Stone & Sky
Dialect is delighted to be partnering with Cotswolds National Landscapes on Stone & Sky, a new Writer in Residence scheme that invites a writer from an underrepresented community to spend nine months working closely and slowly with the landscape and its people.
This opportunity is supported by a Caring for the Cotswolds grant, made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
The residency offers a slow, attentive, and interpretive approach to revealing the region’s natural and cultural heritage, helping communities understand and value the distinctive qualities of this living landscape.
Through fieldwork, creative research, and community engagement, the writer will translate ecological, geological, historical, and place based knowledge into new forms, such as poems, essay, story, audio pieces or other digital works.
These creative outputs will become long lasting resources for the National Landscape, enriching public understanding of seasonal change, biodiversity, land practices such as the commons, and the deep stories of the Cotswolds.
Stone & Sky strengthens development pathways for writers from underrepresented backgrounds. By fostering emotional connection to place, the residency supports stewardship and care for the land.
The writer is expected to engage slowly (and on a very part time basis!) with the landscape from October 2026 through to June 2027 and is expected to produce some quality creative work for digital and in-person activities. The fee available for this work is £2,250.00.
Eligibility
Applications are open to writers who consider themselves underrepresented in nature writing, whether through ethnicity, disability, class, sex, gender, sexuality or any other circumstances.
Applicants should live in one of the Local Authorities with boundaries within the Cotswolds. These are: Gloucestershire County Council, Oxfordshire County Council, Wiltshire Council, South Gloucestershire, Bath & North East Somerset Council, Worcestershire County Council.
Applications
To apply, complete our online form OR send a short audio or video message responding to the questions below to dialectsubmissions@gmail.com.
Quality of writing and creating equality of opportunity is more important to us than an applicant’s public profile. Every application will be judged anonymously by an independent panel.
Please send:
a short statement on how you think writing can be used to create or strengthen an emotional connection to place (200 words max);
a writing sample (up to 1000 words or 3 poems);
a statement on why you feel underrepresented in nature writing (500 words max);
a biographical note with any relevant information such as previously published prose or poetry, agent details, social media accounts, literary prizes won or nominated for, etc. (100 words max).
Deadline for submissions: midnight on Sunday 6th September
If you need to talk through the call out before applying, email us to arrange a short chat and/ or if you simply have some queries, please feel free to contact juliette.morton@dialect.org.uk.
Additional information
Public access to the creative outputs of Stone & Sky will be ensured through a mix of digital and in‑person activity.
New writing, audio pieces, recordings, and creative prompts will be shared online, offering low‑carbon, high‑reach engagement for rural, disabled, and time‑poor audiences.
In‑person workshops, readings, and guided walks will invite communities to connect directly with the Cotswold landscape.
All materials will be available in a range of formats, with hybrid and recorded options to widen participation across the region.
