Jerwood Foundation has awarded Pentabus a £20,000 grant, securing a third year of support for its Jerwood Writer in Residence programme. This renewed partnership builds on two previous years of funding to provide a year-long residency for an emerging playwright rooted in rural storytelling and contemporary new writing.
Pentabus is a professional rural touring theatre company based in South Shropshire. For over 50 years, Pentabus has commissioned and produced new plays that reflect contemporary rural life, touring to communities across the UK. The Writer in Residence programme is central to Pentabus’ artistic identity and has supported playwrights who have gone on to receive Olivier nominations, Bruntwood and Papatango prizes, National Theatre commissions, and productions across the UK theatre.
The residency offers a £12,000 bursary alongside travel and accommodation support, allowing the writer time and financial stability to develop at least one new full-length play while becoming embedded within the life of the company. Alongside developing their own work, the Jerwood Writer in Residence will work closely with Pentabus Young Company and Young Writers programmes, supporting emerging rural writers through workshops, mentorship and creative development opportunities.
Lara Wardle, Executive Director and Trustee, Jerwood Foundation, said:
Jerwood Foundation has renewed its partnership with Pentabus to enable a continuation of its leading Jerwood Writer in Residence programme which offers emerging playwrights’ valuable opportunities to develop their writing and reflects Jerwood Foundation’s ongoing commitment to supporting excellence and emerging talent in the arts.
Verity Overs-Morrel, Executive Director, Pentabus, said:
We are delighted that Jerwood Foundation is supporting a third Jerwood Writer in Residence and our 12th Writer in Residence overall. The Writer in Residence programme is central to our organisation, and this support will enable us to continue the programme into 2027. It would not be possible without the generosity, commitment and philanthropic vision of Jerwood Foundation.
The 2027 Jerwood Writer in Residence will be the 12th writer Pentabus has hosted through the programme, with previous recipients going on to achieve awards and wider professional success. Previous writers include Sid Sagar and Liv Hennessy (2024/25), Laura Waldren and Henry Maddicott (2023), Florence Espuet-Nickless (2021/22), Tom Powell (2020/21), Sophie Ellerby (2018/19), Tim Foley (2017), Joe White (2016) and Simon Longman (2015).
The 2027 Writer in Residence will be selected through a national recruitment process beginning in summer 2026, with the residency commencing in January 2027.
For further information, please visit Pentabus.
May 21, 2026
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