Word Factory is one of a few special places the wandering short story form will go out of its way to visit – a well-loved and necessary refuge.
The Word Factory is committed to supporting the next generation of short story writers in long-term literary relationships, bringing leading established and emerging writers together in exciting collaborations.
Our renowned Apprentice Award continues to develop writers and bring them to the attention of the literary and publishing community. Recipients benefit from mentoring from the team and a leading writer, helping them establish themselves as individual artists and activists.
Under the stewardship of founder Cathy Galvin the artistic work and programming of the Word Factory – live events and interviews – has been captured online, on film and podcast, and in print.
We are a community of writers, run by writers seeking to develop the quality of their work and create exciting new platforms for the short story form.
We celebrate our tenth anniversary in 2022: our assets are our time and creativity. Our partners have included Arts Council England, New Writing North and Spread the Word and other writer development agencies, the universities of Warwick, Liverpool, London, and Exeter, the British Council and English PEN.
