2025 Varuna Fellowships announced
Congratulations to the writers who have been awarded a Varuna Residential Fellowship for 2025.
This year, we received 505 submissions, from writers at all stages of their careers. Varuna is delighted to announce the 37 Fellowship winners, including eight Flagship Fellowship recipients.
The assessment was a highly competitive process. Each applicant’s submission and proposal was read by peer assessors, on the basis of criteria that included both the artistic merit of the work and its potential for further development. All applications were read by at least two assessors, and assessors did not review manuscripts where any conflict of interest was identified. The final shortlist was read by all assessors.
Our Varuna peer assessors were: Mary Anne Butler, Ali Cobby Eckermann, Roanna Gonsalves, James Jiang, Kris Kneen, Cheryl Leavy, Shaun Prescott, Beejay Silcox and Greg Woodland.
Thank you to all the writers who submitted their work for consideration this year.
2025 FLAGSHIP FELLOWSHIPS
The Eleanor Dark Flagship is awarded to Sarah Kanake for her literary fiction work Lazarus: or, The Whale
The Eric Dark Fellowship is awarded to Suri Matondkar for her essay collection Tongue
The Henry Handel Richardson Fellowship is awarded to Claire Aman for her short story collection Felt
The First Nations Flagship is awarded to Melanie Saward for her memoir With the Feathers
The Mick Dark Fellowship is awarded to Mia-Francesca Jones for her narrative non-fiction Somehow North
The Jerra Fellowship is awarded to Alexandra McCallum for her poetry collection Shaking the Dreamland Tree
The Poetry Flagship is awarded to Natalie Rathswohl for her poetry collection Language Lessons
The Ray Koppe Young Writers Fellowship is awarded to Emma Clancey for crime fiction Bad Medicine
2025 VARUNA RESIDENTIAL FELLOWSHIPS
Andrew Brooks for his poetry collection Year of the Ox
Aneil Fatania for his historical fiction English-English
Bernadette Green for her children's book Ellie Needs a Dog
Charlotte Guest for her literary fiction work The Kookaburra
Claire Christian for her YA fiction The Invisibles
Claudia Lyons for her crime fiction Thank You for Your Patience
D. Frederick Thomas for their literary fiction work Novel Written On My Phone
Danial Yazdani for his play Exile and Return
Deborah Wardle for her literary fiction work Why We Cry
Denise Young for her biography Checkmate
Eartha Davis for her poetry collection màthair beinn
Ellie Nielsen for her play Vertigo
Emma Warrender for her popular fiction REDLINE
Gemma Parker for her memoir Moon Overhead, Nothing Moving
Hollen Singleton for their fantasy or speculative fiction work Moss House
Jack Brosnan for his literary fiction work Sky Half Empty
Jade Reilly for her crime fiction Signs of Life
Jessie Cole for her literary fiction work BEAR
Kristy Fairlamb for her popular fiction Lying Hearts
Liana Skrzypczak for her YA fiction Lore of Gon
Lynette Diamant for her children's book Crowlea
Maria van Neerven for her poetry collection To give them a voice
Mary Colussi for her fantasy or speculative fiction work Touch Grass
Nicole Hayes for her YA fiction The Sundry: Book 1 of the Fertility Trials
Rachael Mead for her historical fiction The Amazoniad
Renay Pepita for her poetry collection Philotes and Eris
Ruairi Murphy for his fantasy / speculative fiction work The i's are an open wound
Sam Elkin for his memoir Pit Pony
Tina Nyfakos for her literary fiction work Galagoo
2025 VARUNA RESIDENTIAL FELLOWSHIPS HIGHLY COMMENDED
The assessors highly commended the following works:
A.Frances Johnson for her literary fiction work The Gambling Girl
Anna Kerdijk Nicholson for her poetry collection Landmarked
Anna Irwin-Schutze for her YA fiction The Fiery Sea
Brooke Maddison for her memoir Notes on Loss
Carolyne Lee for her memoir A Greater Danger
Carolynne Gordon for her memoir Remnant
Chris Ames for his short story collection I Made This Just for You
Clare Atkins for her historical fiction Red Yellow Green
Daniel Ray for his literary fiction work This is the Now
David Harris for his literary fiction work In-Securities
Emily Bitto for her literary fiction work Reasons to Leave
Grace Hall for their YA fiction Off Track
Helen Thurloe for her historical fiction The Fourteenth Wife
Helen Ho for her memoir Ordinary Alchemy: Living with Terminal Illness
Indrani Perera for her poetry collection Terra
Jack Jeweller for his literary fiction work An Undead Man
Judith Bishop for her narrative non-fiction Giving Ourselves Away: Our Intimate Exposure to AI
Karys McEwen for her children's book The Paperbark Tree Committee
Kimberley Lipschus for her YA fiction The Lost House
Laura McCluskey for her crime fiction The Doe Stalker
Leah Muddle for her poetry collection AIR, AIR, AIR
Lisa Chaplin for her historical fiction Death of the Songbird
Lucy Nelson for her literary fiction work The Estrangements
Lystra Rose for her YA fiction The Upwarping
Madi McCarthy for her literary fiction work Something of Substance
Nerida Handbury for her crime fiction The Rumour Mill
Pauline Ryan for her literary fiction work Greta's Art
Poppy Walker for her screenplay Rapture
Rob Simpson for his literary fiction work Paperclips
Robin Miles for her poetry collection Greif in all it's Glory
Roxeena Bidgood for her short story collection Home
Scott-Patrick Mitchell for their poetry collection Incantations to a Drowned Canyon
Susan Francis for her historical fiction The Puppet
Susanne Kennedy for her poetry collection Swimming in the Wet
Tanya Scott for her crime fiction The Money Man
Thomas Vowles for his literary fiction work We Were Bodies
Tiffany Hastie for her historical fiction Meat Me in the Mountains
Vicki Geraghty for her crime fiction The Year of The Rat