UQP Mentorship Prize for Under-Represented Writers

Entries open on Wednesday 21 May and close at 5pm AEST Friday 1 August 2025.

To apply for this fellowship, you must submit the application documents to mentorshipprize@uqp.com.au by 5pm (AEST) on Friday 1 August 2025.

To apply, you will need to submit:

1. A completed application form, downloadable here and below.

2. The first 5,000 words of a fiction or non-fiction manuscript for adult readers or for children (but not picture books). The partial manuscript can be in MS Word or PDF format. It should be 1.5 line spaced and paginated, and no bigger than 3MB in size.

A shortlist will be announced in October 2025. If you are among the shortlist of applications, you will be invited to submit an entire manuscript (or whatever is available for the work) for final judging.

The two winners will be announced in November 2025.

Applications are open to Australian Citizens and Permanent Residents currently living in Australia who are aged 18 years and over.

APPLICATION FORM

Can I have published a book before?

No. You can have had short works (stories or journalism) published in print or online, but not a book.

How many entries can I submit?

One application per person, please.

When will I find out if I’m shortlisted?

Shortlisted writers will be notified directly in early October 2025. The shortlist will be made public after the shortlistees have been contacted.

Will feedback be provided to non-shortlisted applicants?

No, individual feedback won’t be provided to applicants who are not shortlisted.

Who can apply?

Applicants must be Australian Citizens or Permanent Residents and aged over 18. This mentorship prize is open to emerging writers who come from backgrounds under-represented in the book publishing industry. Applicants will make their own definition as part of the application process. For example, applications are welcome from writers from First Nations communities, CALD (culturally and linguistically diverse) and LGBTQIA+ communities, writers who have a disability, and/or who come from a socio-economically marginalised community.

What is an ‘emerging writer’?

With this prize, UQP wants to help a first-time book author develop a manuscript that might lead to book publication. An emerging writer is defined as an author who has not had a commercial publication of any significant written work by a traditional book publisher.

Applicants must not have an existing publishing contract for a full-length work or be in current contract negotiations with another publisher.

How should I submit my manuscript?

Your manuscript must be emailed with your entry form, either in PDF or MS Word format. Attach the first 5,000 words of your manuscript (or if the whole manuscript is shorter than 5,000 words, submit the complete manuscript). The file should be no larger than 3MB.

Can I submit a work-in-progress?

Yes, you can submit the first 5,000 words of your manuscript, whether it is complete or not.

Can I submit a co-authored manuscript?

No, the manuscript must have a single author. It must also be an original work, created without the use of artificial intelligence technologies.

Who will judge the prize?

The award will have three judges: A UQP publisher representative and two external judges from under-represented writing communities.

What if I don’t live in Magandjin/Brisbane, where UQP is based?

This mentorship prize includes travel to/from and accommodation in Magandjin/Brisbane that will allow the two mentorship prize winners to have a residency period and in-person time with UQP editorial staff, at a mutually agreed time.

What happens after the mentorship period?

Once the writing and editorial mentorship stages have been completed, your work will be considered for publication by UQP.