Tuesday 27 October 2026

A new chapter has begun for ten NSW writers, illustrators and playwrights, each awarded a $50,000 Stories Matter NSW Literary Fellowship to write, draw and develop significant new work. They are the inaugural recipients of the state’s new major literature fellowship program, designed and delivered by Writing NSW in partnership with Create NSW.

The program responds to one of the most critical issues facing the state’s storytelling creatives: securing the up-front financial means and support to research, create and produce significant work. Backed by a $500,000 investment through Create NSW, this industry-led model puts money and time directly into the hands of writers, illustrators and playwrights.

The ten fellows were selected from an exceptional pool of more than 330 applications from across the state. Four fellowships were awarded to emerging practitioners, three to mid-career and three to established, across writing, illustration and playwriting.

The inaugural Stories Matter NSW Literary Fellows

EMERGING FELLOWS

Erica J. Brennan, Playwright
Wollemi
Through the eyes of a First Nations conservationist, Wollemi explores themes of custodianship and climate resilience, dramatised through the reimagining of the secret rescue mission of ancient Wollemi Pines during the Black Summer bushfires.
Photo: Mansoor Noor

Alisha Brown, Writer
Songs for Living Bodies
Songs for Living Bodies is a book of ecopoetry that traces the connections between myth, memory, language and climate catastrophe, seeking to rebuild a relationship with Country to heal personal and global griefs.

Sarah Carroll, Playwright
Mendi Place
In Mendi Place, a Pasifika family in Western Sydney grapples with the legacy left behind by their grandfather, exposing the tensions between tradition, family, cultural obligation and individual freedom.
Photo: Liliana De La Rosa

Ellen O’Brien, Writer
Daily Practice
Daily Practice explores the intersecting lives of two girls drawn together in Sydney by their passion for football. A decade later, they reconnect in London’s professional league, where extreme circumstances force them to confront their core beliefs.

MID-CAREER FELLOWS

Nisaluk Chantanakom, Illustrator
Ghost Whale
Ghost Whale, a coming-of-age fable rooted in Theravada Buddhist tradition, is told through the eyes of a thirteen-year-old girl bound by a curse, searching for her Wa, an ancestral ghost spirit-whale holding her people’s past.

Dylin Hardcastle, Writer
Ophelia
Ophelia tells the story of Vince, a young trans artist who abandons life in London to renovate his late uncle’s house on the NSW South Coast — a journey that proves hilarious and healing, as Vince and his friends attempt to build a home in a world insisting on their annihilation.
Photo: Rosa Spring Voss 

Jazz Money, Writer
The Braiding
The Braiding is a full-length poetry collection centred around conception, birth and birth practices, written from the lived experiences of a queer Wiradjuri parent.
Photo: Jeremy Weihrauch

ESTABLISHED FELLOWS

Mick Elliott, Illustrator
Hypo: A Graphic Memoir
Hypo is a middle-grade graphic novel memoir inspired by the author’s personal history. With heart and humour, Hypo explores the impact of invisible disability and social misconceptions around diabetes against a backdrop of the 1980s.

Omar Sakr, Writer
Human Animals
Human Animals is a work of speculative fiction that concerns the total breakdown of our interconnected ecosystems through a cosmic event that sees, in the span of a year, all the animals vanish from the face of the earth.
Photo: Joy M Lai 

Alana Valentine, Playwright
Together in Song
Together in Song is a play about the drama, optimism and passionate struggles around gender inclusivity and diversity when choosing hymns for the first ever Australian Hymn book in 1977, a comprehensive hymnal used for worship in all major Protestant churches in Australia, joined in 1999 by Australian Catholics.
Photo: Claire Frances

Also shortlisted

We are pleased to acknowledge the following shortlisted applicants. The panel noted the exceptional strength of the shortlisted field and encouraged those applicants to apply again in any future rounds.

• Jumaana Abdu
• Kavita Bedford
• Laneikka Denne
• Adele Dumont
• Gabriel Faatau’uu-Satiu
• Melissa-Jane Fogarty
• Sandra Greenwood
• Tamsin Janu
• Melissa Kang
• George Kemp
• J. Marahuyo
• Lucia Nguyen
• Eryn Jean Norvill
• Inga Simpson
• Tami Sussman
• Kaitlen Wellington
• Troy Wong
• Chamberlain Zhang

What the fellowship provides

Alongside $50,000 in funding, each fellow receives tailored industry support, including an individual consultation with an industry professional matched to their project goals. Emerging fellows also receive ten hours of structured mentorship and a $1,000 professional development allocation to use across Writing NSW courses, workshops and manuscript assessments. The fellowship year concludes with a public showcase at Writing NSW, Callan Park, in November 2027.

About the program

The Stories Matter NSW Literary Fellowships realise a key commitment in the NSW Government’s Stories Matter: A Writing and Literature Strategy for NSW.

Writing NSW CEO Sophie Groom said:

“For most writers, illustrators and playwrights, the barrier to creating new work isn’t ambition or a lack of ideas. It’s time, and the financial security to use it.

“These ten fellows now have the time and the security to make the work they’ve been dreaming about, and the industry support to take it further.”

Create NSW Executive Director Kerri Glasscock said:

“Congratulations to our ten inaugural Stories Matter NSW Literary Fellows. This valuable fellowship program will play a leading role in telling many diverse, important stories about who we are as a state.

“NSW authors, playwrights and illustrators are the engine room of the state’s literary ecosystem and major contributors to Australia’s cultural, social and economic vibrancy. Yet this value is often not reflected in the income or support they receive, leaving talented writers unable to sustain their practice.

“In its first year, this fellowship received an incredible response from NSW’s literature community. It’s clear this fellowship model and the broader initiatives delivered through our Stories Matter strategy are vital for the long-term future of NSW storytelling.”

Keep in touch

We’ll share news of future rounds, along with our other opportunities for writers, illustrators and playwrights, through Newsbite, our free weekly newsletter. Subscribe to Newsbite

The Stories Matter NSW Literary Fellowships are presented by Writing NSW, proudly funded by the NSW Government through Create NSW.