Recipients of $150k The Next Chapter initiative announced

21 November 2019 Books+Publishing

The Wheeler Centre has announced the 10 recipients of the 2019 Next Chapter grants for developing writers, worth $15,000 each.

The 2019 recipients are:

Arthur Bolkas (nonfiction, VIC)
Racheal Oak Butler (nonfiction, VIC)
Sam Elkin (nonfiction/memoir, VIC)
Meleika Gesa-Fatafehi (poetry and prose, QLD)
Dan Hogan (nonfiction, NSW)
Faina Iligoga (nonfiction, TAS)
Grace Lee (fiction, NSW)
Jasmin McGaughey (young adult fiction, QLD)
Lorna Munro (poetry, NSW)
Jasper Wyld (fantasy fiction, SA).

Each recipient will be matched with a mentor who will work with them over 12 months to help connect them with publishers and readers, and will also participate in a three-day writing retreat at Varuna, the Writers House, in Katoomba, New South Wales.

Four applicants were also highly commended for their entries, and will receive $500 and membership to their local writers’ centre. They are:

Alice Boyle (fiction, VIC)
Alex Creece (poetry, VIC)
Kate McCabe (fiction, VIC)
Vicky Xiuzhong Xu (fiction, ACT).

Recipients were selected by a judging panel comprising writers Sophie Cunningham, Ambelin Kwaymullina, Benjamin Law and Christos Tsiolkas. The judges were supported by a team of readers consisting of Adolfo Aranjuez, Bridget Caldwell, Jo Case, Elizabeth Flux, Leanne Hall, Hella Ibrahim, Zoya Patel and Jeff Sparrow.

The Next Chapter was established in 2018 by the Wheeler Centre in conjunction with the Aesop Foundation to support ‘a new generation of writers, from all sorts of backgrounds’.

To learn more about the winners, see the website.

Category: Awards Local news