Varuna First Nations Fellowships 2021

We warmly thank the 30 First Nations writers who applied for a 2021 Varuna First Nations Fellowship.

Our assessors spent many weeks reading these submissions. Noting that it was a very competitive process, their comments reflected on the high originality and vibrant subject matter of the submitted works. 

The six writers who will receive a Varuna First Nations Fellowship this year are:

• Krista Dunstan for her YA work, Noble Intentions

• Lisa Fuller for her YA fantasy, Washpool

• Veronica Heritage-Gorrie for her narrative non-fiction work, Teresa

• Ash Johnstone for her YA work, Ceridwen’s Academy

• Jannali Jones for her fictional crime novel, The Harraville Three

• Brenda Saunders for her poetry collection, Bird on a Wire

Our assessors would also like to highly commend submissions from Wendy Somerville, Elly Chatfield and Jenny Fraser.