Showing all posts about literature
Colm Tóibín appointed as Irish fiction laureate
28 January 2022
Irish novelist and writer Colm Tóibín has been named the new laureate for Irish fiction, a role intended to encourage readers to engage with high quality fiction.
The three-year role is intended to “acknowledge the contribution of fiction writers to Irish artistic and cultural life”, as well as to encourage new writers, and engagement with “high quality Irish fiction”.
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Colm Toibin, fiction, literature
Wheeler Centre Hot Desk Fellowships 2022
28 January 2022
The Wheeler Centre, in conjunction with The Readings Foundation, are offering twenty-one fellowships to emerging writers, and a playwright. Recipients, known as Hot Desk fellows, will receive a thousand dollar stipend, and the use of a workspace at the Melbourne based Wheeler Centre for ten weeks, to work on their writing projects.
Hot Desk fellows will also have the opportunity to meet, network and work with the Wheeler Centre’s resident organisations including Writers Victoria, Emerging Writers’ Festival, Australian Poetry, Express Media, Small Press Network and the Melbourne Writers Festival. In addition, Hot Desk Fellowships introduce emerging writers and their work to the public – we will feature all our writers and their projects on our website, as well as in a special Hot Desk Edition of The Next Big Thing series.
Applications for the fellowships are open now until Monday 28 February 2022.
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2022 Text Prize entries open
26 January 2022
Entries for the 2022 Text Prize, an award for the best unpublished manuscript by young adult and children’s writers, are open until Monday 21 February 2022.
Works of fiction and non-fiction from authors both published and unpublished can be submitted, with the winner receiving a publishing contract with Melbourne based publisher Text Publishing, and a ten-thousand dollar advance against royalties.
Applications are also open for the Steph Bowe Mentorship for Young Writers, a Text Publishing initiative to encourage the work of writers under the age of twenty-five. The mentorship honours the work of late Australian young adult author and blogger Steph Bowe, who died in 2020.
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literature, Steph Bowe, writing
What do Australian authors earn? Not a lot
24 January 2022
Writing can best be described as a labour of love, if the results of the most recent Australian Society of Authors (ASA) member survey is anything to go by. If you plan to be in it for the money, think again. If the minimum annual wage in Australia is about forty thousand dollars, most writers are making less than half of that.
- 81% earned less than $15,000 in the last financial year
- 58% of the total respondents earned between $0 and $1,999 from their creative practice
- 58% of full-time writers/illustrators reported earning less than $15,000
- 25% [of full-time writers/illustrators reported] earning between $0 and $1,999
Authors can apply to a number of agencies for funding, though there isn’t a whole of money available to begin with, and the process can be best described as competitive. The survey found over fifty percent of authors had not applied to bodies such as the Australia Council, or the Copyright Agency, since the beginning of January 2020.
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Indie Book Awards 2022 shortlist announced
21 January 2022
The shortlist for the Indie Book Awards 2022 has been announced. Winners in the four categories will be named on Monday 21 March 2022.
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Australian writing, literature
2022 Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) Awards
19 January 2022
Nominations are open for the 2022 Australian Book Industry Awards ABIA Awards, until Monday 14 February 2022. With a wide range of award categories, it looks like publishers and authors will have little difficulty finding a slot for their work:
- General Fiction Book of the Year
- General Non-Fiction Book of the Year
- Literary Fiction Book of the Year
- Illustrated Book of the Year
- Biography of the Year
- Picture Book of the Year (ages 0-6)
- Book of the Year for Younger Children (ages 7-12)
- Book of the Year for Older Children (ages 13+)
- The Matt Richell Award for New Writer of the Year
- Small Publishers’ Adult Book of the Year
- Small Publishers’ Children’s Book of the Year
- International Book of the Year
The longlist will announced on Tuesday 22 March, the shortlist on Monday 23 May, with the winners named on Thursday 9 June 2022.
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Australian writing, literature
2022 Hazel Rowley Fellowship shortlist announced
17 January 2022
The shortlist for the 2022 Hazel Rowley Fellowship has been published. Created in memory of late British born Australian writer and biographer Hazel Rowley, the fellowship supports Australian writers of biographies. Authors submit ideas to the organisers, who select what they consider to be the best proposal. This year though, the field seems particularly tight:
We had an extremely strong field of applications this year, with a wide range of biographical subjects. This made the shortlisting hard,’ said Della Rowley, Hazel’s sister. ‘We received a large number of high-quality proposals. Perhaps as a result of COVID-19 lockdowns, writers were busy thinking about good topics for biographies.
The winner will be announced on Wednesday 2 March 2022.
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Australian writing, biographies, Hazel Rowley, literature
Faber Writing Academy 2022 scholarships
17 January 2022
Applications for the Faber Writing Academy 2022 scholarships are open for authors of non-fiction works. On offer are courses taking writers through the process of planning and writing a manuscript, and pitching their idea to a publisher or literary agent. Applications close on Saturday 29 January 2022.
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2022 black&write! Writing Fellowships
14 January 2022
Applications are open for the 2022 black&write! Writing Fellowships, an initiative to support the work of First Nations writers across Australia. Two fellowships are awarded annually, and are accompanied by a cash prize, assistance with developing a manuscript, and an opportunity to publish work with Hachette Australia. Applications close on Wednesday 2 February 2022.
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Australian writing, Indigenous literature, literature
Dymocks Top 101 books 2022 poll
4 January 2022
Voting is open in the Dymocks Top 101 books poll for 2022, across categories including fiction, young adult, fantasy, crime, and non-fiction. I can’t see a closing date for voting, so if you wish to participate, do so now.
Update: results of the poll have been posted.
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