CrimeFest offers bursary for crime author of colour

CrimeFest is offering a bursary for a writer of colour to attend its festival in May 2022 and appear on a panel.

The bursary will cover the cost of a full weekend pass to its convention, a night’s accommodation at the Mercure Bristol Grand Hotel and a guaranteed panel appearance.

To be eligible for the bursary, authors must have had at least one English language book in traditional print published by a British commercial publisher. The winning entry will be chosen in collaboration with CrimeFest organisers and judges Vaseem Khan and critic Ayo Onatade.

“At CrimeFest, we pride ourselves as being one of the most democratic events in our genre,” said Donna Moore, co-creator of CrimeFest. “As a convention, published authors don’t have to be invited to take part — there are no gatekeepers or committees dictating who is in and who isn’t. As such, CrimeFest is a really exciting event for the genre and a natural hotbed for diverse talent. We’re aware, however, that more needs to be done to ensure festivals and conventions actively support writers of colour.”

Hosted in Bristol, CrimeFest is one of the biggest crime fiction events in Europe, with around 60 panel events and 150 authors over four days. Dates for next year's event are 12th to 15th May.

The deadline to apply for the bursary is 30th January 2022. For more details visit the CrimeFest website.