2024 First Nations Fellowship Recipients
Varuna is thrilled to announce the 5 recipients of our 2024 First Nations fellowships, who will participate in a week-long, fully-catered residency at Varuna that includes an optional one-on-one mentoring session and group reading sessions in a culturally safe space. This prestigious program started in 2017 and Varuna acknowledges the support of the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund in its establishment.
Judges Jasmine McGaughey and Rachel Bin Salleh were honoured to read a range of styles across genre and literary fiction, fantasy and speculative, poetry, as well as children’s and YA works. Congratulations to the following writers and their selected works:
Melanie Saward with The Next Chapter.
A proud Bigambul and Wakka Wakka woman, Melanie is a writer, editor, and academic based in Tulmur (Ipswich), Queensland. Her debut novel Burn was published by Affirm Press in 2023 and her first romantic comedy novel, Love Unleashed, was published by Penguin Random House in August 2024.
Sharleigh Crittenden with The Children Nobody Wanted.
Sharleigh is a Wiradjuri writer, researcher and mother whose home is on Wangal country. Her short fiction has been published online by Going Down Swinging, The West Australian and Aniko Press. Her short story ‘River Fish’ won the inaugural First Nations Storytelling Prize in the Best Australian Yarn 2023. She is currently working on her debut novel, supported by a 2023 Magabala Creative Grant.
Deborah Roach with Guwalanha.
Deb is a woman of Wiradjuri/German descent, a mother and grandmother. Residing on Kameygal Land and working on Gadigal Land as a social worker in the field of women who have experienced trauma; having studied at the University of New South Wales. Her written work often involves the use of narrative therapy and her writing explores the historical and present effects of trauma and colonisation upon family, stories of strength and resilience, gratitude, loss and the power and responsibility that connection to Country holds.
Kathryn Gledhill-Tucker with when we taught sand to think.
Kathryn is a Nyungar technologist, writer, and digital rights activist with an interest in custodial approaches to data management, interrogating systems of surveillance, and using creative technology to explore coding as a liberatory practice. Kathryn’s creative practice explores the intersection of activism, futurism, and our relationship with machines. Their poetry has appeared in Cordite, Red Room Poetry, Running Dog, Best Australian Poems and their short stories have been published in various anthologies, including The Rocks Remain and the blak speculative fiction anthology This All Come Back Now.
Colin Locke with Who Does Grandfather Talk To?
As a Dharug man, Uncle Colin feels deep connections to the upper Blue Mountains as his place of birth. His Bachelor of Health Science and roles as a Mental Health Clinician and former Centrelink Officer enable a wealth of skills and knowledges in relation to social issues for First Peoples. He is passionate about writing children's books relating to Aboriginal Culture.
During this week, Marie Elena Ellis, recipient of the 2024 Arts NT Fellowship for her work in Arrernte language, I Am The Desert, will also be joining the group.
We’d also like to acknowledge writer Mariah Sweetman, who was Highly Commended for her work, Blondie, in this round of submissions. As a result, Mariah will be offered the opportunity to take up a residency at Varuna.
Varuna would love to thank everyone who took the time to apply and submit their work for consideration. Congratulations to all.