2019 Varuna Mascara Western Sydney Writers Fellowship
We are delighted to announce the winner and shortlisted writers for the inaugural 2019 Varuna Mascara Western Sydney Writers Fellowship which offers a one week, all expenses paid residency at Varuna, a publishing consultancy worth $800 & and a manuscript appraisal with Giramondo Press. This is an innovative and prestigious opportunity for a Western Sydney Writer currently working on a poetry, fiction, or creative non-fiction manuscript.
We would like to congratulate all the shortlisted writers; the manuscripts were of an excellent standard. As judges we considered quality and originality of writing. Our thanks to Varuna, the Writer’s House and Create NSW for this opportunity for Mascara to support excellent writing.
Shortlist
Jessie Tu “Field Notes on Language and Voicelessness”
Adele Dumont “Elsewhere”
Dave Drayton “The Poetranslator”
Shannon Anima “The Running Game”
Jessica Seaborn “Tommy Brewer”
Winner
Karina Ko lives in Sydney where she graduated in Law and in Arts. Her parents came from Hong Kong. She is working on a collection of short stories.
Judges Comments: We were impressed with Karina Ko’s original voice, tackling awkward, often political topics like class, ethnicity and queerness with a surreal and surprising imagination.
Program Details
The fellowship week at Varuna will be held in April 2019, with the exact date yet to be confirmed. The week will run from Monday to Monday and includes accommodation and full board.
The fellowship week will be with four other writers who are also on this program. There will be a half-day publishing workshop during that week with Mary Cunnane, who will talk about publishing, negotiating contracts, finding a publisher, the pros and cons of using an agent, what to expect throughout the process, and so on.
The Varuna Mascara Fellow receives an $800 budget to pay for a consultant for the writer. Varuna and Mascara Literary Review will identify the best match for this consultant/mentor relationship.
Applications were open from 1 August 2018 to 20 September 2018 and were judged by Michelle Hamadache and Michelle Cahill.
The fellowship also includes an optional manuscript appraisal by Giramondo Press.
Varuna and Mascara Literary Review expect to feature the winning writer in an event as part of the Varuna Blue Mountains Annual Writers’ Festival.
