Aspiring Indian Writers To Benefit From The Sonny Mehta India Scholarship

Those aspiring writers having a flair for writing and want to pursue a serious career in the same, now have an opportunity to soar high in the sky. UK’s University of East Anglia (UEA) has recently announced a 100% sponsored annual Sonny Mehta India scholarship to aspiring Indian writers. The scholarship is worth  £28,500 i.e around 29,16,130 INR.

The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a UK Top 25 university and is ranked in the top 50 globally for research citations. Known for its world-leading research and good student experience, it was awarded Gold in the Teaching Excellence Framework and is a leading member of Norwich Research Park, one of Europe’s biggest concentrations of researchers in the fields of environment, health, and plant science. 

The Sonny Mehta India Scholarship is available for all creative writing students of India and the Indian subcontinent. The deadline to apply for the scholarship is June 3, 2022. This scholarship will cover tuition fees and living costs. Additionally, it will also cover the moving expenses to the UK for the duration of the course. 

The scholarship was founded by Gita Mehta in the year 2021 with the aim of encouraging young writers, by providing them with sufficient and necessary financial aid in the form of scholarships. All those aspirants who are self-funded and can validate genuine financial needs holding outstanding creative writing potential are eligible to apply for the postgraduate scholarship programme at the UEA. The scholarship is offered in honour of the founder’s late husband, Sonny Mehta, Editor-in-Chief of US publishing house Alfred A Knopf and Chairman of the Knopf Doubleday Group. 

At the time of the announcement of this scholarship, UEA’s Director of Creative Writing, Prof Henry Sutton, said, “Our programme is always in quest for raw talent from around the world. Modern-day writing should have no boundaries and prejudices, as it strives to make sense of our world, and for all. Enabling students who might otherwise not have been able to develop their voices and be heard could not be more crucial.”

For more details on the application and eligibility, students can click here. 

UEA offers over £21m worth of scholarships every year with the majority of Indian offer holders receiving some form of award. These include guaranteed scholarships of upto £5000. Early application is encouraged, and you can explore all the university’s scholarships via their scholarship finder page here.