ALLi News Editor, Dan Holloway
Universal Basic Income is at the center of one of the two stories I want to highlight this week, both of which revolve around supporting creative work. While this story isn’t directly about AI, it uses an AI angle in its original reporting because that is zeitgeisty. AI is currently seen as an existential threat by many, taking over jobs they rely on for their survival.
That story is one you may have seen making the rounds a lot on social media. The Guardian newspaper has taken a deep dive into the world of universal basic income (UBI) (conflict of interest notification for those who aren’t already aware: with another of my hats on, I have been a vocal advocate of UBI for many years, but I try as always to keep my reporting to the facts that will best enable you to make the decisions that matter to your creative life). This has been spurred by the announcement of the first plans for an experiment in England, albeit a very limited one. Fifteen people in two very different parts of the country will be given £1,600 per month for two years.
The article takes a look at the current state of similar global initiatives, which tend to find the same result repeating itself: people in receipt of UBI spend more of their time undertaking work that is more fulfilling personally and more associated with a flourishing society. One of the key areas they turn to is creativity. This brings us back to the most high-profile experiment of all in our creative corner of the world: Ireland’s three-year-long experiment giving 1,400 Euros a month to 2,000 people in the creative arts for three years. The scheme has seen artists, including writers, spend significantly more time engaged in their practice, to the benefit of their art, their well-being, and their careers. This ties in very well with the income surveys that ALLi and other groups have run, showing that a significant amount of part-time work outside of creative practice is pursued by many writers.
Talking of Ireland and support for writers, the second story is the announcement of the 2024 Amazon Literary Partnerships. This is a scheme that has been run by Amazon since 2009 that offers supporting grants to literary organizations and projects. It started in the US and expanded to the UK five years ago. This year, for the first time, it has widened its reach to Ireland.
The organizations the partnership supports range from the very well established, such as Arvon and English PEN, to brand-new community-based projects such as a new young people’s writing club started by Ireland’s Fighting Words. The annual call for applications takes place near the end of the calendar year. As well as looking at the organizations funded this year because they might be able to help you directly, I would recommend anyone thinking of undertaking an initiative to support writers to take a look through the kind of work that attracts funding to see whether you might consider applying for the 2025 round.
