The Birkbeck / Sophie Warne Fellowship for an emerging writer supports an outstanding graduate of the Birkbeck Creative Writing MA at a critical juncture in their writing life. We offer the writer time and space to pursue a project or new ways of working free from the pressure of specified outcomes, within the context of a professional residency. The residency also offers opportunity make contacts among established artists across all disciplines and others in the arts. The residency is a partnership between Cove Park, Birkbeck and the family of Sophie Warne.

Julia Gray is a London-based writer and singer-songwriter. Her most recent album, Robber Bride, was recorded with the support of the Arts Council. Named after the novel by Margaret Atwood, the album explores how turning points in contemporary and ancient narratives can be reflected in song. Robber Bride was released in June 2014. Julia has a first in Classics from UCL, a post-graduate certificate in Children’s Literature from Birkbeck and most recently an MA in Creative Writing, also from Birkbeck, for which she received a distinction and the Sophie Warne Fellowship. Her first novel for young adults, The Otherlife, will be published by Andersen Press in September 2016; she has also written a picture book about the endangered Arabian Leopards of Oman, published by Stacey International in September 2014, and has contributed a short story to the eleventh edition of the Mechanics’ Institute Review. Julia is currently working on an adult novel.