Amazon Literary Partnership announces 2026 grant recipients across the UK and Ireland

Key takeaways

Amazon's Literary Partnership is awarding grants to 41 non-profit literary organisations across the UK and Ireland in 2026, supporting emerging writers, community storytelling, and literacy programmes for children and adults.
New recipients this year include East Side Story, Veterans' Growth, Whittington Park Community Association, and Word Up North, joining established partners such as Scottish Book Trust, Literacy Pirates, and Literature Wales.
2026 marks the partnership’s third year supporting organisations in the Republic of Ireland, with this year’s recipients including Fighting Words and Graffiti Theatre Company.

What is the Amazon Literary Partnership?

The Amazon Literary Partnership awards annual grants to non-profit literary organisations, writing centres, and community programmes across the UK and Republic of Ireland. Launched in 2019, it supports groups that uplift aspiring writers at any stage of their creative journey, and empowers those from underrepresented communities to experience the power of the written word.

What's new for 2026?

This year, the partnership is supporting more organisations than ever before with 41 organisations set to receive grants across the UK and Ireland. New recipients this year include Whittington Park Community Associations, Word Up North, East Side Story, and Veteran’s Growth.

Returning partners include Scottish Book Trust, Papatango Theatre Company, Literature Wales, and Literacy Pirates. In its third year supporting groups in the Republic of Ireland, the partnership has awarded funding to Graffiti Theatre Company and Fighting Words.

How the grants make a difference

East Side Story

East Side Story is a community newspaper that gives the people of East Leeds a voice, particularly those from disadvantaged and underrepresented communities. The organisation’s journalism workshops create opportunities for people to build confidence, develop practical media skills, and improve their well-being, while helping them tell the stories that matter most to them and their communities. The grant will fund six-week programmes for low-income participants in East Leeds covering news writing, photography, research skills, and media law — removing barriers by covering materials, travel, and refreshments.

“This support from the Amazon Literary Partnership means a great deal to us. Overall, it will help us reach people who are often excluded from creative and professional opportunities, strengthen community storytelling across East Leeds and ensure more local voices are heard," said a spokesperson from East Side Story.

Llenyddiaeth Cymru (Literature Wales)

Amazon Literary Partnership - TN writers around the table

Literature Wales' Strategic Programme supports the professional development of emerging writers from underrepresented backgrounds in Wales, helping them thrive creatively and build sustainable careers while addressing historical and structural inequalities. The program enables writers to hone their craft with expert tutors and mentors and demystifies the publishing process with sessions led by industry experts. It also supports writers in developing their skills as creative facilitators with a focus on writing for health and well-being.

"We are very grateful to be recipients of this year's Amazon Literary Partnership," said Claire Furlong, Executive Director of Literature Wales. "Literature Wales supports writers at every stage of their journey and this grant will go towards our professional development programme, providing mentoring, masterclasses, and professional development for emerging writers from under-represented backgrounds."

Veteran's Growth

Founded in 2019, Veterans’ Growth supports veterans and their families—many of whom come from underrepresented backgrounds, experience social isolation and live with the lasting effects of trauma—through workshops and activities that provide opportunities to connect with others and take part in positive, well-being-focused experiences. The grant will support a creative writing program for veterans and their families who are often excluded from traditional literary spaces, providing the opportunity to have their voices heard.

Literacy Pirates

Amazon Literary Partnership - Literary Pirates

Literacy Pirates empowers children from disadvantaged backgrounds to succeed in the classroom and beyond, with the wider ambition to ensure more children can access joyful, evidence-led literacy support wherever they live. The grant will support its Young Pirate Book Projects, enabling hundreds of children from disadvantaged backgrounds to write, edit, and publish their own professionally produced books over the next year. The grant will help cover creative and production costs, including illustration, book design, printing, and celebration events, ensuring children can see their words and ideas transformed into real published work. It will also support the delivery of teacher-led reading and writing sessions, where children build vital literacy skills, confidence, and perseverance while discovering the power of their own voice.

Full list of 2026 grant recipients

Applications for 2027 open later this year

Applications for 2027 grants from the Amazon Literary Partnership will open towards the end of this year. Applicants must be based in the United Kingdom or Republic of Ireland, with a core mission to develop emerging writers, support diversity, celebrate storytelling, and/or build authors' careers.

To find out more, visit https://apply.amazonliterarypartnership.co.uk/submit

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