Diversity Initiatives: Emerging Writers 2022

Mentoring Program for Emerging Writers from Diverse Backgrounds

Applications for the 2022 program closed 14 August. Successful applicants will be notified 29 August.

As part of the 2022 program, up to 6 emerging writers from Indigenous or culturally diverse backgrounds will be given the opportunity to work on a short piece of fiction or non-fiction (2000-5000 words) under the guidance of award-winning author Roanna Gonsalves and with support from Writing NSW. The aim of the program is to ready the works for publication on the Writing NSW website or other leading journals or platforms.

The program is open to emerging writers from Indigenous or culturally diverse backgrounds who have some record of publication but have not yet published a book-length work. Applicants must be NSW residents and over the age of 18.

Successful applicants will receive:

Mentoring from Roanna Gonsalves between September and November 2022, including the opportunity to receive feedback on two drafts of the work and advice on where to submit it for publication
Membership and development opportunities from Writing NSW, including a free short course of their choosing (subject to availability)
The opportunity to submit their work for publication on Writing NSW platforms

This program was initially run in 2021. View the winning and shortlisted writers for the inaugural program.

Learn more about our diversity initiatives here.

Terms and conditions

Roanna Gonsalves is the author of The Permanent Resident (UWAP) published in India and South Asia as Sunita De Souza Goes To Sydney (Speaking Tiger). The book won the NSW Premier’s Literary Award Multicultural Prize 2018 and was longlisted for the Dobbie Literary Award 2018. Her writing has been compared to the work of Alice Munro and Jhumpa Lahiri. Her four-part radio series On the tip of a billion tongues, commissioned and broadcast by ABC RN’s Earshot program, is a portrayal of contemporary India through its multilingual writers.

Roanna holds a PHD and has been teaching and supervising creative writing students of all ages within communities as well as at schools and at New York University Sydney, UNSW, Western Sydney University and Macquarie University. She is a recipient of the Prime Minister’s Australia Asia Endeavour Award and is co-founder co-editor of Southern Crossings. She has been an invited keynote speaker and panellist at numerous literary events. She is a recipient of The Bridge Awards’ inaugural Varuna – Cove Park Writing Residency 2019 in Scotland, and was part of the Australia Council for the Arts’ India Literature Exploratory delegation 2020. She works as a Lecturer in Creative Writing at UNSW Sydney.

Roanna can be found at roannagonsalves.com.au and @roannagonsalves.

Diversity Initiatives: Emerging Writers 2022

Mentoring Program for Emerging Writers from Diverse Backgrounds

Join your Community