Applications are now open for the 2016 Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship.
Now in its fifth year, the fellowship commemorates the life, ideas and writing of Hazel Rowley (1951–2011) and awards $10,000 to an emerging or established Australian writer to support research and development of a new biographical work.
The Fellowship encourages writers to immerse themselves in their subject’s lives and culture.
Hazel’s own career received a boost when receiving a fellowship enabled her to travel to the USA while researching ‘Richard Wright: The Life and Times.’
The fellowship is open to Australian writers of biography but can also extend to include a writer working on an aspect of cultural or social history. It may be used to fund research or travel, to develop a new proposal or progress a manuscript for submission to potential publishers.
Della Rowley said, “We are really excited to welcome Arnold Zable to the judging panel this year joining Janine Burke, Lynn Buchanan and myself. Arnold and Janine are highly regarded and well published authors.”
Judges will be looking for applicants who demonstrate excellence in the quality of their work, courage in their choice of project, and a passionate engagement with the world of ideas and the way that people live their lives. The subject of the biography needs to be someone who made a demonstrable contribution to society.
Applicants will need to complete an online submission by 16 November 2015.
Previous Fellows
In 2015, the Fellowship was awarded to Caroline Baum (NSW), who will use the $10,000 to write a biography of Lucie Dreyfus (1870-1945).
The 2014 Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship was awarded to Maxine Beneba Clarke (Vic), who is working on her proposed autobiography, ‘The Hate Race’ – a memoir about growing up black in white middle-class Australia.
Stephany Steggall (Qld) used the 2013 Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship to write a biography of Thomas Keneally. Stephany’s book ‘Interestingly Enough…’ was published by Black Inc in September 2015.
The 2012 winner, Mary Hoban (Vic), is working on a biography of Julia Arnold (nee Sorell, 1826-1888).
About Hazel Rowley
Before her untimely death in 2011, Hazel wrote four critically acclaimed biographies: ‘Christina Stead: A Biography’ (1993), ‘Richard Wright: The Life and Times’ (2001), ‘Tête-à-Tête: The Lives and Loves of Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre’ (2005) and ‘Franklin and Eleanor: An Extraordinary Marriage’ (2010). Erudite and accessible, these studies brought fresh attention to the lives and works of significant figures both nationally and internationally.
“My books are about people who had the courage to break out of their confined world and help others to do the same,” she said.