Last June 2020, I spotted an opportunity on Twitter to enter the Lindsay Literary Agency Scholarship for a fully funded place at the Virtual Writers Weekend . I sent off a submission with an extract of my current novel, a new YA fantasy in the tradition of Indian myths. To my absolute delight and honour, I won! It was a really huge boost for me to know that the opening showed promise (thank you to the judges, Becky Bagnell of @LindsayLit, Kirsten Stansfield of Nosy Crow and @AsmaaIsse. The win and subsequent stint at the Writer’s Weekend gave me that final push over the finish line with the second draft of my MS so I thought I’d sum up my experiences in case any of you are considering attending a writing festival/weekend. Due to the pandemic and for the first time , the Winchester event was totally virtual. I found out I won about a couple of days before the event started and it required little to no adjustment to my schedule to attend. I am not sure it would have been possible for me to attend the 4 days in person so this was a real stroke of luck for me. Thanks to some incredibly hard work by the organisers, Sara and Dan Gangai (thank you!) it was very smoothly run and we even had a quick training session in using the platform beforehand which was a real help. Huge choice of events: We were spoilt for choice with …

EARLIER this year, I received an email that informed me that I was shortlisted for the Lindsay Literary Scholarship to the Winchester Writers Festival. At that point, I knew better than to pop the champagne. I had been longlisted and shortlisted before for various mentorships and opportunities. Yet, something had always fallen short. So when, only a few weeks later, another email from Becky at Lindsay Literary popped up on my phone, I expected another ‘it’s not quite right” or “it’s just not there yet” kind of response. Instead, it was an email congratulating me on winning the scholarship.  That’s not to say that my writing had improved much between the previous rejections and my being accepted for this scholarship. However, for the first time, the conversation didn’t stop at “It’s not quite there yet.” This time, I was given an opportunity: It’s not quite there yet, but with Becky’s feedback and the lessons to be learned at the Winchester Writers Festival, it can get there.  I’d never had the opportunity to attend writing workshops or classes, had nobody teaching me about storytelling techniques or publishing. The only literary conventions I’d been able to attend were book fairs or book festivals, designed for an audience of readers, not for writers. Being allowed to attend a festival for writers, I was not going to let anything pass me by. I signed up for a wide spectrum of events: Workshops specific to my genre, as well as talks and classes that were neither directly related to my …

THE Lindsay Literary Agency is delighted to announce that we will once more be sponsoring a fully funded place at Winchester Writers’ Festival, 14th- 16th June 2019. The scholarship place is open to any UK unagented YA or middle grade writer from an under-represented background. Below is a transcript of a Twitter Q&A we held recently and further information on how to apply can be found on the Scholarship page of this website.  Can you apply if you have already been published? I’m afraid not if you’ve been traditionally published, but self-published is fine. When is the Deadline? It is Monday, 4th March 2019 at midnight. Can I submit work that has been previously self-published? Yes you can. I belong to the Indian ethnic background, however I’m a British Citizen. Do I qualify for this scholarship? Yes you do – anyone from a BAME background who is living in the UK or Ireland can apply. Some members of my critique group have asked who’s eligible for the scholarship?  Applicants are asked to self-identify with regard to their under-represented background so we’re taking a very broad approach, but LGBTQIA, BAME, gender diversity, people with disabilities, and ethnic, cultural, and religious minorities are all eligible Are you accepting new clients? Yes we are – please see our website for details http://www.lindsayliteraryagency.co.uk  Do you have a preference for picture books/MG/YA? Personally I like all writing for children, but for the scholarship we’re only accepting MG and YA this year. Who are the judges? Kirsty …