By deaf and/ or disabled writers we mean writers who have faced disablist and/or audist barriers in accessing their careers, and writers who consider themselves to be deaf or disabled. This includes: Deaf, deaf and hard-of-hearing people, blind and visually impaired people, people with mobility and energy-limiting impairments, chronic illnesses, mental health conditions or experience of mental distress, and/ or learning disabilities, neurodivergent people. We also include other people who have experienced barriers accessing the writing world related to their experience as people living with chronic or long-term health conditions or impairments not otherwise discussed.
We particularly welcome entries from deaf and disabled writers from the following communities:
Entrants can be writers at any stage of their careers writing in poetry, fiction, narrative non-fiction or writing for performance.
Commission Terms and Conditions
Entries submitted should be original work and must be in English or British Sign Language.
You should not use generative AI in producing any part of your submission.
Entrants can apply to the commission online or by post.
Postal entries must be submitted as text
For online entries, answers to the application questions (e.g. writing bio) and your sample of your work may be provided as text [.doc, .docx, .rtf, .pdf] or audio [.aac, .aiff, .flac, .mp3, .m4a, .wav] format in English, or video [.mp4, .mov, .wmv] format in English or British Sign Language.
Unfortunately, we cannot return entries submitted by post but we will acknowledge receipt of entry via email.
Due to the volume of entries expected, Spread the Word is unable to provide feedback for any entries. We hope you understand and are sorry to not be able to provide this.
Entries can be submitted from 9am, Monday 9 September 2024. The closing date for entries is 1pm, Monday 7 October 2024.
The judges’ decisions are final, and no correspondence about their decisions will be entered into. Spread the Word reserve the right to change the panel of judges without notice.
Selected writers will contracted by Spread the Word to undertake a writing commission as per the commission brief
There is no theme which the work has to respond to. Pieces can be for publication, performance, visual display, audio etc
If you are applying to develop existing work, this work cannot have previously been published or produced.
The commission development period will run from November 2024 to February 2025. The commissioned work will be launched both in print and live at the 2025 Deptford Literature Festival on Saturday 29 March 2025.
An access fund is in place to make reasonable adjustments.
A small activation budget is also available, if required, to support writers in presenting their work at Deptford Literature Festival.
Copyright of all commissioned work will remain with the author.
Spread the Word will reserve the right to publish the commissioned works on their website and/ or in print.
Commissioned writers will each receive:
£1,000 commission fee
Access to commission activation budget
Two sessions with a mentor
One to one development and production support from Spread the Word
Publication of their work in the Deptford Literature Festival magazine
A platform to showcase their work to an audience at Deptford Literature Festival and online
Commissioned writers will be expected to:
Produce a piece of previously unpublished and unproduced work
Meet project deadlines, including a deadline for print publication
Showcase the commissioned work at an event as part of the 2025 Deptford Literature Festival on Saturday 29 March 2025
Take part in a panel discussion as part of the festival about your work, creative practice and the process of being commissioned
Support the promotion of the completed commissions
There may be extenuating circumstances that render the dates and timelines in this document flexible. Spread the Word reserve the right to alter these dates should it be necessary for any reason.
Spread the Word reserve the right not to award any of the stated commissions if there are insufficient submissions and/or if entries are not taken forward by the judges.
Submission of an application to this commission will be taken to mean acceptance of these terms and conditions. Entries that fail to comply with these rules may be disqualified.
If you have a question about the commissions which is not answered here or on the commission webpage, please email: [email protected]