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Children's Literature Fellowship

Family reading a book

The $15,000 Children’s Literature Fellowship is a specialist fellowship to support a project exploring aspects of children’s book publishing, writing or illustrating for early years, children and young adult fiction (0–18 years of age).

Fellows can access more than 100,000 collection items for inspiration, including novels, illustrated fiction, picture books, graphic novels, poetry and traditional stories.

Fellows receive a grant of $15,000, access to a desk space in a shared office for 12 months (January – December 2023), access to collections and staff expertise.

Read our frequently asked questions and guidelines for more information.

Previous recipients

Explore our fellows gallery to learn more about the inspiring projects undertaken by past and present fellows.

  • 2022: Juliet Miranda Rowe with the project All will be revealed, an exploration of the connection between the history of stage magic and the contemporary moving image through the WG Alma Conjuring Collection.
  • 2019: Matt Chun with the children's picture book Safe Passage and research into the history of Australian children's books as reflecting, or contributing to, the visual culture/semiotics of settler colonialism and White Australia Policy.
  • 2018: Leanne Hall for the YA novel The Celestial about celebrity, politics, race, performance and identity in Melbourne on the eve of WWII, and John Oldmeadow (Honorary) for the article A history of the development of the Dromkeen Collection, referencing the Library's completed listing of the Dromkeen manuscripts collection.
  • 2017: Dr Lili Wilkinson for the YA novel The Wild Kindness, which confronted the lost girls trope head-on restoring agency to the lost girls of literature in a postmodern feminist reclamation.
  • 2016: Stephanie Holm with the book manuscript From curious creatures to bushland beasts: A graphic novel exploring representations of Australian fauna and flora in early Australian children’s book publishing.
  • 2015: Lyndal Mebberson for the documentary Onions, bunions, corns and crabs – From the Magic Pudding to Lockie Leonard: Adapting Australian children's literature for stage and screen.
  • 2014: Theresa O'Connor for her project researching the Library's Children's Literature Collection to create a series of paper puppet workshops and a pop-up puppet show.