Moniack Mhor has launched a new initiative designed to help more Highland writers access professional creative writing opportunities close to home.

The new programme, called Write Highlands, will introduce non residential places on selected writing courses and provide new bursary opportunities for writers living within the Highland Council area.

Based at Moniack Mhor near Kiltarlity, Scotland’s Creative Writing Centre has been supporting writers from across Scotland and beyond since 1993.

The new initiative aims to remove some of the barriers that can prevent local people from taking part in residential writing programmes.

As part of a pilot running through the autumn and winter 2026 and 2027 programme, two non residential places will be available on selected tutored courses.

Participants will be able to attend daily workshops and tutorials while travelling to and from the centre rather than staying on site.

The places will be offered at a reduced fee while still providing access to tutor led sessions, one to one tutorials, shared writing spaces and other course benefits.

Moniack Mhor has also announced the new Write Highlands Bursary.

The bursary will provide fully funded non residential places for writers living within the Highland Council area who may face barriers to participation.

Funded places will be available on three courses covering lifewriting, fiction and poetry.

The courses will be led by an impressive line up of tutors and guest readers including Karen McLeod, Jarred McGinnis, Jackie Kay, Kirsty Gunn, Kevin MacNeil, Duncan McLean, Hanif Abdurraqib, Jen Hadfield and Rachel Sermanni.

Interested writers can apply here

Centre Director Rachel Humphries said:

“We are thrilled to be able to offer spaces on our open residential programme to local writers who may prefer to attend on a day-to-day basis.

“It allows us to enhance our access, too, by creating different ways of engaging in our writer development programme.

“Later in the year, we’ll be re-launching weekend day-long workshops, which we did before the pandemic.

“These little injections of writing support saw many writers coming from the local area and we hope to be able to recreate this via this strand of our work.”

The wider autumn and winter programme also includes courses led by well known writers and artists including Horatio Clare, Jackie Kay, Lesley Glaister, Eimear McBride, Simon Stephens, Boo Hewerdine and Louise Welsh.

Moniack Mhor says the new initiative forms part of its ongoing commitment to improving access to creative opportunities and supporting writers at every stage of their development.

Located just outside Inverness, the centre has built a national reputation for nurturing emerging talent while also providing opportunities for established writers to develop their work.

The launch of Write Highlands represents a significant step towards ensuring more local writers can benefit from those opportunities and become part of Scotland’s thriving literary community.