McKnight named inaugural ‘Overland’ writer-in-residence

Writer and teacher Karen McKnight has been awarded the inaugural Overland Writers Residency, which this year focussed on women writers who are the sole primary carers of one or more children.

McKnight will have ‘flexible use’ of a private office at Overland’s offices at Victoria University in Footscray, Melbourne; a $500 weekly stipend (totalling $6000); and a mentorship with Melbourne writer Alison Croggon, to be held fortnightly over three months with detailed feedback provided at the beginning and end of the residency.

McKnight aims to develop her collection of stories, ‘The Polyester Dress’, to publication stage. She works as a community teacher of writing for disadvantaged students and is the mother of a teenage daughter.

Overland introduced the program with the aim of ‘addressing a lack of opportunities for marginalised writers’, and made the residency open to women who ‘are juggling sole parenthood and their writing, and may be finding themselves increasingly isolated and their creative careers marginalised under the pressure of their circumstances’. It aims to continue the program in 2017 with a focus on Indigenous writers.

For more information about the residency, visit the Overland website here.

Category: Local news