The SoA Access Fund is designed to award small grants (usually £150 or less).
We encourage applicants to apply for what they need in line with their individual event, residency, or retreat expenses.
While applications for over £150 are accepted, they may take longer to assess and priority will be given to applications where the funds from a grant will be a driving force in the trip going ahead.
Applicants may only apply for one grant per calendar year and preference will be given to those who have not received funds previously.
Applications are assessed on a rolling basis (usually within two weeks) and will be notified if the assessment deadline is extended.
Eligibility
Grants are awarded to all authors, by which we mean:
- Anyone who creates work for publication, broadcast or performance. You do not need to be a member to apply but you should meet our criteria for SoA membership.
- Open to UK and Irish residents and British and Irish citizens.
Grants can be used for:
- Travel to events including overnight stays and subsistence.
- Fees for writing residencies and retreats.
- Childcare and carer support while attending an event, residency, or retreat.
- Travel, accommodation, and subsistence for a companion if one is required.
- Other access needs such as materials translated into an accessible format.
Grants cannot be used for:
- Events where an author is speaking or presenting their work as these expenses should be covered by the organisation running the event.
- Course fees.
- Events that the author has already attended and is applying for funding for retrospectively.
- Grants cannot be awarded to cover publication or promotion costs.
- The fund is unable to support trips to London Book Fair.
If you are unsure if you are eligible please get in touch with grants@societyofauthors.org and we will be able to discuss your individual circumstances with you.
Receiving a grant:
- All travel and accommodation should be in line with the SoA Expense Policy
- You may be asked to give a budget breakdown in order to establish eligibility for all aspects of your trip
- Applicants must provide receipts of all expenses paid for with this grant
- Grants smaller than the sum requested may be awarded based on circumstances
How to apply
Please download the application form from the link below.
You can submit your application by email or by post to:
Grants
The Society of Authors
24 Bedford Row
London WC1R 4EH
Please note: For grants to assist with substantial research or travel costs, or to ‘buy time’ to complete a work in progress, see the Authors’ Foundation.
If you are visiting a UK archive specifically to access unpublished manuscript material, please consider an application to the Strachey Trust which can offer grants of up to £500.
The SoA is indebted to Drusilla Harvey, whose generous bequest enabled us to set up this fund.
Stevie Smith
Stevie Smith (1902-71) lived in Palmers Green, London, and for much of her life worked as a secretary for the magazine publishers Sir George Newnes and Sir Neville Pearson. Her first book, Novel on Yellow Paper, appeared in 1936, and her final collection of poems, Scorpion, was published posthumously in 1972. In 1966 she received a Cholmondeley Award and in 1969 was awarded the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry.
Photo (right): Stevie Smith after the award of the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry
Other Resources you may find helpful:
Authors Awards and Advancement Charity No 1182586