Varuna – The National Writers House and Accessible Arts warmly thanks the 50 writers who applied to The Writer’s Space Fellowship program.

This was a fantastic response from NSW-based writers with disability. It is evident that there is great demand for this new program, which is delivered in partnership with us and made possible by Arts Restart funding from the NSW Government.

The applications were each double-read in the first selection process, and a shortlisted selection were assessed in a second stage to manage any perceived conflicts of interest.

This program will be making Varuna history offering for the very first time six in-person residencies concurrently with six online residencies, allowing 12 writers to network during the two-week fellowship period in 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:

• Jessica Friedman
 for the novel Priest Pond.

• El Gibbs for Making our NDIS: stories from disabled people.

• Kath Kenny for As a Woman: When Betty Rocked the Pram.

• Woo-Keun Lim for SEOUL MATES.

• Fiona Murphy
 for the literary crime thriller The Heart Feeds Itself First.

• Gaele Sobott for the collection of poems Earthly.

The six writers who will receive a Writer’s Space Online Fellowship are:

• Emma Ashmere for The Double View.

• Cynthia Banham for Bergamot Grove.

• Michelle Fermanis-Windward for the collection of poems The Symbiotic Thread.

• Jules Jones for The Dead Wife.

• Erin Sayers for the Australian science-fiction novel Harbour.

• Kerri Shying for the collection of poems Blursday.

Varuna assessors would also like to highly commend Danielle Maas.

Congratulations to all.

ENDS

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