Lewis Lines is a funded residency on the Isle of Lewis offering £3,000, workspace at The New Lewis, publication support, and public engagement for writers and creative practitioners.
Lewis Lines is a funded residency programme delivered by the Islands Book Trust in partnership with The New Lewis Community Hub, marking the Trust’s 25th anniversary year. Based in Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis, the residency offers time, space, and support for writers and creative practitioners to develop work rooted in place, language, and lived island experience.
Open to writers, poets, and creative practitioners working with words and language as a primary tool, Lewis Lines welcomes practices that engage with landscape, heritage, identity, community, place, and contemporary island life. Applications are invited from those working in English, Scottish Gaelic, Irish, or bilingually, as well as interdisciplinary practitioners whose work intersects with storytelling, performance, research, or cultural documentation.
The residency offers a £3,000 unrestricted artist award, a dedicated workspace within The New Lewis, a vibrant cultural and community hub in the heart of Stornoway and editorial support towards a published outcome produced in collaboration with the Islands Book Trust, including book cover guidance. The resident will also be featured across IBT platforms and Scottish Islands Explorer.
The residency period is flexible, with a suggested duration of 3–4 weeks on the Isle of Lewis. During this time, the resident will focus on developing work while engaging meaningfully with the local community. Public-facing activity forms part of the residency and includes at least one talk, reading, or performance, alongside one workshop or participatory event, with formats agreed collaboratively to suit the practitioner’s work.
Lewis Lines is intentionally grounded rather than extractive. It prioritises slow research, attentive listening, and genuine exchange over production pressure. The programme supports work that responds thoughtfully to place, recognising Lewis as a living cultural landscape shaped by language, memory, labour, migration, and resilience.
The residency culminates in a tangible outcome suitable for publication or digital dissemination, alongside a body of research, new connections, and an expanded understanding of Scotland’s outer island cultures. International applicants are welcome. Travel and accommodation are the responsibility of the resident.
Location: Na h-Eileanan Siar
For further information, please contact allison@islandsbooktrust.org (Allison), or call 01851450104, or visit https://islandsbooktrust.org/
The deadline is Sunday 01 February 2026 at 12:00.