APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN

‘Writing the Future of Health’ Fellowship

A first of its kind call for Melbourne writers to co-imagine the future of health.

The Health Transformation Lab is excited to venture into new collaborative territory, in partnership with RMIT’s Writing Courses, to announce the first-of-its-kind Writing the Future of Health Fellowship.

There has never been a more critical time to bring imagination, creativity and a sense of new possibilities to health systems and our own health as a population.

For all the talk —in many sectors— about the value of inter-disciplinary approaches to solving deeply entrenched issues, or to spark meaningful innovation, how far are collaboration boundaries really being pushed?

The Fellowship is an invitation for one of Melbourne’s wonderful writers to produce a creative perspective and imaginative reflection on a question of broad public and academic interest: what does the future of health look like?

A PROUD PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN

OVERVIEW

The Fellowship

The successful writer will receive an award of $25,000 and a desk in the Health Transformation Lab (situated on Pelham Street in Carlton) for a period of 6 months. They will be invited to attend the Lab for one day a week to foster an intellectual exchange on visions for the future of health.

The Output

At the conclusion of the 6-month fellowship, the writer will present their piece on health futures at a special gala event.

The work can be in any form of the writer’s selection: prose or verse, fiction or non-fiction, realistic or speculative. The work will be published in an outlet suitable to its final form.

The Health Transformation Lab on Pelham St, Carlton (prior to COVID-19)

Eligibility criteria

Applicants must have already published a novel, short story anthology or other book length work with an Australian publisher. Writers of only shorter pieces or self-published works are not eligible for the Fellowship.

Applicants must also either be based in Melbourne, or be willing to spend the six months of the Fellowship in Melbourne.

Important Dates

Submission window: 01 Nov 2021 – 22 Dec 2021

Judges Review: Jan 2022

Successful Applicant Announced: 04 February 2022

Applications are now open

Be sure to submit by 22 December 2021 with all information outlined in order to be eligible.

  1. A single page writing CV outlining your major writing accomplishments.
  2. A single page piece summarising why you are the right person to undertake the Fellowship
  3. A maximum 3-page essay outlining a proposal for the piece of work you intend to undertake for the Fellowship.
Entries will be considered by our esteemed judges:
Astrid Edwards
astridedwards.com

Astrid Edwards chairs Melbourne Writers Festival and teaches in the Associate Degree of Professional Writing and Editing at RMIT University.

Astrid is a bibliophile. She is the host of The Garret: Writers on Writing, as well as the co-host of Anonymous Was A Woman with Jamila Rizvi and the Future Women and Hachette Book Club.

In 2021 Astrid contributed to the anthology Growing Up Disabled in Australia. Astrid is a Member of the Victorian Disability Advisory Council and a National Advocate for MS Australia.

Steven Amsterdam
stevenamsterdam.com

Steven Amsterdam is a Melbourne-resident, American author of Things We Didn’t See Coming, What the Family Needed and The Easy Way Out.

Steven is a PhD Candidate in Creative Writing at RMIT and brings a health perspective to the judging by also being a palliative care nurse.

In 2020 Steven won the prestigious Horne Essay Prize with his essay ‘There and Here’ about homesickness amid the pandemic travel restrictions.

Emily Maguire
emilymaguire.com.au

Emily Maguire is the author of six novels, including the Stella Prize and Miles Franklin shortlisted An Isolated Incident, and three non-fiction books.

Emily’s articles and essays on sex, feminism, culture and literature have been published widely including in The Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian, The Observer and The Age.

Emily works as a teacher and as a mentor to young and emerging writers and was the 2018/2019 Writer-in-Residence at the Charles Perkins Centre at the University of Sydney.

Her latest book is the novel Love Objects.

Professor Vishaal Kishore
healthlab.edu.au

Professor Vishaal Kishore is Professor of Innovation and Public Policy at RMIT University, where he founded and leads the Health Transformation Lab. He is co-founder of The MedTech Actuator and holds a number of board and advisory positions across the Australian and regional innovation and impact ecosystems.

Vishaal has previously been Deputy Secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services; director for government strategy in EY’s management consulting practice; a mergers and acquisitions lawyer; and an Associate at the Federal Court of Australia.

Applications are now open.

Be sure to submit by 22 December 2021 with all information outlined in order to be eligible.

The successful recipient will be publicly announced on 04 Feb 2022.

Applications must consist of all 3 parts listed below to be considered:

  1. A single page writing CV outlining your major writing accomplishments.
  2. A single page piece summarising why you are the right person to undertake the Fellowship
  3. A maximum 3-page essay outlining a proposal for the piece of work you intend to undertake for the Fellowship.

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