EMERGE: Escalator Poetry Competition 2010

"a life changing experience...” Escalator Winner 2008

Let us prepare you for your first collection.

Escalator takes talented writers and offers them a creative lift. Alumni have gone on to great success through this scheme, and so can you.

How?

Through one-to-one creative mentoring from Mimi Khalvati, Daljit Nagra and George Szirtes.

 

Support in making an application for an Arts Council England Grants for the Arts award for development funding.

A place on an Escalator Poetry writing residential long weekend at the University of East Anglia where you will take part in professional development sessions and be given space to write.

 

Publication in a bespoke sampler sent to key poetry and magazine editors, festival organisers and others in the poetry world.

 

 

++Please note that for the first time Escalator is open to anyone living in England. ++

 

Our judges are esteemed poets Sean O’ Brien, Tom Chivers and Mimi Khalvati.

And the mentors: Mimi Khalvati (above), Daljit Nagra and George Szirtes.

Interested? Find out more....

What will Escalator Poetry Competition do for me?

Escalator Literature has been running in the East of England for five years and has supported a wide range of writers. It's done so well that we are pleased to be opening up the competition nationwide for the first time this year. We specialise in giving writers the push needed to get into the professional stratosphere. Many prize winners have gone on to find agents and get published, writers including Helen Ivory, Susan Sellers and Nicola Upson. What we offer is much more valuable than a simple cash prize, it’s a whole year of mentoring, development and support that has long term benefits, as past participants can attest:

“Without the application process for Escalator I would not now have such a superb agent. Thank you for all the wonderful events and opportunities to learn along the way. These were terrific days, greatly appreciated, always inspirational, and insightfully chosen.”
Martin Ungless, Winner 2009/10
 

 

“I have said on a number of occasions that getting onto the Escalator Programme has been a life changing experience, and I really mean it.”

 

Escalator Winner 2007/08

“The Escalator scheme has provided invaluable guidance, both in terms of the craft of writing, and in making new contacts in the publishing business.”
Aliya Whiteley, Winner 2006

Is the Escalator Poetry Competition for me?

Escalator Literature 2010/11 is open to you if you are a poet currently living in England and think that a period of structured support would enable you to develop artistically. Successful applicants will demonstrate considerable creative talent and potential for development and will commit to the Escalator scheme and the work they undertake as part of it. Please read the full eligibility criteria below carefully before making your application:

Eligibility Guidelines:

Applicants must

 

Be over the age of 18 years old
Be resident in England
Complete the application in English
Submit single authored works only
Demonstrate creative talent and potential for development
Be available to attend a mentoring session on 22 January 2011
Be available to attend a weekend residential at UEA between 9 and 11 September 2011

Applicants must not

 

Be studying for a full time academic qualification in creative writing at the time of applying for the GFTA (March 2011)
Have published a first poetry collection in print (including self-published collections) but may be published in anthology or pamphlet form. Publication in a different literary genre to poetry does not disqualify you from this competition.
Be employees of Writers’ Centre Norwich or members of employees' families

 

How to Apply:

APPLICATION DEADLINE: 5pm, Monday 29th November

Please submit

•   Up to 6 poems, or a maximum of 180 lines typed (hand-written submissions will not be accepted), single-spaced 12pt, arial font on A4. Please state the poem title and author at the top of the page. Please note that entries will not be returned.
•   A completed application form. Click to download word 97 - 2003 doc or PDF doc.
•   A processing fee of £5. Applicants may not apply more than once. Please send a cheque made payable to Writers' Centre Norwich for this amount along with your entry. Please note that payments over the telephone or in cash will not be accepted.

We can only accept postal applications and receipt of entries will not be acknowledged unless a stamped return card is enclosed.

Send your full application to:

Escalator 2010/11
Writers’ Centre Norwich
14 Princes Street
Norwich
NR3 1AE

 

 

Further Information and Contact

 

If you need further information about the Escalator Poetry Competition we are very happy to talk to you informally and answer any questions.

Contact Laura Stimson: Laura.stimson@writerscentrenorwich.org.uk

We run Escalator Literature on behalf of Arts Council England and we’d like to thank them for their support. As part of the Escalator package you will be supported in making an application to Grants for the Arts: which is an open application process. The level of grant awarded will depend on your proposal and your needs as an artist. You will receive advice about what level of grant may be appropriate for you to apply for when you are preparing your application. Further Information on the eligibility criteria for Grants for the Arts awards can be found on the Arts Council England website. 

Find out how last year’s winners got on, and read extracts of their work.