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National Poetry Centre volunteer Taylor Manning has been looking into the Arts Council’s Developing Your Creative Practice Fund – and how it can help poets and poetry activists:

What is DYCP?

DYCP stands for Developing Your Creative Practice, and it is a highly competitive Arts Council fund for individual creatives and cultural practitioners to develop and expand upon their creative practices. As opposed to other funds that are centred on large organisations or specific creative projects, this fund is aimed at lone creatives who are developing their own work. The DYCP fund is currently open for its 23rd round of applications and offers awards up to £12k.

Why is this a great opportunity for poets?

In an ideal world, we would all have the funds and time to write with no additional jobs or barriers. The reality is that we are often held back as poets, both financially and by time constraints. The DYCP fund helps to bridge the gap between these two worlds and allows you to take the time you need to really get your teeth stuck into your work. It also allows you to dedicate funds to your creative practice that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to, like taking that international trip or purchasing those new materials you’ve had your eye on.

Note: The Arts Council encourages you to use a portion of the award to pay yourself a fee during the time you spend working on your creative development. This is a part of their commitment to ensuring all artists are paid fairly for their work, and you can download a guide to fair pay here. 

Key Figures

Round 23 – Open Now

Deadline: 22 May 2025, midday

Decisions Announced: 24 July 2025

Round 24 – Opens for applications: Thursday 23 October 2025 at midday

Deadline:  20 November 2025, midday

Decisions Announced :  19 February 2026

Award Amount: £2,000 – £12,000

Acceptance Rate: 1 in 5

You can apply if you are working within any of these supported disciplines:

• Collections and Cultural Property
• Combined Arts
• Dance
• Libraries
• Literature
• Museums
• Music
• Theatre
• Visual Arts

What can I apply for?

Applicants can apply for developmental activities both for their work and for themselves as artists. These activities include but are not limited to: international travel related to your creative practice, research and development time, training, and experimenting with new collaborators. The Arts Council strongly emphasises bold activities that will greatly improve your work and really change your life as an artist.

Romalyn Ante, a Filipino-born British poet, successfully applied for a DYCP award back in 2019, saying, “I applied to DYCP as I needed financial support to focus, within a specific length of time, on working towards my first poetry collection under the mentorship of poet, Marjorie Evasco. I am working on a project which I believe will be a real step-change for my career as a poet.”

What can I NOT apply for?

You cannot apply for activities that have already taken place, costs that are already covered by other income, the purchase of assets that are unrelated to your creative practice, or higher education. 

What Makes a Good Application?

When applying for DYCP, it’s important to remember to be Bold, be Real, and be Specific.

Be Bold –

Developing Your Creative Practice is all about taking big steps forward in your creative practice and being ambitious as an artist. It’s important to show how your proposed activities will accomplish this, so don’t be afraid to be bold. The Arts Council notes that their rejected applications could often be improved by explaining how ambitious the proposed activities are and that they are “more interested in supporting extended periods of development, which give you the time to really explore and work in new ways.”

Be Real –

Bold does not mean unrealistic. It is crucial to understand and convey exactly how your proposed activities will be successful. Being real also means being honest. This is a fund to develop your creative practice, so there is no need to pretend to be perfect. If you are applying because things are hard for you at the moment and this award would greatly impact your life as a creative, then tell them!

Be Specific –

DYCP want to know who you are as a creative and where you think this award will take you. What are your big creative achievements so far? Are there any key pieces of work you have completed? Have you worked with any established creative or cultural partners? And what specifically will this award give you? What is your main focus as an artist? What specific areas are you looking to develop and how? All of these questions can greatly strengthen your application by giving the panel a specific and cohesive view of who you are and what you are looking for from the award.

Additional Resources for your application

Unlimited have pulled together some top tips and advice for How to write a Kick Ass Application – Unlimited

Amanda McCormack provides her successful DYCP application for the combined arts here (free to view).

Several consultants offer paid advice and support – here are a couple of examples:

Christina Poulton offers free how-to guides and pay-on-demand training and resources on fundraising

Joyful Design offers free DYCP application templates, application reviews for £25, and coaching sessions starting at £50.

What have poets applied to the fund for?

The Developing Your Creative Practice fund has invested over £36.5 million in individual creatives, including…

£9,987 to a poet developing a poetry collection – you can read her case study here

£10,400 to a poet to develop their poetry and performance

£12,000 to a poet developing a poetry project

£11,900 to a poet exploring new forms of poetry

£10,700 to a poet transitioning to long-form poetry

£9,930 to a poet exploring the heritage of Jamaican poetry

£9,900 to a poet to develop new collaborations

£11,600 to a poet working on their debut poetry collection

£6,882 to a poet-in-residence