Since 2017, the Neilma Sidney Literary Travel fund has provided access to professional development for emerging, mid-career and established Australian writers and literary sector workers.
On behalf of the Myer Foundation, this round’s judges and Writers Victoria, we are thrilled to announce the Round 9 Travel Fund recipients. We also acknowledge the generosity of The Malcolm Robertson Foundation for providing additional funding.
The judges for Round 9 were queercrip poet and historian Robin Eames, writer, editor, programmer, organiser and novice filmmaker Muhib Nabulsi, and writer, researcher and editor Roz Bellamy. The judges looked for applications that demonstrate how strategic travel opportunities would benefit the applicant’s writing practice, career development and/or the broader Australian literary sector.
The judges were impressed with the quality of the applications in a round that had a record-breaking number of applications: 229 people applied for a total of $1,721,796 in funding. After much deliberation, the judges awarded $58,675 to eight recipients.
Congratulations to:
- Writer Brian Obiri-Asare (NSW) — awarded funding to travel to Ghana to undertake a residency and to engage in the study of West African theatrical form to further develop play-in-progress, Speak of the Devil
- Writer, podcaster and content creator Aimee Chan (NSW) — awarded funding to tour literary exhibition, Juvenilia, to South Australia to reach a new audience of readers, educators and librarians
- Collaborative team Amy McQuire and Matt Chun (NSW) — awarded for travel to Tanna, Vanuatu for research, co-writing and artmaking for collaborative picture book project on the enslavement of Pacific Islanders in colonial Australia, aka ‘Blackbirding’
- Writer, academic and union organiser Jack Kirne (VIC) — awarded funding to travel to Sardinia, Italy for a writer’s residency as well as to complete revisions of unpublished novel manuscript
- Writer and editor Stefan Sabatini (VIC) — awarded funding for travel to Ireland for research into novel set in contemporary Dublin
- Poet, performer and facilitator Lorna Munro (NSW) — awarded funding to travel to and participate in Palestine Writes
- Freelance writer and author Karen Wyld (SA) — awarded funding for travel to Western Australia to research archives and exhibitions, experience immersive site visits and a self-hosted writer’s retreat, as well as travel to Philadelphia, USA to attend Palestine Writes and participate in mentoring with Palestinian novelist Susan Abulhawa.
To read more about the Neilma Sidney Literary Travel Fund, including previous rounds and recipients, visit this page.