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Mid-Career and Emerging – Westerly’s Definitions

Two great opportunities for WA writers! Which is right for you?

Westerly has always aimed to support both emerging and established writers in WA. This year, we’re offering our new $2000 Mid-Career Fellowship in recognizing the support needed beyond emerging status. If you are a published writer who no longer qualifies for our Writers’ Development Program but would still like the opportunity to take your career to the next level, we urge you to apply!

The Westerly Writers’ Development Program (WDP) is one of our most important initiatives, as it allows us to directly support new WA writers. Through expert mentoring, multi-platform promotion and financial support, we work with a group of emerging writers to help them hone their craft and develop their voice, with the goal of kickstarting their professional careers and giving them skills and connections that will benefit them throughout their lives as writers. Through the Program, Westerly hopes to give back to WA’s vibrant literary community.

As important and beneficial as the Program is, it does have its limitations. The WDP is only available to emerging, unpublished writers. While we are always excited and delighted to be able to support these new writers, we also recognise that a single publication or a handful of published works does not mean a writer has completely established their career. We wish to support as many different WA writers as possible, which is why we have established our new Mid-Career Fellowship.

We are defining ‘mid-career’ as any writer who has successfully published between one and four full-length works or collections. While publication is absolutely something to celebrate and be proud of, writers in this early stage of their professional career can still benefit greatly from support. The Mid-Career Fellowship allows us to partner with these writers and support them both professionally and financially.

The Mid-Career Fellowship gives two WA authors the opportunity to create a bespoke work of prose or poetry for both print and digital publication. These works will be featured proudly and prominently in next year’s Westerly issues and promoted across all of our platforms. The Fellowship also includes a $2000 bursary in recognition of the quality of work successful applicants are capable of producing.

Successful applicants to the Mid-Career Fellowship will be chosen based on the merit of their submission relative to opportunity, which is why we ask you to supply a CV alongside your pitch. This CV should offer a sense of exactly where you are in your career. A writer with only a single published work will be equally competitive as someone with four titles to their name. The Fellowship will be tailored to suit the needs and style of each successful applicant, allowing us to give you exactly the support you need.

Whether you’re just starting your professional writing career or looking to take it to the next level, we want to support you. For full details on submission guidelines, terms & conditions and more, head to our submissions page. Submissions close Friday the 30th of October.

Westerly would like to thank both the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund and Katherine Susannah Prichard Writers’ Centre for their support of these programmes.

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