our fellows
Host City - Adelaide
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Aimee Said
2012
“I leave with most of a plot and 10,000 words of a brand new novel, plus a mind overflowing with possible twists and turns for this book. This has been a precious month of writing and thinking.”
Aimee developed the plot, character and setting and drafted the initial chapters of her new novel for young adults, a Gothic-inspired book about family and school secrets set in a girls’ boarding school. During her Fellowship Aimee was in residence at Seymour College meeting 150 year 11 students. -
Amanda (AJ) Betts
2011
From Ruth Massie at Seymour College: ‘This year the Year 11 Seymour students had the pleasure of having Western Australian author Amanda Betts as our Writer in Residence... Click See More to read all
AJ developed a work of fiction for young adults, tentatively titled Zac and Hannah, a story about two teenagers who meet and form a relationship on a cancer ward, but who find life outside the hospital much more complicated. The final publication (August 2013) is Zac and Mia which won the 2012 text Prize for Young Adult and Children’s Writing. AJ was also in residence at Seymour College, working with over 100 students on their own creative writing. Her time in Adelaide coincided with Book Week 2011. See More -
Anne Morgan
2009
Summary of Anne fellowship is going to be placed here... See More -
Bernadette Kelly
2010
I found that my interaction with people from the Canberra CBC... provided me with valuable networking opportunities and an opportunity to expand my professional contact base.
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Dawn Meredith
2011
Dawn’s creative time was spent finishing the last 30% of her young adult novel Flight. Dawn maximised her networking and employment opportunities through a range of professional meetings (manuscript assistance etc) and public workshops at Glenelg Library as well as with May Gibbs Trust partner Victor Harbor R – 7 school. At Victor, Dawn met the entire school population of 600 students. The session at Glenelg involved 60 students. See More -
Jeni Mawter
2012
“Words can’t express my appreciation to all at the May Gibbs Trust for giving me this opportunity of a lifetime. From the time of my initial application until now, I feel I have made giant strides.”
Jeni researched how to write for the interactive world of children’s apps, writing 3 (A Rainbow Surprise, Shape Explorers and A Race Against Time), which were accepted for publication in 2013 by Flying Books. She researched, developed the concept and wrote 1000 words for a young adult long form non-fiction work with the working title The Seduction of Narcissism in response to interest from Macmillan’s Momentum digital section. Jeni was in residence at Scotch College Junior School and ran a workshop called ‘How to Fix a Broken Story’ for the Unley Young Writers Group and members of the SA Writers Centre. See More -
Karen Tayleur
2011
‘It was a very interesting experience to take myself out of my normal life and live for a month in a place where there were no excuses not to write. I was frustrated with pinning down my ‘voice’ for the book during this period, but I did have time to explore the genre I was writing in, taking leisurely afternoons of sitting near the window in the sun and reading, while feeling only slightly guilty. This is what I enjoyed the most. Instead of having to squash my reading/research time into stolen moments, I brazenly sat with a pot of tea and explored to my heart’s content.’
Karen says: ‘I worked on two projects while staying at the Adelaide burrow. My residency serendipitously occurred during the Cornish festival on the Copper Coast. I was able to attend a few of the festivities, including a class in Cornish and a dressing of the graves, and had access to some self-published non-fiction about the early years of the Copper Coast which I may not have normally come across from my home in Melbourne. I have in mind a piece of historical fiction for upper primary children that would look at the early period of European settlement of this region. My other project, my main reason for applying, was to work on a ‘gothic romance’ for the Young Adult market titled Love Notes from Vinegar House. I am happy to say that this book is to be released in May 2012 by Walker Books under the black dog books imprint and the May Gibbs Trust has been duly acknowledged with my heartfelt thanks See More -
Nathan Luff
2011
‘As an emerging author, trying to balance full time work, writing and an addiction to HBO television, I am used to stealing time from my day, and working with distractions everywhere. … I was a fulltime writer with my only distraction being the occasional boil of the kettle – the opportunity to engross myself in my work so fully was not only a heap of fun, it meant I completed a manuscript (through 4 drafts) in 8 months as opposed to the usual 1-2 year slog.’
Nathan’s Fellowship saw him take Bad Grammar, his new middle years novel, from its first draft to publication readiness. Walker Books published the novel in January 2013. Bad Grammar stars a computer game enthusiast (read nerd), who is mistakenly sent to a reform school in the Outback of Australia, where the enemies are very much real… Nathan was also in residence at Scotch College Junior School, where he met over 300 students. -
Oliver Phommavanh
2012
“It felt so free to be fully immersed in my work. I found that random thoughts and funny lines came more freely than before… I found myself having a productive evening too. BONUS writing time. So it felt like 2 days for 1!”
Oliver’s Fellowship projects were Nothing’s Prefect, the story of a boy who is thrown into being a prefect in a rundown high school where weirdness happens and Bookish, which he describes as a lifelong love letter to librarians. Oliver wowed audiences young and not so young in a number of schools and public libraries as well as in a bookshop and a Thai restaurant as part of a new partnership between the Trust and the City of Norwood, Payneham & St Peters. See More -
Stephen Axelsen
2012
Stephen spent 110 hours and 55 minutes (he says: “this is accurate. I keep a log”) on the rough drawing, layout and text of The Nelly Gang, his graphic novel for children published in 2013. He also researched and started to write the second volume of the series, Nelly and the Dark Circus. Stephen’s public talk at the Burnside Library gave everyone present a fascinating insight into the rigorous process of creating a graphic novel, with a live demonstration of his skill and patience with the technology he uses to bring his dynamic and compelling characters to life. Stephen spent a week at Victor Harbor R – 7 School, where he took the opportunity to road test some of the graphic novel ideas
Host City - Brisbane
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Corinne Fenton
2011
Corinne made the most of her attendances at networking opportunities organised through the Trust’s support group. She acknowledged the support of this group, describing it as “perfect sprinklings of support and freedom.”
Corinne wrote a polished draft for an environmental story, researched and re-wrote an old picture book text for a different format, tidied up and completed the first draft of a verse novel, wrote some poetry (“miscellaneous poetry” as she describes it!) and began the re-write of a short novel. The Trust’s Brisbane-based support group hosted a high tea for Corinne at the new Norman Park State School Library, where she gave an insightful presentation on how she began her writing career and the meticulous research that goes into each title. Corinne worked at the State Library of Queensland, meeting 40 children and 37 adults. -
Judy Horacek
2012
Judy enjoyed the first half of her Fellowship in 2012, reading and researching. She will return to Brisbane in 2013 to complete her projects. She says that: for the moment it's fun thinking widely - from aliens to trolls (including troll aliens of course) to school kids. She presented at West End bookshop, Avid Reader and spoke at the legendary May Gibbs Trust afternoon tea. -
Kelly Gardiner
2012
Kelly completed a strong draft of her young adult novel, The Sultan's Eyes, an historical novel set in Europe in the 1640s. This is the sequel to Act of Faith (a 2012 CBCA Notable Book) and continues Isabella Hawkins' thrilling adventures. Kelly gave guests at the legendary Queensland Support Group High Tea a sneak preview of The Sultan’s Eyes. She also spent a week in residence at the State Library of Queensland. See More -
Krista Bell
2011
‘Without (the) May Gibbs (Trust) I would never had had the creative space and time to develop this book, but rather I would have still have tantalising, but unrelated experiences swirling around in my imagination waiting to be developed into a story.’
Krista developed Troubles in Tuscany, a junior novel for 8-12 year old readers. She developed the entire storyline and the characterisations in Brisbane because – as she says – “only then did have the opportunity to pause and piece together all my inspirational Italian experiences of the past two years and weave them into a story.” As part of this Fellowship the Trust’s Brisbane support group organised the launch of Krista’s paperback Lofty’s Mission, which she wrote in Canberra on a May Gibbs Trust residency back in 2004.
Host City - Canberra
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Deborah Abela
2008
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Greg Holfield
2012
Greg made use of the Australian War Memorial to research his graphic novel, “An Anzac Tale.” His research also included a meeting with historian Peter Stanley. During his two-part Fellowship Greg drafted then completed the finished pencil illustrations. His public appearances included an ABC Radio Canberra interview with Louise Maher discussing children's graphic novels and a book signing at Impact Comics. -
Malcolm Walker
2011
Malcolm felt strongly that the rare chance for thinking and writing time – the essence of the May Gibbs Children’s Literature Trust’s existence! – provided him with excellent professional development.
Malcolm opted for the focus, solitude and discipline of uninterrupted creative time, working on the first book in the trilogy City of Thieves. The trilogy aims to blend fantasy and social realism, while mirroring contemporary teenage issues. He finished a complete working draft almost ready for submission to his agent, as well as achieving a considerable amount of research and some chapters of the second and third books in the trilogy. He also took the chance to edit and re-draft some of his existing work. See More -
Pam Rushby
2012
“The research time at the Australian War Memorial was invaluable. I would not have been able to attempt the two historical novels I am working on without it. The time, and the quiet, and the lack of the usual responsibilities has enabled me to progress far further than I had expected with both novels.”
Pam undertook research at the Australian War Memorial for two historical novels, one for children and one for young adults. She developed full outlines for both novels and wrote a good half of the first draft of one novel. Pam gave an interview on ABC radio with Genevieve Jacobs and a talk about her most recent novel at the time of her Fellowship - The Horses Didn't Come Home, (HarperCollins 2012) - at the Paperchain Bookstore, Manuka.
Host City - Melbourne
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Clare McFadden
2011
Clare completed the research period and concept development for her second (working) title Book of Hours. This included taking extensive reference photos for illustrations and completing a first draft of the words. Clare was also in residence at the children’s cultural venue, Artplay, and at The Book Factory, a Melbourne Writers Festival event organised by Kids Own Publishing. In the course of this work she met and worked with over 215 children. -
Dee White
2010
I thought that if I could get the main part of the research done during my residency and the plot outline for the books, I'd be well ahead. If things were going really well I thought I might get the first 30 or so pages written. I never dreamed that I'd achieve so much more. Not only did I complete the 56,000 word first draft of book one, but I also had so much time to read, meet with other authors and just enjoy being a writer.
