Accessible Arts along with Varuna, The National Writers House were thrilled with the response from 50 writers who applied to The Writers Space Fellowship program. The response from NSW-based writers with disability was considered a great effort and evidence of demand for the new program which is made possible by Arts Restart and funding from the NSW Government.
All applications were double-read during phase one of the selection process and were then shortlisted into a second stage to manage any conflicts of interest. The program will make Varuna history by offering its very first six in-person residencies to be run concurrently with six online residencies. This will allow 12 writers to network over the course of the two-week period this September. Each writer will also receive a professional development package of $1,100 towards manuscript consultations, mentoring or workshop participation.
The six writers who will receive a Writer’s Space Residential Fellowship are:
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Jessica Friedman for the novel Priest Pond.
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El Gibbs for Making our NDIS: stories from disabled people.
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Kath Kenny for As a Woman: When Betty Rocked the Pram.
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Woo-Keun Lim for SEOUL MATES.
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Fiona Murphy for the literary crime thriller The Heart Feeds Itself First.
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Gaele Sobott for the collection of poems Earthly.
The six writers who will receive a Writer’s Space Online Fellowship are:
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Emma Ashmere for The Double View.
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Cynthia Banham for Bergamot Grove.
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Michelle Fermanis-Windward for the collection of poems The Symbiotic Thread.
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Jules Jones for The Dead Wife.
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Erin Sayers for the Australian science-fiction novel Harbour.
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Kerri Shying for the collection of poems Blursday.
Varuna assessors would also like to highly commend Danielle Maas.