Location: Australia; Australian authors only.

Award: AUD 80,000 (one fellowship). No application fee.

Duration: Fellowship to create a new work

Deadline: 17 Aug 2026

The Copyright Agency Cultural Fund's Author Fellowship awards AUD 80,000 to one established Australian author to create a significant new work for publication. ELIGIBILITY: established Australian authors with critical acclaim and confirmed publisher interest in the proposed work; Australian residents only. This is a separate fellowship from the Cultural Fund's Fellowship for Non-Fiction Writing, though administered on the same cycle. APPLICATIONS close 17 August 2026, 1:00pm AEST. Apply via the Cultural Fund fellowship page.

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Location: Australia; Australian authors only.

Award: AUD 80,000 (one fellowship). No application fee.

Duration: Fellowship to research and write a new work

Deadline: 17 Aug 2026

The Copyright Agency Cultural Fund's Fellowship for Non-Fiction Writing awards AUD 80,000 to one mid-career or established Australian author to research and write a substantial new work of literary non-fiction. Eligible forms include memoir, biography, history, criticism, arts and science writing, and environmental and political writing. ELIGIBILITY: mid-career or established Australian authors with a demonstrated publication record and publisher interest in the proposed work; Australian residents only. APPLICATIONS open 20 April 2026 and close 17 August 2026, 1:00pm AEST. Apply via the Cultural Fund fellowship page.

Open call details

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Location: New South Wales, Australia; applicants must be NSW-based.

Award: AUD 50,000 per fellowship, 10 fellowships awarded (4 emerging, 3 mid-career, 3 established). No application fee.

Duration: 12-month fellowship

Deadline: 27 Jul 2026

Stories Matter is a new NSW literary fellowship program from Create NSW, administered by Writing NSW, awarding ten fellowships of AUD 50,000 each to support NSW-based writers to focus on a major new work over a 12-month period. The 2026 round funds four emerging, three mid-career, and three established writers working across prose fiction, poetry, illustration, graphic novels, and playwriting. ELIGIBILITY: writers must be based in New South Wales; open to writers at any career stage within the three tiers (not open to applicants outside NSW). No application fee. DEADLINE: 27 July 2026, 2:00pm AEST. Apply via the Create NSW grants portal.

Open call details

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Location: Melbourne, Australia; includes residency at Varuna, The National Writers' House, and an end-of-year publishing intensive at The Wheeler Centre.

Award: AUD $15,000 stipend per fellow. No application fee.

Duration: 12 months.

Deadline: 31 Jul 2026

The Next Chapter is The Wheeler Centre's flagship writing program, designed to elevate Australian stories that are underrepresented and to nurture a new wave of writers to tell them. Each fellow receives a AUD $15,000 stipend and is paired with a handpicked mentor for a twelve-month period to progress a major writing project. Fellows also receive a residency at Varuna, The National Writers' House; an end-of-year publishing intensive at The Wheeler Centre; and meaningful opportunities to connect with peers, agents, publishers, and readers. One fellowship place is dedicated specifically to a poet: The Malcolm Robertson Fellowship. 2027 judges: Melissa Lucashenko, Micaela Sahhar, Cher Tan, and Melanie Saward. ELIGIBILITY: Australian writers. No specific genre restrictions stated; the program focuses on stories that are not currently being told and voices that are underrepresented. TIMELINE: submissions open 2 June 2026; submissions close 31 July 2026 (5pm); 2027 Next Chapter Fellows announced 10 November 2026. Questions: thenextchapter@wheelercentre.com. Apply at https://www.wheelercentre.com/the-next-chapter.

Open call details

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Location: Australia; must currently reside in Australia.

Award: AUD $10,000 prize money (donated by Hachette Australia); 12-month mentorship with a Hachette Australia publisher; first option to consider finished work for publication. Long- and short-listed writers also eligible to apply for a Casa Morphosi Residency in Abruzzo, Italy. No application fee.

Duration: 12-month mentorship.

Deadline: Closed 13 Jul 2026

The Richell Prize for Emerging Writers, presented by the Emerging Writers' Festival and Hachette Australia, is an annual prize for unpublished writers of adult fiction and adult narrative non-fiction. The winner receives AUD $10,000 and a 12-month mentorship with a Hachette Australia publisher, who will work with the writer to develop their manuscript, with first option to consider the finished work for publication. Long- and short-listed writers are also eligible to apply for a Casa Morphosi Residency in Abruzzo, Italy. The prize was established in memory of Hachette Australia CEO Matt Richell (d. 2014). ELIGIBILITY: must currently reside in Australia (Australian citizens, permanent residents, and long-term visa holders residing in Australia; those residing overseas are not eligible); unpublished writers only -- no previous publication by a publishing house (including small press or independent publishers in any genre); publication in anthologies, literary journals, scholarly works, writing PhD projects, or self-publishing does not disqualify. ELIGIBLE GENRES: adult fiction (including short story collections) and adult narrative non-fiction (including memoir and essay collections). Poetry, scripts, plays, picture books, practical non-fiction, and works for children or young adults are not eligible. SUBMISSION FORMAT: single PDF comprising the first three chapters (maximum 20,000 words), a one-page synopsis, and a chapter breakdown of up to two A4 pages; plus a statement (up to 750 words) on how winning the prize will further your writing career, entered in the online form. Manuscript must be complete or intended to be completed; does not need to be finished at time of submission. A4, double-spaced, 12pt Roman font (e.g. Garamond or Times New Roman), 3cm margins, page numbers. TIMELINE: prize opened 23 April 2026; closes 13 July 2026 at 11:59pm AEST; longlist announced 11 September 2026; shortlist 16 October 2026; winner announced 6 November 2026. Administered with support from Simpsons Solicitors. Apply at https://emergingwritersfestival.org.au/richell-prize-2026/.

Open call details

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