2026 Ann Moyal Fellowship Recipients
We are pleased to announce the 2026 recipients of the Ann Moyal Non-fiction Fellowship, a prestigious three-week fellowship that has been running annually since 2023, established with a bequest from the late Dr Ann Moyal AM, FAHA, a leading Australian historian of science, technology and telecommunications, as well as a biographer and author. Dr Ann Moyal was an alumna of Varuna, and wanted to provide opportunities for other writers and scholars to enjoy the support and collegiality of a Varuna residency.
This year’s Ann Moyal Non-Fiction Fellowship recipients are Rachel Buchanan, Sophie Cunningham and Michelle Johnston. Due to the high calibre of applications received this year, four writers were further selected as Highly Commended: Frankey Chung-Kok-Lun, Brooke Maddison, Farjana Mahbuba and Louise Martin-Chew.
We look forward to welcoming Rachel, Sophie and Michelle to the house in September this year for their three-week residency.
RECIPIENTS
Rachel Buchanan
Dr Rachel Buchanan (Taranaki iwi, Te Ātiawa, Pākehā) is a long-term manuhiri (guest) in Te Ao Moemoeā Australia. Rachel is the author of four books, including Te Motunui Epa (Bridget Williams Books) which won the 2023 Ernest Scott Prize for the most distinguished contribution to the history of Australia or New Zealand or the history of colonisation. The book was also a finalist in the inaugural Māori Literature Trust’s inaugural Keri Hulme Award. Rachel’s work has been published in Te Pouhere Kōrero, Griffith Review, Meanjin, Vice, Landfall, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Monthly and elsewhere. In 2025, Rachel was the recipient of the Judith Binney Fellowship.
Sophie Cunningham
Sophie Cunningham has written eleven books, including the novel This Devastating Fever and the essay collection City of Trees. She has a passion for trees and broader environmental issues. While at Varuna she will work on ‘Eucalyptus: A Story in Twenty Trees’, the book she is writing under the auspices of a Dahl Fellowship from Eucalypt Australia. As well as writing about eucalyptus she is currently working on her next novel, The Whole Earth Catalogue, and a memoir and writing guide called How to Write a Life.
Michelle Johnston
Dr Michelle Johnston is both an Emergency Physician and author. On good days it is difficult to tell the difference. Her first novel, Dustfall, was published in 2018 by UWA Publishing and was short-listed for the MUD debut literary fiction prize. Her second, Tiny Uncertain Miracles, was published in November 2022 by HarperCollins 4th Estate, followed by The Revisionists in July 2025. Her day (and sometimes night) job plays out in an inner-city trauma hospital, the well-spring of infinite human stories. The rest of the time she spends writing them.
ABOUT DR ANN MOYAL
This Fellowship has been established with a bequest from the late Dr Ann Moyal AM, FAHA, a leading Australian historian of science, technology and telecommunications, as well as a biographer and author. Dr Ann Moyal was an alumna of Varuna, and wanted to provide opportunities for other writers and scholars to enjoy the support and collegiality of a Varuna residency.
In 2016 Dr Ann Moyal was interviewed about her intentions in leaving the bequest.