Defining Our Space

Literary Explorations of BPOC Creative Environments.

Scottish BPOC Writers Network (SBWN) and We Are Here Scotland (WAHS) are thrilled to announce our Creative Balance partnership with an open call on the theme Defining Our Space: Literary Explorations of BPOC Creative Environments.

We are seeking pitches from our communities exploring what constitutes nurturing, safer, and generative creative spaces for BPOC individuals, and interrogating the physical, psychological, and/or cultural dimensions of space.

Three writers will be chosen by a panel of team members from WAHS and SBWN and their work exhibited in a digital showcase.

The commissioned pieces will be integrated with WAHS’s Creative Balance research findings and further showcased at a wellbeing festival being held in May 2026. Creative Balance is a mental health research project centring Black and Global Majority wellbeing in Scotland’s creative industries - the first research strand is exploring how can/do BPOC-led creative spaces function as protective factors for mental health within Scotland’s creative sector? 

  • The notion of "space" is multifaceted for BPOC creatives—encompassing physical environments, psychological safety, cultural recognition, and creative freedom. This project invites writers to critically examine and reimagine what space means through their creative practice:

    • What constitutes a safer space for BPOC writers?

    • How do BPOC-led spaces differ from mainstream creative environments?

    • What spatial elements (physical, emotional, cultural) are essential for creative wellbeing?

    • How do BPOC writers claim, create, nurture, and/or transform spaces through their work?

    • What new possibilities can be imagined for BPOC-led creative spaces?

    Your work can explore physical spaces, digital spaces, cultural spaces, imagined or future spaces.

    Your piece should combine personal reflection with creative expression.

    Works could take various forms: essays, poetry, short fiction, hybrid forms.

    • Please send one short pitch of up to 100 words in text, audio or video format.

    • We need at least one writing sample along with your pitch. These can be published, self-published (e.g. on a personal blog/website), or unpublished. Text, audio and video formats (including BSL) accepted.

    • Access:

      • Text, audio or video formats accepted, including British Sign Language (BSL)

      • We have some bursaries for childcare/caregiver or data costs for people on low incomes who would be unable to participate otherwise.

      • We have an access budget – please share your access requirements with us.

    • If selected and commissioned, your work can be published as text (up to 700 words), audio or video up to 3 minutes (including BSL interpretation). 

    • You will be paid a fee of £150. Please note this is classed as ‘self-employed’ or ‘freelance’ work.

    • Timeline:

      • 31st August 2025: deadline for pitches

      • w/c 8th September: we will inform you of the outcome of your pitch

      • 28th September: article commission deadline

      • October: Commissioned articles will be joint-posted on both Scottish BPOC Writers Network’s and We Are Here Scotland’s websites in a digital showcase.

    • An editor will be provided.

  • Please only apply if you identify as a Black writer or writer of colour based in Scotland (definition), and can complete your final piece by the end of September.

    We especially encourage submissions from BPOC writers who are disabled, D/deaf, blind, chronically ill, or neurodivergent; are over 45 years old; are from the LGBTQIA+ community; are a parent or carer; and/or have never been published.⁠

    1. Read SBWM’s pitching guide: How to Pitch to SBWN

    2. Send us your pitch by 31st August 2025 via this form.

APPLY HERE