International Lamplight Online Fellowship - Ireland
Connecting Australian and Irish writers, this two-week online fellowship is an opportunity for published fiction writers to enjoy the combined mentorship and support of Varuna and the Irish Writers Centre. Find inspiration, enjoy professional development opportunities, and build international connections.
Dates: 6.30pm - 7.30pm (AEST), Monday - Friday, 9 - 20 June 2025
Applications close: 17 March 2025
Places: Four Australian and four Irish writers will be selected
Who should apply: Published fiction writers with an interest in international exchange
This two-week online fellowship includes:
An hour-long one-on-one conversation with Mary Anne Butler and Conor Kostick to talk about your current work.
Facilitated professional networking opportunities with your peers, including the opportunity to share work, talk about process, and receive feedback.
An online Q&A session with best-selling Australian author Pip Williams.
An online Q&A session with an award-winning Irish writer (to be announced).
An online industry exchange, with representatives from the Irish and Australian publishing industries, including Penguin Random House Australia publisher Meredith Curnow and more to be announced.
The expectation is that you will spend at least three hours dedicated writing time each day (although this is flexible according to your own personal circumstances), and that you will be available for all evening sessions, Monday - Friday, 9 - 20 June 2025.
Participants will need a reliable internet connection, and a computer or mobile phone with a webcam and microphone.
TESTIMONIALS
“I loved the collegiate atmosphere of the group and how dedicated everyone was to helping each other improve in a constructive way. Varuna and Irish Writers Centre teams are both clearly committed to the residency being productive and their willingness to take on feedback is commendable. I thought the timing and structure of the residency was perfect for my needs.”
“The daily workshops were brilliant and propelled me into a rich day of writing. Being in a group of writers at a similar stage meant that we shared issues and challenges, so coming together was a connecting and inspiring experience. One of the best outcomes of the residency was the agreement to meet as a group long-term, which will help sustain a healthy writing life going forward. I gained an enormous amount from the two mentoring sessions, and over the two weeks of the residency, I was able to complete a story I had been working on for a while.”
ABOUT MARY ANNE BUTLER
Multi-award-winning playwright Mary Anne Butler has spent two decades mastering the art of dialogue. Her plays have won the Victorian Prize for Literature, Victorian Premier’s Award for Drama, Shane and Cathryn Brennan Prize for Playwriting, an AWGIE and two NT Chief Minister’s Book of the Year Awards. Her teaching experience combines a Masters in Arts Education, a Masters in Creative Writing, a Diploma of Acting from VCA and a Dip Ed in English/Drama. She’s currently undertaking a PhD in Literature, writing a novel which investigates how we write hope into the realist fiction of the Anthropocene.
ABOUT CONOR KOSTICK
Conor Kostick is a commissioning editor and the author of a number of successful books. In 2009, he was presented with a Special Merit Award by the Reading Association of Ireland; in 2010 he was the Farmleigh Writer-in-Residence. Conor is often asked to judge literary competitions and in 2016 and 2019 was the president of the Irish jury for the EU Prize for Literature. Conor will be teaching this program from his home in Ireland.
ABOUT PIP WILLIAMS
Pip Williams has spent most of her working life as a social researcher, studying what keeps us well and what helps us thrive, and she is the author of One Italian Summer, a memoir of her family's travels in search of the good life, which was published by Affirm Press to wide acclaim. Her first novel, The Dictionary of Lost Words, based on her original research in the Oxford English Dictionary archives, was published in 2020 and became an international bestseller. The Bookbinder of Jericho is her second novel.
ABOUT MEREDITH CURNOW
After studying literature Meredith Curnow joined the Australian Publishers Association (APA) which provided a thorough overview of the publishing industry. After some further study, Meredith was appointed the inaugural festival director at the newly free-standing Sydney Writers’ Festival where the business of books from the writers’ perspectives was more to the fore. After a frenetic and fabulous five years she moved across to what is now Penguin Random House where Meredith has been publishing fiction and non-fiction for twenty years. Meredith chairs the editorial working group for the APA and is on the board of Express Media, the only national organisation devoted to developing, supporting and promoting young writers, editors and arts administrators. She also sits on the board of Varuna.
HOW TO APPLY
Assessors will be looking at your writing experience, clarity of focus and objectives (how you will use your time), and the merit of your writing. They will also consider the balance of the group, with a view to ensuring the program has a collegiate atmosphere.
This program is only open to Australian writers who have a publication record, or to Irish writers via the Irish Writers Centre. Please note that the program has a focus on fiction writing.
Please refer to Varuna’s general submission guidelines for any questions on formatting your work.
Varuna is grateful to the Creative Australia International Engagement funding for support on this project.
UPCOMING COURSES, FELLOWSHIPS AND EVENTS:
