Writing NSW is pleased to announce the winner of the 2025 Varuna Fellowship is Kirsty Windeyer for her work, You Fix It.
The winner of this award, selected from a field of almost 100 exceptional entries, will win a much-prized fellowship at The National Writers’ House to develop her work.
The judges commented: ’This week-long Varuna residency offers a writer that rare gift of time and space to develop an existing work — a vital step in shaping a polished manuscript and moving it closer to publication. We were particularly impressed by the clarity with which so many applicants articulated how they would use the residency to progress their works-in-progress.’
Windeyer was awarded the residency for her ‘compelling synopsis, gripping opening scene, and assured, confident writing.’
Windeyer commented on her win, ‘I’m simply thrilled to win this Fellowship and have been jumping with joy since I received the news. It’s been a dream of mine to have a residency at Varuna – what could be better – space, time, a writing community in the most stunning of environments. I can’t wait to have a full week devoted to my manuscript and to see how it develops during the week.’
The judges also awarded runners-up prizes to Oormila Vijayakrishnan Prahlad for The Land Never Asks, and Libby Colla for Big Things. Both of the runners-up will receive entry to a short writing course of their choice.
The judges commented on the quality of the work of the runners-up. On The Land Never Asks, they said, ‘The poetry submitted for this collection was searing; exploring themes of otherness, migration and generational gaps with tenderness and breathtaking imagery.’ The feedback for Big Things was equally glowing, ‘It was engaging and warm, brimming with enough potential that I am certain it won’t be the last we hear of this work.’
The judges this year were author and mentor Maame Blue, Commissioning Editor at Pan Macmillan Australia Emma Rafferty, and Operations Manager at Writing NSW Andrew Glassop.
The judges were very impressed by the high number and standard of the entries across a broad range of genres. They said, ‘Every work, no matter if it was shortlisted or not, had moments of great writing, unique insight, or delightfully surprising, unexpected events. The strength of the writing scene in NSW continues to be strong and it’s heartening to see so many great emerging writers out there.’
Awarded annually, the Writing NSW Varuna Fellowships are for members of Writing NSW who have a work that is ready for the next stage of development.
Kirsty Windeyer has been developing her writing craft for many years whilst working in diverse legal and policy roles. She is in the final stages of completing her first novel. It has been written while undertaking courses and has benefited from workshopping sessions with her writing group, ‘The Gemstones’. She has contributed to and published several substantial non-fiction reports. This is her first work of fiction.