The John Brooks Award

Starving - or otherwise dying - in a garret is overrated and seldom looks this good.

Henry Wallis: 'The Death of Chatterton'

But austerity has hit writers hard. There's less money available in the form of grants for the arts, and schools and other institutions have had their budgets squeezed so hard, paying visiting authors or poets is out of the question. 

Carl Spitzberg: The Poor Poet

This is why the Society of Authors is so important. Part of its work is to administer a number of grants for writers, to help fund works in progress and support those in financial difficulty.

William Hogarth: The Distrest Poet

As well as being a practical help, these grants also provide the writer with validation, encouragement and recognition.

Gustav Metzger: Homage to the Starving Poet 

I recently received the inaugural John Brooks Award for writers living in the West of England and Wales. 

Pubd 8th August 1826  by Wm Cole: an impoverished poet sitting in a garret surrounded by sheets of paper

It will help me continue
 to work part time and care for my disabled adult children, while I complete my current work-in-progress, Learning Finity.

John Joseph Barker: The Poet Chatterton 

To the Society of Authors, I'd like to say a heartfelt thank you. To you - if you are a writer - I say Join. And Apply. You Never Know.

Joseph Mallord William Turner: The Garreteer's Petition