Winner: 2019 ASA/Varuna Ray Koppe Young Writers’ Residency

Varuna the National Writers’ House and the Australian Society of Authors are delighted to announce Hayley Scrivenor as the winner of the 2019 ASA / Varuna Ray Koppe Young Writers’ Residency.

Each year, the Australian Society of Authors awards a two-week residential fellowship to a writer under the age of 35 who is, as-yet, unpublished. The fellowship includes a two-week residency at Varuna, a one-hour consultation with a Varuna consultant, a year’s membership to the Australian Society of Authors, and travel subsidy, if the recipient lives outside of NSW.

Varuna Executive Director Veechi Stuart affirmed the selection, saying: “The judges were impressed by Hayley Scrivenor’s manuscript The Push Back, a story about a young girl who goes missing on her way home from school. They noted the strength of the experimental sections in this work, as well as its topical nature.”

The ASA / Varuna Ray Koppe Young Writers’ Residency was established by the Koppe family, as a tribute to their mother, Ray Koppe. Ray managed the business affairs of the ASA for many years and was always passionately interested in and supportive of young writers. (Read more about Ray Koppe here)

The Fellowship recipient will be asked to acknowledge The Ray Koppe Young Writers’ Residency in any published work associated with time spent at Varuna.

Past winners include Holden Sheppard (2017), Nick Couldwell (2016), Chloe Higgins (2015), Danielle Binks (2014), Hannah Bent (2013), Dimitra Harvey (2012) and Renae Gibson (2011).

This flagship fellowship is part of the Varuna Residential Fellowships program: www.varuna.com.au/fellowships/raykoppe