Arts NT Varuna Fellowships announced

Congratulations to the nine recipients of the 2021 Arts NT Varuna Residency Fellowships.

This program is presented in partnership with the Northern Territory Government through Arts NT.

Six writers from the Top End and three writers from Central Australia will receive mentoring and funding to support the development of new work.

This year’s submissions revealed a vibrant community of writers, working across a wide range of genres including literary fiction, literary non-fiction, experimental writing, memoirs and poetry. Assessors observed that submitted works showed striking originality and compelling storytelling.

The Northern Territory Government partners with Varuna in offering this Fellowship to promote greater opportunities for emerging and established writers. Since the partnership was established in 2016, 22 Northern Territory writers have become Varuna Alumni.

Recipients of an in-house residency at Varuna are:

Johanna Bell (Darwin) for Lyre Lyre, an experimental novel combining documentary poetry with illustration and narrative verse.

Dina Davis (Darwin) for Assia, a sequel to the previously published novel ‘Capriccio.’

Betty Sweetlove (Alice Springs) for The Nestmakers, a screenplay exploring climate anxieties and disruptive dreams.

Recipients of a virtual residency at Varuna are:

Jessica Wallace (Nhulunbuy) for Tidy Town, a literary fiction that tackles racism and social issues in a mining town.

Leni Shilton (Alice Springs) for The Visit, poetry telling the story of an AusAid worker returning to Papua New Guinea.

Onil Lad (Darwin) for Auth Anon, a novel about a self-help group for writers, a dysfunctional literary critique group and a team of multicultural council workers battling to complete their novels.

Judith Monkhouse (Darwin) for Bitter Rain, a literary fiction following a journalist returning to the corrupt dictatorship of her homeland.

Linda Wells (Alice Springs) for The Bungalow, a creative non-fiction based on research about the Bungalow, a tin shed, in Alice Springs in 1914-1929.

Annie Ingram (Top End) for The Mess She Left, a memoir reflecting on death, family, responsibility and inheritance.