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Writers SA announces Diversifying Australian Writing plan

Writers SA will run a 15-month program to support marginalised and under-represented writers in South Australia, after receiving an $82,000 grant as part of the Australia Council’s most recent grants and fellowships round.

Writers SA said the Diversifying Australian Writing plan seeks to ‘address the cultural homogeneity of literature and the arts and remove barriers for marginalised writers to access writing opportunities, and will help to invigorate South Australia with support for the state’s diverse creative community’.

Planned events include a writers’ group for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors; quarterly LGBTQIA+ meet-ups for queer writers; interstate exchanges for poets of colour; an exchange between Malaysia and SA; an international exchange for First Nations writers between SA and Canada; and mentoring between major SA writers and the Deaf writing community, with a public performance at Adelaide Writers Week.

‘This is an urgent and vital initiative to agitate for a more representative literary culture in Australia,’ said Writers SA director Jessica Alice. ‘I’m proud that we’re leading this in South Australia—to support the breadth of writers in our state by removing barriers to participation and promoting their contribution to the national literary sector and publishing industry.’

The Diversifying Australian Writing project will run from October 2019 to December 2020.

 

Category: Local news