Mehan and Hollier receive $15,000 publisher fellowships
The Copyright Agency has announced the two recipients of its $15,000 publisher fellowships: Spineless Wonders publisher Bronwyn Mehan and Monash University Publishing director Nathan Hollier.
The fellowships aim to support ‘the pursuit of innovation and advanced learning from global experiences which can deliver benefits to the Australian publishing sector’, according to Copyright Agency CEO Adam Suckling.
Mehan will undertake research on multiplatform publishing in New York, with a focus on short stories. She will interview producers, creators and multidisciplinary practitioners working in areas such as podcasts, interactive installations and live performances. Her project looks to overcome revenue challenges faced by publishers where new technologies have changed consumer behaviour.
Mehan said she is ‘thrilled’ to have received a fellowship. ‘I have chosen New York as the target of my research since it offers a wide range of innovative literary arts events, from the large-scale, internationally renowned Selected Shorts at Manhattan’s Symphony Space to the popular, low-budget, fringe storytelling events found across Brooklyn,’ said Mehan. ‘My research will focus on issues such as alternative funding sources, innovative business models as well as creating and sustaining audience engagement in the specific context of multiplatform storytelling.’
Hollier’s research will focus on opportunities for and obstacles to book publishing in the Asia Pacific region. He will investigate what local publishers can learn from international business models in publishing, and will explore the potential for publishing partnerships within the region.
‘Over the past couple of years I’ve begun building connections with publishers from India, Indonesia and Malaysia at the Frankfurt Book Fair,’ said Hollier, ‘and the CAL Publisher Fellowship will enable me to learn much more about practical opportunities for and barriers to Australian publishers building their business in these emerging markets.’
The two fellows will be required to prepare reports on their activities, to be published online at the conclusion of their fellowships.
Suckling said: ‘This is the only funding of its kind, specifically aimed at supporting Australian publishers to build deep knowledge of international markets, and assist them in sustaining and strengthening the Australian publishing industry now and into the future.’
As previously reported by Books+Publishing, the 2016 recipients of the Copyright Agency Publisher Fellowships were Bradley Gaylard, Louise Cornege, Mary Coe and Alexandra Payne.
Category: Local news
