Creative Victoria latest funding recipients

Creative Victoria has announced the latest recipients of funding from its Creators Fund and Creative Workers Fund.

Twenty-seven Victorian creators have shared in $995,902 of funding through the 2021 Creators Fund, which ‘supports research, development and experimentation activities that will enable Victorian creatives to expand their skills and lay the foundation for career boosting new work’. The Sidney Myer Fund partnered with the Victorian Government, contributing $100,000 to the program and making it the largest round to date in terms of funding and the number of creatives receiving support.

The literary recipients of the 2021 Creators Fund are:

• Cher Tan, to further develop her ‘debut full-length work, provisionally titled ‘PERIPATHETIC: NOTES ON (UN)BELONGING’, an experimental essay collection about globalised identities that are always in flux’.
• Nova Weetman, to write ‘a book on grief, lockdown and the creative process’.
• Koraly Dimitriadis, to ‘undertake deep research, experimentation, writing and mentorship with award-winning journalist and author Jenny Valentish’ for her first book of creative nonfiction, ‘Not Till You’re Married’.

Recipients of the 2021 Creative Workers Fund shared in over $2 million that goes towards ‘supporting practitioners working across all creative forms’ including mentorships, industry development programs and creating new work.

The recipients include:

Literary journals and festivals

• Going Down Swinging ($39,900) for ‘creative development and programming of Going Down Swinging, a zine that gives voice to established and emerging Victorian writers and artists’.
• Mascara Publishing Incorporated ($12,900) ‘to produce two special editions of Mascara Literary Journal which provides creative opportunities for Victorian writers’.
• RMIT on behalf of Jessica Wilkinson ($18,860) ‘for 12 months of development and production of Rabbit: a journal for non-fiction poetry’.

Books, writing and publishing

• Gorkem Acaroglu ($20,000) ‘to undertake development and production of a first draft manuscript titled The Colour Of People’.
• Arts Access Victoria on behalf of Beau Windon ($29,600) for ‘creative development of Wild Against The World, a young adult fantasy novel centred on a 15-year-old neurodiverse boy’.
• Arts Access Victoria on behalf of Naomi Fryers ($25,000) ‘for a publicity and distribution campaign to support the launch of A VERY Long Way, Naomi’s debut memoir which captures an account of her lived experience of overcoming mental health challenges’.
• Rosalind Bellamy ($17,850) for ‘creative research and development of a new novel exploring family, trauma and queer identity’.
• My Dreamtime Story ($26,900) for ‘creative development and production of a new baby milestone print book, My Dreamtime Story – Baby Edition. The book will track pregnancy while also including key cultural features for First Nations families like tribes, language and significant Dreamtime Stories’.
• MATERIALBYPRODUCT ($40,000) for the ‘creation of I’m Not A Fashionista, an illustrated history exploring the misconceptions of luxury fashion and its relation to the ordinary women’.
• Kate Mildenhall ($19,440) for ‘creative development of a novel examining the lives of workers during the Depression, particularly in Footscray in 1933’.
• Thuy On ($4,000) for the ‘creative development of a new poetry collection’.
• Sam Elkin ($10,000) for the ‘creative development of a personal essay collection which aims to explore rights, sexism, trauma, class and the law’.
• Cigdem Cennet Serce ($34,831) ‘to develop a second draft of suspense fiction work’.
• SEVENTH Gallery Inc. ($47,563) for ‘development of a year-long program that includes exhibitions, community engagement programs, commissions by emerging writers and a pilot mentorship program to support diverse emerging artists’.
• Amy Tsilemanis ($10,394) for ‘creative production of the second season of the GATHER with Minerva’s Books and Ideas podcast, which explores experience of reading and the ideas illuminated and ignited by books’.
• Wendy Tyrer ($20,000) for ‘creative development and publishing of The Curator, an 80-page graphic novel exploring women’s attitudes and experiences in pursuing an artistic career’.
• Women’s Art Register ($9,940) for the ‘creative development of Leaving Your Legacy – A Guide For Australian Artists, a workbook and a series of seminars that will provide practical and concise information to support artists to plan their estate and to take charge of their artistic legacy’.
• John Young ($21,415) for the ‘development and publication of an anthology that documents a 12-year cycle of contemporary art projects’.

For the full list of recipients in all categories, see the Creative Victoria website.

Category: Local news