All About Women of Colour mentorship recipients announced

The Sydney Opera House has announced Yeena Kirkbright and Ayeesha Ash as the recipients of the All About Women of Colour mentorship program, presented in partnership with Sweatshop. This year’s mentorship program is hosted by the All About Women festival, which will take place 12–13 March.

Kirkbright and Ash will each receive $1000 in prize money, access to the All About Women festival, three rounds of editorial feedback and up to 25 hours of mentorship from Sweatshop mentors Winnie Dunn and Randa Abdel-Fattah. Kirkbright and Ash will also feature at the All About Women event ‘In Colour: A Dialogue with Rising Artists’ with Dunn and Abdel-Fattah.

Applicants were required to submit their idea for a short piece of fiction inspired by the themes of this year’s All About Women festival. Kirkbright, a Wiradjuri poet, will work on a series of poems celebrating the women in her family; Ash, a Māori Grenadian interdisciplinary artist, will develop a short story exploring ‘the breaking of a tether between two sisters and the grief that makes way for freedom’. Their finished works will be published on the Sydney Opera House website.

Highly commended applicants Lina Ali and Raqiya Ahmed each receive up to 25 hours of editorial consultation, access to the festival, a gift pack of Sweatshop books valued at $200, and the opportunity to have a short work published on the Sydney Opera House website.

Of the winners, Dunn and Abdel-Fattah said: ‘The recipients, Yeena and Ayeesha, and highly commended, Lina and Raqiya, all offer distinctive voices, unique stories and critical perspectives. We feel extremely privileged and honoured to have the opportunity to work with each of them and we look forward to Yeena and Ayeesha’s striking performances for In Colour: A Dialogue with Rising Artists.’

Last year’s mentorship recipients were Patricia Arcilla and Joyce Chew. For more information about the mentorship program, see the Sydney Opera House website.

Pictured L–R: Kirkbright, Ash.

Category: Awards Local news