Australia Council awards grants to Dempster, Tooth and McCredie
The Australia Council has awarded Artistic Leadership grants to Melbourne Writers Festival director Lisa Dempster and South Australia Writers Centre director Sarah Tooth, and an Executive Leadership grant to New South Wales Writers Centre executive director Jane McCredie.
Dempster will receive $7150 to attend the Atelier for Young Festival Managers in Poznan, Poland, this year and the National Arts Marketing Project Conference in the US. ‘In Poznan, Lisa will participate in a seven-day intensive workshop with 10 renowned festival leaders initiated by the European Festivals Association, to discuss different aspects of artistic festival management,’ said the Australia Council in a statement. ‘In America, Lisa will participate in “All the Places We’ll Go!”, the National Arts Marketing Project Conference, including intensive workshops, plenary sessions, peer discussion, and revenue-focused clinics led by marketing, fundraising, and sponsorship experts.’
Tooth will receive $13,780 to attend the Asia Pacific Writers & Translators Conference in Singapore in July this year ‘where she will participate in panel discussions and host the international launch of the Virtual Writers in Residence project, which was funded by the Australia Council’ and devised by Tooth. ‘The Singapore launch will enable it to be rolled out further, bringing international writers onto the platform and to collaborate on international writing projects,’ said the Australia Council in a statement, adding that Tooth would then ‘travel through Singapore and Malaysia to meet with literary organisations and writers, publishers, editors, bookstore owners, distributors, and reading and writing groups to investigate how each organisation works, how it engages with its community, and potential collaborations’.
‘On her return she will write about her experiences, publish essays online, give a seminar and deliver a series of events and workshops to inform the community about the possibilities of cultural exchange.’
McCredie will receive $16,700 to attend the Digital Book World conference ‘to learn about audience building’, and to ‘undertake a short-term placement and ongoing collaboration with the UK’s Literary Platform, working largely on their Fiction Uncovered project’. ‘This project has been particularly successful in promoting and supporting mid-career authors to build their careers in a challenging environment,’ said the Australia Council. ‘She will use these skills, knowledge and networks to implement similar programs to support mid-career Australian writers.’
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