The Blake-Beckett Trust Scholarship is offered annually to an Australian author to provide them with valuable time to work on a current manuscript. It is offered by the Blake-Beckett Trust, thanks to the generosity of one of our long-term members and supporters, Wendy Beckett. The prize pool has been increased to $50,000 for 2023. The winner of the Scholarship will receive AU$35,000 and the runner-up will receive AU$15,000.
The Scholarship is open to writers of adult fiction in ANY genre, and writers of biography. Works of poetry, memoir, autobiography and children's writing (including YA) are not eligible for this Scholarship.
To enter you must be a Full member of the ASA and have previously published a minimum of two books. These two books can be in any genre or category, but they must have been traditionally published.
Applicants must have a manuscript underway and be able to outline how they would benefit from this fellowship.
Applications open 9am AEST, Wednesday 23 August 2023.
Applications close 5pm AEDT, Friday 6 October 2023.
The winner of the Scholarship will be announced on 29 November 2023.
The scholarship is open to only current Full members of the ASA. Not a member? Join here. Associate members can upgrade to Full membership here.
Applicants will be asked to provide two documents: a statement and a sample.
The statement consists of:
The sample consists of:
Documents must be submitted in 12 point, double-spaced in Word Document format.
Shankari Chandran is an Australian Tamil lawyer and the author of Song of the Sun God (Ultimo Press, 2022), Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens (Ultimo Press, 2022) and The Barrier (Pan Macmillan, 2017). Song of the Sun God is being adapted for television, starring Bridgerton's Charithra Chandran (no relation). Her short stories have been featured in Sweatshop anthologies, Another Australia and Sweatshop Women (Vol 2). She was the recipient of the inaugural Blake-Beckett Trust Scholarship in 2019.
Jennifer Mills is an author, editor and critic based on Kaurna Yerta (Adelaide). Her latest novel, The Airways (2021), was longlisted for the Miles Franklin Award and shortlisted for an Aurealis Award for Horror. Dyschronia (2018) was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin, Aurealis (for Science Fiction), and Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature. A widely published essayist and a strong advocate for the rights of writers and artists, her work also includes teaching, mentoring and organising. In 2022, Mills is Artist in Residence at Vitalstatistix.
The 2021 Blake-Beckett Trust Scholarship
Four shortlisted applicants were selected for the 2021 Blake-Beckett Trust Scholarship: Michelle Aung Thin, Kate Holden, Gretchen Shirm and Laura Woollett.
Michelle Aung Thin is the recipient of the 2021 Blake-Beckett Trust Scholarship with her winning entry The Japanese Photographer.
For the full announcement and assessor comments, please see the article here.
The 2020 Blake-Beckett Trust Scholarship
The shortlisted applicants for the 2020 Blake-Beckett Trust Scholarship are Aoife Clifford, Eleanor Limprecht and Mark Smith.
Eleanor Limprecht is the recipient of the 2020 Blake-Beckett Trust Scholarship with her winning entry The Coast.
For the full announcement and assessor comments, please see the article here.
The 2019 Blake-Beckett Trust Scholarship
The shortlist for the 2019 inaugural Blake-Beckett Trust scholarship included Shankari Chandran, Leah Kaminsky and Julienne van Loon.
The winner was announced as Shankari Chandran at the ASA Christmas Party on 11 December 2019.
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