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The Neilma Sidney Literary Travel Fund
Subcategory of Awards Australian Awards
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History

The Neilma Sidney Literary Travel Fund will award $300,000 in grants over three years to writers, editors, agents, publishers, booksellers and other literary professionals.

The fund is supported by the Myer Foundation.

Latest Winners / Recipients

Year: 2023

Indexed selectively.
recipient Aimee Chan to tour literary exhibition, Juvenilia, to South Australia to reach a new audience of readers, educators and librarians
recipient Jack Kirne for travel to Sardinia, Italy for a writer’s residency as well as to complete revisions of an unpublished novel manuscript
recipient Amy McQuire with Matt Chun (NSW), for travel to Tanna, Vanuatu for research, co-writing and artmaking for collaborative picture book project on the enslavement of Pacific Islanders in colonial Australia, aka ‘Blackbirding’
recipient Matt Chun with Amy McQuire, for Matt Chun (NSW), for travel to Tanna, Vanuatu for research, co-writing and artmaking for collaborative picture book project on the enslavement of Pacific Islanders in colonial Australia, aka ‘Blackbirding’
recipient Lorna Munro to travel to and participate in Palestine Writes
recipient Brian Obiri-Asare for travel to Ghana to undertake a residency and to engage in the study of West African theatrical form to further develop play-in-progress, Speak of the Devil
recipient Stefan Sabatini for travel to Ireland for research into a novel set in contemporary Dublin
recipient Karen Wyld for travel to Western Australia to research archives and exhibitions, experience immersive site visits and a self-hosted writer’s retreat, as well as travel to Philadelphia, USA to attend Palestine Writes and participate in mentoring with Palestinian novelist Susan Abulhawa.
recipient Alana Hicks to travel to Papua New Guinea for a self-hosted residency to develop the novel ‘Home Is a Foreign Country’.
recipient Alison J. Barton to travel to Germany to attend residencies, as well as conduct research and writing towards a full-length collection of poetry titled ‘Reise’.
recipient Ana Brawls to travel to Brazil to research historical and modern aspects of slavery in Brazil for literary work development.
recipient Carly Findlay to travel to South Africa to explore mother country and conduct research, as well as connect with key writing community contacts and human rights activists
recipient Eda Gunaydin to travel to the United States to conduct a research trip towards a manuscript and second essay collection.
recipient Emily Bitto to travel to Slovakia and the Czech Republic to carry out research for a third novel, based on her father’s life.
recipient Meleika Gesa-Fatafehi to travel Strait Back Home to tell Stories
recipient Muhib Nabulsi to travel to Qatar and Jordan for a research trip to develop essays towards a debut essay collection.

Year: 2022

recipient Susan Francis for travel to the National Library Australia to research the papers of Jill Joliffe
recipient Alison Gibbs to undertake research for second novel
recipient Eileen Herbert-Goodall for travel to Perth to participate in the 2022 Australian Short Story Festival
recipient Aimee Knight for travel to the US to undertake research for manuscript ‘Big Henson Energy’ about Jim Henson
recipient Nicole Lee for travel to attend the 2022 Tin House Summer Workshop
recipient Jazz Money for travel to attend the 2022 Edinburgh International Literary Festival, and to embark on a UK and Ireland tour
recipient Micaela Sahhar for travel to Palestine to research and develop manuscript ‘Encyclopaedia of a Palestinian Family’
recipient Yen Pham to attend the MFA in fiction at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop
recipient Sara Saleh for travel to Beirut for research on poetry manuscript ‘The Flirtation of Girls’
recipient Robert Wood for travel to Singapore for career and community development.
recipient Eunice Andrada for travel to California, New York and Chicago to perform in various venues, participate in radical community study sessions with members of the Digital Sala collective and to collaborate with others for future community literary offerings
recipient Eugen Bacon for travel to Wagga Wagga to research her novel Serengotti (Transit Lounge)
recipient André Dao for travel to the UK for the book tour of his debut novel Anam (PRH), and to conduct preliminary research on his follow-up novel in Paris
recipient Hasib Hourani for travel to the Levant to embark on a writing and research retreat for his upcoming book
recipient Simone Jordan for travel to New York City to research her memoir Tell Her She’s Dreamin’
recipient Katrina Trinh for travel to Brooklyn, New York, to research her upcoming drama/television series about the importance of nail salon work to Vietnamese diaspora
recipient Daniel Ward for travel to Berlin to research their next poetry collection lavender poems, and to launch Natalie Mariko’s latest poetry collection.

Year: 2021

recipient Amanda Anastasi to travel the Great Barrier Reef to write a series of poems to raise awareness of climate change impacts
recipient Madeline Gray to travel to Melbourne for professional development at the Melbourne Writers Festival
recipient Shakira Hussein to undertake research in New Zealand for essay and memoir manuscript ‘Nine Elevenitis’
recipient Miranda Luby to undertake research on Flinders Island for a contemporary young adult novel
recipient Brooke Maddison for a research trip to Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island) for debut novel ‘drift’
recipient Marjon Mossammaparast to travel to Tasmania for research on a poetry collection
recipient Michael Ryan for travel to Adelaide for a nonfiction book about the unsolved murder that led to the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Australia
recipient Michelle Scott Tucker for travel to Cairns and Bamaga to work with Aaron Fa’Aoso on his memoir
recipient Mark Smith to travel to Albany, WA, for research for new adult novel, ‘Three Boys Gone’
recipient Annabel Strafford to undertake a research trip to Perth and Wyndham for nonfiction book ‘The Wanted and the Unwanted’
recipient Lowana Tudor-Smith for travel to the Northern Territory for research for ‘Bina: First Nations languages old and new’
recipient Kate Wild for travel to Darwin and Yuendumu to cover the murder trial of a police officer for the fatal shooting of a Warlpiri man.

Year: 2019

recipient Sista Zai Zanda
recipient Heather Dyer
recipient Melanie Joosten
recipient Cher Tan
recipient Fiona Murphy
recipient Cate Kennedy
recipient Evelyn Araluen with Jonathan Dunk, for a dual project.
recipient Jonathan Dunk with Evelyn Araluen, for a dual project.
recipient Fiona Hardy
recipient Mirandi Riwoe
recipient Ruhi Lee
recipient Sara Saleh
recipient Tamara Lazaroff

Year: 2018

recipient Bruce Pascoe to attend the UK release of his book on Aboriginal agricultural history Dark Emu (Magabala)
recipient Chris Andrews

to give a paper at the International Conference on Comparative Translation in Buenos Aires, Argentina

recipient Damon Young

to undertake a publicity tour in the UK for his book The Art of Reading (MUP), and to undertake panel talks and workshops at the Edinburgh International Book Festival

recipient Ellen van Neerven

for travel to Japan to attend a poetry translation workshop at Tokyo’s Meiji University

recipient Emma Viskic

to undertake a publicity tour in the UK to promote her book And Fire Came Down (Bonnier), and to attend the Edinburgh International Book Festival

recipient Janine Mikosza to undertake a research trip to Jervis Bay, NSW, and a residency in Bundanon, NSW, to work on her literary memoir manuscript ‘Homesickness: Trauma and the Power of Childhood Homes’
recipient Jennifer Porter

for a research trip to Hobart to work on her manuscript, ‘The Reverend’, and to attend the Tasmanian Writers Festival

recipient Jessica Friedmann

for a research trip to Prince Edward Island and Ontario, Canada, to develop her manuscript ‘Priest Pond’, which acts as a parallel text to L M Montgomery’s ‘Emily of New Moon’ series

recipient Laura Woollett

for a research trip to Norfolk Island to work on her manuscript ‘Kingdom by the Sea’, a novel concerning child abuse on Pitcairn Island

recipient Louis Klee

to participate in the UNESCO City of Literature Poet in Residency program in Krakow, Poland

recipient Melinda Smith

for travel to Japan to attend a poetry translation workshop at Tokyo’s Meiji University

recipient Rebecca Giggs

to attend a writing residency at the Rachel Carson Centre for Environment and Society in Munich, Germany

recipient Sam Cooney

for travel to London to meet with publishers, editors and agents, and to attend the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

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