WELCOME, WELCOME the first warm days. Summer suddenly seems conceivable, and my thoughts - like yours, I'm sure - turn to the possibility of getting away from it all. Here's an idea that I'm sure will appeal to some of you: have you considered a berth on the island of Jura?

Jura is home not only to a fine malt whisky, but also to a writers' retreat that has seen luminaries such as Philip Gourevitch, Will Self and Janice Galloway find a summer haven of peace and quiet. Why Jura? None other than George Orwell holed up there in 1946, and the work that emerged was 1984 - so you might say that the place has good literary karma. This year, The Times is pleased to be the media partner with Scottish Book Trust and Jura single malt whisky in sponsoring a place at the retreat for a new, emerging writer. Could it be you?

This year's established writers are John Burnside and Romesh Gunesekera; but aspiring scribes can apply for a fully funded place on Jura in the autumn. Entries, which must be works of prose fiction, will be judged by a panel including John Burnside and the literary agent Mic Cheetham - work from the retreat will be broadcast on Radio 4 in the autumn - Marc Lambert, chief executive of Scottish Book Trust, and me. For full details - including what constitutes a “new writer” (basically you can't have published a book, but it's a little more complicated) go to www.scottishbooktrust.com.

The deadline for entries is June 9, and the winner will be announced in The Times - and by the Scottish Book Trust - at the end of July. It's a prize worth winning: the recipient will receive a bursary of £2,500; return travel costs from within the UK to Jura; sole use of the Jura distillery lodge on a self-catering basis for the month of October, 2008; the option to bring family and/or friends for all or part of their stay in the lodge and use of a hire car for the month (N.B. travel costs will only be covered for the writer)

I've been lucky as a writer - I've got a few bolt holes that friends and family let me escape to when I'm in need of a bit of respite from the hustle and bustle of life, when it's time to give my full attention to the empty page. That space and that silence are often the greatest gifts any writer, new or established, can have - and now, a space on Jura just might be yours. Watch this space.

Eligibility criteria

The Retreat is open to writers of prose fiction who are UK residents, aged 18 years or over.

Eligible writers should not be the sole author of a commercially published book but must have had at least one piece of prose fiction published in an established magazine or anthology. “Established magazines” here means a periodical that is published regularly (monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly), that has been in circulation for at least the past 12 months, has an ISBN or ISSN number and is not self published. Anthologies must have an ISBN or ISSN number and not be self-published. For avoidance of doubt online publishing is also excluded. Writers whose work falls solely in the following categories are not be eligible to apply: Playwrights, Screenwriters, Poets, Writers of non-fiction

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