLINE:
Sunday 8 July 2018, by midnight GMT. Strictly no submissions will be accepted after this time.
IS THERE AN ENTRY FEE?
No. It’s free to apply!
TIMELINE:
This year’s Fellows will be announced week commencing Monday 9 July 2018.
The Fellows will be invited to meet their mentors in person during the first two weeks of Liverpool Biennial contemporary art festival, Thursday 12 to 26 July 2018. This will also be a good time to research and pitch the commissions.
Mentoring and training sessions will be arranged at a steady pace throughout 2018.
The Fellowship will officially come to a close in December 2018.
THANK YOU:
The Double Negative would like to wholeheartedly thank our friends and supporters: Arts Council England, ArtReview, CreArt (Network of Cities for Artistic Creation), Culture Liverpool, Contemporary Visual Arts Network North West (CVAN NW), Heart of Glass, History of Art at Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool Biennial, Ocula, and the University of Salford Art Collection; with particular thanks to Sean Durney, Stephanie Bailey, Oliver Basciano, Jennifer Higgie and Ellen Mara De Wachter
QUESTIONS?
Contact Mike Pinnington, mike@thedoublenegative.co.uk, or tweet us @TheDbleNgtve.
And good luck!
Read more about the resulting book, Present Tense, and the authors’ journey through The Double Negative Fellowship.
