Varuna Pitch Me! inaugural fellows announced

Varuna has announced the two recipients of the inaugural Pitch Me! Fellowship, established to connect Australian writers with the publishing industry.

The two successful applicants, chosen from 39 submissions, are:

• Liz Evans for her novel ‘Catherine Wheel’
• Maddie Godfrey for their poetry collection ‘Dress Rehearsals’.

Varuna also congratulated the following shortlisted applicants:

• Amanda Webster for her novel ‘The Anatomy of Love’
• Amy Lovat for her novel ‘Halfway to Nowhere’.

Evans and Godfrey receive a $2000 development payment, an optional week’s residency at Varuna and ‘an extended editorial conversation to develop a work with the aim for publication’.

‘The intention of Pitch Me! is to create opportunities for writers who have already been selected for a highly competitive Varuna Fellowship, who have completed a draft manuscript, and who are now looking for editorial feedback and connections in the publishing industry,’ said Varuna creative director Amy Sambrooke when the fellowship was announced last year.

For the inaugural program Ultimo Press publisher Alex Craig and literary agent Grace Heifetz of Left Bank Literary will work with the selected fellows.

For more information on the fellowship, see the Varuna website.

Pictured L–R: Liz Evans, Maddie Godfrey.

Category: Awards Local news