Writers' Card Lottery – paid writing weeks
Turning the tables on competition among artists
Every year, the Royal Court supports a handful of early-career playwrights with a light-touch paid writing week. They’re usually writers we’ve found through submissions or invitations, who we think show promise. It’s not a commission and we don’t ask for any rights: it just buys talented writers a week off day-jobs and side-hustles, to develop their craft or finish a draft.
With the Writers’ Card, we’re extending this support further. And while competitive schemes and artistic assessments have great value, we know they create more work for applicants, are inherently subjective, and can disadvantage those who face structural barriers or bias when engaging with an institution like ours.
From 2025, we’re turning the tables. Twice a year, we’ll run a free-to-apply lottery for any Writers’ Card Member to enter – anyone for whom a small payment would help buy a bit of time and space to unlock their next steps. These will be offered at the same rate we offer any writer – currently £600 for a week paid in advance as a one-off fee – with no strings attached and no evaluation or reporting requirements. (Though if you do finish that draft, we’d love you to share it via our Open Submissions portal).
A minimum 50% of lottery awards will be ring-fenced for writers from backgrounds currently under-represented in our sector, including Black & Global Majority, Working Class, and D/deaf and disabled playwrights. Applications will be light-touch, with quick decisions and no hidden criteria, value judgments or requests for personal information we don’t need.
The first lottery will open in January 2025, and signed-up Writers Card Members will hear directly via our Newsletter for how to apply.
Every year, the Royal Court supports a handful of early-career playwrights with a light-touch paid writing week. They’re usually writers we’ve found through submissions or invitations, who we think show promise. It’s not a commission and we don’t ask for any rights: it just buys talented writers a week off day-jobs and side-hustles, to develop their craft or finish a draft.
With the Writers’ Card, we’re extending this support further. And while competitive schemes and artistic assessments have great value, we know they create more work for applicants, are inherently subjective, and can disadvantage those who face structural barriers or bias when engaging with an institution like ours.
From 2025, we’re turning the tables. Twice a year, we’ll run a free-to-apply lottery for any Writers’ Card Member to enter – anyone for whom a small payment would help buy a bit of time and space to unlock their next steps. These will be offered at the same rate we offer any writer – currently £600 for a week paid in advance as a one-off fee – with no strings attached and no evaluation or reporting requirements. (Though if you do finish that draft, we’d love you to share it via our Open Submissions portal).
A minimum 50% of lottery awards will be ring-fenced for writers from backgrounds currently under-represented in our sector, including Black & Global Majority, Working Class, and D/deaf and disabled playwrights. Applications will be light-touch, with quick decisions and no hidden criteria, value judgments or requests for personal information we don’t need.
The first lottery will open in January 2025, and signed-up Writers Card Members will hear directly via our Newsletter for how to apply.
