Call Out: 2025 Frank Moorhouse Reading Room Writer-in-Residence Program
The FMRR was established through the generosity of the late Frank Moorhouse (1938–2022), who donated his extensive collection of Australian short story and essay anthologies to the Writing and Society Research Centre at Western Sydney University. The collection, which is housed in WSU’s Parramatta South campus, spans more than a century of Australian writing, from the late nineteenth century to the 2010s.
We are inviting Australian writers to engage with the collection onsite and produce an essay in response to items of their own choosing, to be published in the Sydney Review of Books.
Successful applicants will be granted a week’s residency at the Whitlam House in Cabramatta (NSW), travel and accommodation costs, and $1,500 payment for the essay.
There will be two rounds of three residencies each: Monday, 26 May – Monday, 2 June, and Friday, 24 October – Friday, 31 October. These dates have been chosen so that interstate writers might have the opportunity to plan their residency around major writers’ festivals: the Sydney Writers Festival (19 – 25 May), or the Blue Mountains Writers Festival (31 October – 2 November).
What we are offering
Each resident will receive a stipend of $1,500 to write a long-form essay responding to the Frank Moorhouse collection, and a week’s residency at the Whitlam House in Cabramatta (NSW), with travel and accommodation costs covered.
Who can apply?
Applications are open to Australian residents of any age. First Nations and CALD writers are strongly encouraged to apply.
What should I write about?
The Frank Moorhouse Reading Room offers a uniquely longitudinal and cross-sectional perspective on Australian writing. The anthologies in the collection track not only the historical development of the genres of the short story and essay in Australia, but also the evolution of the writer’s sense of vocation and of the social function of literature.
As well as being a writer, Moorhouse was a public intellectual whose interests ranged widely. The residency honours this breadth by imposing no restrictions on subject matter. Successful applicants will be encouraged to follow their own noses once they have spent time looking through the collection.
For some examples of the kind of work we’re looking for, you can read the first three instalments of the essay series, including an introduction to the program, here.
How to apply?
Send us a one-page cover letter and a list of your relevant published work (no more than 2 pages). The cover letter should explain how you will benefit from this residency, and how your writing might benefit the program.
It is essential that writers travel to Sydney to undertake this residency; proximity to the collection is at the centre of the project. If you wish to apply and have particular access and/or accommodation needs, please contact the editors (editor@sydneyreviewofbooks.com) to discuss your application.
The deadline for applications is 11:59pm on Friday, 7 March 2025.
Who will judge the applications?
Applications will be judged by the program editors: James Jiang (SRB Editor), Tegan Bennett Daylight (Writer, Lecturer in Creative Writing, WSU) and Eda Gunaydin (Writer, Lecturer in International Studies, University of Wollongong).
Applications will be assessed against the following criteria:
- Quality of published writing to date, as evidenced by cover letter and CV;
- Potential to bring new critical perspectives to the Frank Moorhouse Collection and contemporary writing about Australian literature;
- Benefit of the fellowship program for professional development.
