2026 Varuna Queensland Writers Centre Fellowships — Varuna, The National Writers' House

We are excited to announce the recipients of the annual Queensland Writers Centre Fellowships, open to all current financial members of Queensland Writers Centre.

This year’s recipient of the Queensland Writers Centre Established Writers Fellowship is Ashley Hay and the recipient of the Queensland Writers Centre Underrepresented Writers Fellowship is Sean West.

Congratulations to Ashley and Sean. We look forward to seeing both writers during their residencies.

Ashley Hay

Ashley Hay is a novelist, essayist and editor whose books include The Railwayman’s Wife, A Hundred Small Lessons, Gum: The Story of Eucalypts and Their Champions and a new novel, forthcoming in 2027. Her work has been published in Australia, the UK, the US and in translation, and has been recognised by awards including the Australian Society for Literature’s Colin Roderick Prize, the UNSW Press/Bragg Prize for Science Writing, the People’s Choice Award in the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, and Eucalypt Australia’s Dahl Medal. A former editor of Griffith Review, she was recently appointed establishing editor for Meanjin at QUT in Brisbane, where she lives and works on Yugara and Turrbal land.
[Photo credit: Anthony Weate]

Sean West

Sean West (he/they) is an Autistic poet, editor, support worker, and workshop facilitator based in Meanjin. They've been awarded a 2026 QWC/Varuna Fellowship. In 2025, they won a Queensland Premier’s Young Publishers and Writers Award and were runner-up in the Arts Queensland Thomas Shapcott Poetry Prize. Find him at www.callmemariah.com