The black&write! project was established in 2011 by the State Library of Queensland. Bundajalung woman Grace Lucas-Pennington, senior editor of the black&write Indigenous Writing and Editing Project explains that the project supports emerging First Nations writers, regardless of the genre they choose, as long as it is fiction.
“The project was created to train First Nation’s editors to work in the publishing industry and to support First Nation’s authors,” Grace Lucas-Pennington explained.
Many of the recipients of the writing fellowship have become successful writers, winning numerous accolades for their work ranging from sci-fi to historic novels.
Grace Lucas-Pennington, an established writer and editor specializing in First Nations fiction and poetry, is a recipient of the 2020 Nakata Brophy prize for poetry.
Grace Lucas-Pennington, senior editor of the black&write! project Source: Joe Ruckli.
The fellowship awards comprise of a cash prize and a manuscript development with black&write! editors, eventually leading to a publication opportunity with Hachette Australia.
Grace Lucas-Pennington says it is important that the editors are Indigenous as writing a book is hard enough, so having an editor who doesn’t understand your culture can make it a challenging experience unnecessarily. The goal is to encourage and support First Nations writers in getting their first book published.
“We don’t place ourselves as authority over the writers, we act as equals.” “We are here to make it as easy as possible for First Nations writers to find their voices.”
The 10th anniversary of the project is marked by an exhibition called Sovereign Stories, 10 years of black&write! currently on display at the State Library of Queensland.
black&write! alumni's books Source: Joe Ruckli
The event reflects how the project has evolved over the last ten years and how the landscape of Indigenous literature has changed.
Ms Lucas-Pennington reckons there has been a big progress with the fellowship fostering a lot of emerging talented First Nations writers however, there is still a long way to go as Indigenous writers are still underrepresented.
Many Australian students can leave school without having read a single book by an Indigenous author.
Supporting Indigenous writers and increasing the number of fellowship programs is also Grace Lucas-Pennington’s wish for the next decade of the black&write! project.
The Fellowships are offered annually to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander writers: 2 winners are selected each year.
Applications for the 2022 black&write! Writing Fellowships are now open and the deadline was extended to 5pm February 11.
