The Copyright Agency’s Author Fellowship will support an established Australian author to create a new work for publication or performance and is open to novelists, playwrights, poets, children’s and young adult writers, picture book illustrators and journalists.

The Copyright Agency's Author Fellowship will support an established Australian author to create a new work for publication or performance and is open to novelists, playwrights, poets, children's and young adult writers, picture book illustrators and journalists.

One Fellowship will be awarded each year to create a significant new work (or a series of books if writing for children and young adults).

For this year, applicants must submit a detailed description of their project accompanied by a writing sample from the proposed Fellowship project to demonstrate their literary merit.

Projects should start after Monday 2 November 2026. The project should span up to 12 months. A project of one or two months is not regarded as a substantial Fellowship activity.

To be eligible to apply for this Fellowship, applicants must:

• Have previously published/performed at least five full-length works of their own creative writing (of which two books may be self-published)
• Secured a contract from an Australian-based book publisher OR a letter of interest/intent to publish from an Australian-based book publisher/theatre company
• Be an Australian citizen or permanent resident
• Applicants must have acquitted any overdue Cultural Fund grants

• Email: culturalfund@copyright.com.au