Penguin Random House Varuna Fellowship
One unpublished writer will receive a two-week residency at Varuna, delivered in partnership with Penguin Random House, who will provide editorial feedback on the author’s work-in-progress.
Applications open: 17 March 2026
Applications close: midnight AEST 15 May 2026
Residency dates: Between July 2026 - September 2027, arranged directly with Varuna based on availability
Places: One unpublished writer will be selected
Who should apply: Unpublished writers with a manuscript ready for editorial feedback and development
FAQs: Please read the FAQs before you apply.
ABOUT THIS FELLOWSHIP
The Penguin Random House Varuna Fellowship will be awarded to an unpublished writer with a complete fiction or memoir manuscript that would benefit from editorial support. This fellowship is made possible by Penguin Random House and is designed to foster opportunities for unpublished authors.
This fellowship is for fiction and memoir writers.
The recipient will receive:
A two-week residential fellowship at Varuna, with uninterrupted time to write in your own private studio. All food is provided, with an evening meal prepared by our cook, Dionne, to be enjoyed with the companionship of your fellow writers.
A one-hour consultation with a Varuna mentor, Carol Major, Mary Anne Butler or Tegan Bennett-Daylight.
Two editorial meetings with members of the Penguin Random House editorial team, one prior to your residency, and one after you’ve attended your residency.
If you accept this fellowship, Penguin Random House will have first right of refusal on your manuscript when the first draft after the fellowship is completed. Penguin Random House will have 90 days to make an offer to publish the work after submission to their editors, and the work may not be submitted to any other publishers during this period.
For more information about staying at Varuna, visit our Residencies page.
HOW TO APPLY
The Penguin Random House Fellowship is awarded to an unpublished writer of a fiction or memoir manuscript who applies for a Varuna Residential Fellowship. There is no separate application process.
For the purposes of this fellowship, ‘unpublished authors’ are those who have not published a book-length work with a publisher, and do not have a publishing contract for their work-in-progress. Applicants who have self-published, or who have had short works published in anthologies, journals and collections are eligible to apply.
Please refer to Varuna’s general submission guidelines for any questions on formatting your work.
ABOUT PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE
Penguin Random House, the world’s largest trade book publisher, is dedicated to its mission of nourishing a universal passion for reading by connecting authors and their writing with readers everywhere. The company, which employs more than 10,000 people globally, was formed on July 1, 2013, by Bertelsmann and Pearson. In 2020 Bertelsmann acquired full ownership of Penguin Random House.
With nearly 250 independent imprints and brands on five continents, Penguin Random House comprises adult and children’s fiction and nonfiction print and digital trade book publishing businesses in more than 20 countries worldwide, including the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, China, India, South Africa, Spain, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Peru, Portugal, and Uruguay. With over 15,000 new titles, and close to 800 million print, audio and eBooks sold annually, Penguin Random House’s publishing lists include more than 60 Nobel Prize laureates and hundreds of the world’s most widely read authors.
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