The Kay Mellor Fellowship

Deadlines & fees

• Application deadline (10am)Next deadline
  1 Aug 2026Europe/LondonFree

Dates and fees checked against the official site 14 Jul 2026.

Key facts

Genres

Action, Adventure, Animation, Biography, Comedy, Crime, Documentary, Drama, Family, Fantasy, History, Horror, Music, Mystery, Romance, Sci-Fi, Sport, Thriller, War, Western

Eligibility

UK residents

Open to

United Kingdom

Required materials

Online application form via Leeds Playhouse · Inclusion and diversity monitoring form · Script sample sent by email to the fellowship address

For a writer based in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. The Fellowship is not a full-time role and is designed to sit alongside other paid work. The full person specification is in the Leeds Playhouse job pack.

Prizes

A £10,000 bursary for the year (paid as self-employed income), twelve months on attachment with Leeds Playhouse and Rollem Productions developing a new stage play and a television pitch, and a place on the BBC Writers Voices programme with workshops, masterclasses and industry talks. Free to apply.

Judging

Applications are made through Leeds Playhouse, which runs the Fellowship with Rollem Productions, the BBC and Leeds City Council. Shortlisted writers are interviewed in early to mid November 2026, and this round selects the Kay Mellor Fellow 2027, the second of three Fellows in the current investment.

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