KSP Writers-in-Residence
The KSP Writers' Centre is proud to support the development of literary work by hosting a number of annual residencies and fellowships. This is a unique program specifically for writers, currently one of only three in Australia. We currently offer placements in the categories of Established; UpComing; Emerging; Scholarship; Established; and Fellowships. Our legacy of Writers-in-Residence spans almost 30 years and has produced hundreds of literary awards and publications across several genres as a result. For a full list of our Alumni of writers, please see here.
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Despite the loss of long-term annual state government funding in 2015, KSP is committed to continuing the program with the support of the local government authority the Shire of Mundaring and Friends of Katharine.
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LEARN MORE ABOUT APPLYING FOR A KSP RESIDENCY OR FELLOWSHIP
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Meet KSP's 2023 Writers-in-Residence
Natalie
D-Napoleon
Emerging Writer-in-Residence
Natalie Damjanovich-Napoleon (D-Napoleon) is a writer and educator from Fremantle, Australia. She spent the last decade in the USA where she was a Coordinator at a City College Writing Centre. Her work has appeared in Meanjin, Griffith Review, Australian Poetry Journal and Writer's Digest. She has won both the Bruce Dawe National Poetry Prize and KSP Poetry Prize. In 2019 Ginninderra Press released Natalie’s debut poetry collection First Blood. Recently Natalie completed her second poetry collection on motherhood and silencing of women's voices. Currently Natalie is teaching writing at ECU while completing a PhD on erasure poetry and historic amnesia.
Mara Papavassiliou
Upcoming Writer-in-Residence
Originally from Perth, Mara Papavassiliou is a public servant by day, and writer by night. Mara currently lives in the Goldfields of Western Australia, where she is inspired by abandoned mine sites and the gothic landscape of the Great Western Woodlands. An alum of the Centre for Stories Mentorship Program, she is interested in literary and speculative fiction.
Rebecca Higgie
Emerging Writer-in-Residence
Rebecca is an award-winning writer from Perth. Her whole life has been spent in the company of books, with careers in libraries and universities. Formerly an academic at Curtin University and Brunel University London, she has published research on satire and politics. She has worked in the stacks of the State Library of Western Australia and fostered childhood literacy as the Library Officer at Guildford Primary, WA’s oldest public school. Her novel The History of Mischief won the 2019 Fogarty Literary Award for an unpublished manuscript
Julienne van Loon
Established Writer-in-Residence
The Australian Book Review has recognised Julienne van Loon as “a writer and thinker for which the world of ideas is all the richer.” The award-winning author of three novels as well as the highly praised non-fiction book The Thinking Woman (2019), her work has made a significant contribution to Australian literature through its unflinching appraisal of contemporary Australian life. Her service to Australian writing and publishing includes more than two decades as a teacher and mentor to emerging Australian authors, regular engagement in public debate, and industry advocacy including a period as Chair of the Australian Society of Authors.
Myles McGuire
Upcoming Writer-in-Residence
Myles McGuire is a writer and editor from Brisbane, Australia. He has been published in Griffith Review, Voiceworks and Overland Online, and nominated for the Peter Carey Short Story Award. As a literary interviewer he has conducted in-conversations with Pulitzer Prize winners and New York Times #1 Bestsellers. He works as a librarian and teaches writing at the Queensland University of Technology.
Gemma Nisbet
Invited Writer-in-Residence
Gemma Nisbet is a writer from Perth whose work has appeared in publications including Westerly, Australian Book Review, Axon, TEXT and The West Australian, where she writes a weekly book review column. A PhD candidate in Creative Writing at the University of Western Australia, she has taught Creative Writing and Literary Studies at UWA and Curtin University, and has a professional background in travel journalism. Her first book, a collection of essays titled The Things We Live With, will be published by Upswell in 2023.
Meet KSP's 2022-2023 1st Edition Program Recipients
(in no particular order)
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Nadine Browne is the author of THE WHIP HAND, a live story teller, slam poet and general good time girl. Nadine was a 2019 graduate and Starworks Fellow of New York University’s MFA Fiction Program.
Diane Hopkins works as an editor and nonfiction book coach for creative and ambitious women with transformational stories to share. She has written her first memoir about searching for love again after her marriage ended.
Mark has always loved stories. As a child growing up in country Western Australia, reading and writing were Mark’s escape, but writing took a back-seat when he pursued a different path. Now, after decades working in engineering, he has returned to writing.
Carol Millner identifies as a Pakeha living a Jewish life in Western Australia. She holds a PhD in Creative Writing from Curtin University, where she also teaches. Carol's poetry and short stories have been published in Australia and Aotearoa/NZ. (Photography by Charlotte Guest).
Emma is a high school teacher by day but by night she is contemplating twisty murder plots and the best ways to hide bodies. All in the name of writing, of course. Her first novel 'The Bone Painter' won the 2020 Affirm Press/ Varuna Mentorship Award.
Molly Schmidt is a writer undertaking Honours research at Curtin University, under the supervision of Professor Kim Scott. This project is to complete her first novel and involves consultation with Noongar Elders. By day, Molly is a journalist for the ABC. (Photography by Jenny Schmidt)
Jo Stapley has been a Business Storyteller in three continents, but always called Perth home. Like her characters, Jo believes that stories can spark personal transformations. While her 2 young kids sleep, she writes contemporary fiction with characters that bring dry humour to darker subjects.
Emily Taylor is a poet, secondary English teacher and writer based in Perth. Her poetry is inspired by the duality that is Life’s gift. She publishes poetry on Instagram (@emilytaylor_writer) and in local zines, whilst working on her novel. (Photography by Ella Tan)
Khai Virtue is a Western Australian writer of a young adult fiction. He has been a teacher, graphic designer and translator and can now be seen wearing a cardigan at a library near you. Khai is currently working on his first novel.
Meet KSP's 2023 Fellows
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(in no particular order)
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Alida Watson can remember her mother reading (from a wildly varied collection of books) to the whole family. While growing up on a cattle station, she constantly wrote stories in her head. Now, she is putting pen to paper with her first novel.
Dr Anne Harris is a Perth-based writer and retired academic. She generally writes narrative nonfiction but has recently switched to fiction writing. Anne is a member of a vibrant writers’ group and enjoys reading, writing, hiking, and photography.
Amber Moffat writes for adults and children. Her fiction for adults has been published by Westerly, Landfall, Overland, Meniscus and Night Parrot Press. Her picture book I Would Dangle the Moon was released by MidnightSun. Amber’s poetry for children has been published by The School Magazine and Penguin Random House.
Catherine Johnstone lives on Wurundjeri country in Melbourne and writes creative non fiction, fiction and poetry. She has recently been awarded a Varuna online fellowship, The Writer’s Space, and has been published in journals and anthologies. She has written and directed award-winning short films.
Carly-Jay Metcalfe is a Queensland based writer of memoir, creative nonfiction and poetry. She is a 2022 Varuna Writer’s Space Fellow and is an M.Phil candidate in Creative Writing at the University of Queensland for which she received a full scholarship.
Catherine is an accomplished and award winning short fiction writer with over 25 published stories. She has won or been shortlisted/commended for numerous awards including the Hope, Elizabeth Jolley and Scarlet Stiletto short story prizes. Residencies include Varuna and Corridor AIR. She is currently working on a novel.
I am a writer and academic based in Sydney. I am author of The Subversive Art of Zelda Fitzgerald (University of Missouri Press), shortlisted for the AUHE award in literary criticism. I am co-editor of scholarly volumes On Happiness (UWAP) and Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Play (Springer).
Game designer and picture book author, Esther Krogdahl is the ultimate wordsmith. Her combined love of writing code and playing games led to her dream job in the games industry. Esther has worked with Disney on top-secret projects, writing for games played by millions of people around the world.
Jacinta Dietrich is a bisexual and neurodivergent author and editor based in Melbourne. Her first book This Is Us Now was published by Grattan Street Press in 2021. Jacinta has also been published in Black Inc.’s Growing Up In Country Australia (2022) anthology and Intermissions (2022) anthology. Photograph by Simon McCarthy
Jackson C. Payne is a writer and PhD student living in Naarm Melbourne. His research is in the short story cycle which he undertakes at Monash University, where he also teaches creative writing. Before taking writing seriously, he worked at various times as a journalist, shoemaker, furniture mover, and social worker.
Julie U'Ren has lived in Papua New Guinea, Melbourne, country Victoria and Northern Territory. She writes about how places and moments of time. Her flash fiction and short stories have appeared in Meniscus, Spineless wonders and have been recognised in NT literary Awards.
Karen Hollands lives in Brisbane and is currently working on her second novel. In 2018 she was selected to participate in the QWC/Hachette manuscript development program and the ACT Writers Centre Hardcopy program. In 2019 she was shortlisted for the Glendower Award for an Emerging Queensland Writer.
Kathy Sharpe is a journalist and writer living on the South Coast of NSW. A writer of contemporary women's fiction in Australian regional settings, Kathy's novel The Wishbone Observer, (worked on at KSP) was shortlisted for the 2021 Banjo Prize. Kathy has won several short story contests and writing residencies.
Kim Aikman lives in Fremantle, Western Australia. Her novel, Heartwood was chosen by Allen & Unwin for the 2019 Publisher Introduction Program Fellowship at Varuna Writers Centre. She has been selected for the FAWWA Emerging Writers’ Programme 2021- 2023. Kim is a lover of plants, coffee, bookshops, walks, and good conversation.
Maura Pierlot is a Canberra-based author and playwright. Her widely acclaimed play on youth mental health, Fragments will be released as a web series (2022). Maura has received several writing fellowships, residencies and awards, and her work has been widely published. She has two non-fiction children’s titles out in 2023-24.
Mona Farrokhi is an aspiring writer who was born in Iran and raised in Perth. Mona has a background in Social Work and is currently working on her first novel. Mona can often be found eating donuts, writing in cafes, buying books or being bossed around by her dog.
Nean McKenzie is a children’s writer and optometrist who lives in western Melbourne. Originally from Bendigo, Nean lived in New Zealand, Europe and North East Africa before returning to Australia. Nean has two published middle-grade novels which are adventure stories about Australian cryptozoology: Cryptosight (2019) and Xenoflight (2022).
Philippa Moore is a PhD candidate in creative writing and history at the University of Tasmania. She has worked in Melbourne, London and Hobart as an editor and journalist, with her work appearing in Womankind and The Guardian, among others. Her first book, The Latte Years, was published in 2016. Photograph by Jeanine Stewart
Renee Treml is the award-winning author and illustrator of picture books and graphic novels for young readers, including Ten Little Owls, One Very Tired Wombat and Sherlock Bones and the Natural History Mystery. Photograph by Indie Lane
Rhian Healy lives in Perth. He likes hamburgers.
Sam Elkin is a writer and radio maker. Born in England and raised on Noongar land, Sam now lives on unceded Wurundjeri land. Sam's essays have been published in the Griffith Review and Kill Your Darlings, and is co-editor of Nothing to Hide: Voices of Trans and Gender Diverse Australia
Sharon Barba is an author from Perth, Western Australia who writes evocative, meticulously researched historical novels featuring compelling characters. Awarded a KSP Unpublished Writer Fellowship (2020), Sharon holds a Bachelor of Arts (University of Western Australia) and an active member of a range of writing and historical societies. Photograph by Angelo Di-Benedetto
Sharon Giltrow is an Author and Educator who lives in Perth, Western Australia. Her debut PB, BEDTIME DADDY! (EK Books) released 2020 and her follow up PB, GET READY, MAMA! (EK BOOKS) released in 2022. Sharon’s MG series – THE UTILITY BELT (CLEAR FORK PUBLISHING), will be released in 2023/24.
Ayesha Inoon is a Sri Lankan-Australian writer with a unique cultural perspective, which she brings to her writing. Ayesha won the ASA/HQ Commercial Fiction Prize 2022 for her unpublished manuscript, ‘Untethered’. She was also a recipient of the 2019 Penguin Random House Write It Fellowship.
An emerging writer, Carolyn writes fiction characterised by complex themes. In 2021 she was nominated for the Annette Cameron Poetry award and highly commended in the PCWC short story competition. In 2022 a finalist in the Love to Read Local flash competition, Carolyn had stories published in 2021 and 2022.
Lisa Kenway is a writer and doctor from the NSW Central Coast. Her work has appeared in Island Online, the Meanjin blog, Meniscus Literary Journal and elsewhere. She was longlisted for both the 2020 Richell Prize and the 2021 Fresh Ink Emerging Writers Prize.
Melanie Saward is a proud descendant of the Bigambul and Wakka Wakka peoples. She’s a writer, editor, and lecturer from Tulmur (Ipswich), Queensland. Her writing’s published in Flock, Overland, Kill Your Darlings, and she’s collaborating with Brooke Blurton on two middle-grade rom-coms due for release by HarperCollins in 2023.