Meet the 2026 Hot Desk Fellows
Meet the 22 writers taking part in the Hot Desk Fellowships program in 2026, and read more about their projects.
2026 is the 14th year of The Wheeler Centre’s Hot Desk Fellowships, which provide emerging writers with a space to inspire their process and build a creative community.
The Wheeler Centre will offer twenty-two writers a fellowship, including a $1250 stipend and dedicated workspace in the building over a ten-week period. We look forward to sharing their work with you, both online and in our Next Big Thing reading series, throughout the year.
The 2026 Hot Desk Fellowships are made possible by the generous support of the Faculty of Arts, University of Melbourne, the Readings Foundation and the Just Pretending theatre group.
Meet the writers below, and read a short description of each project.
Amarantha
Nicola Bryant
Anna Carlsson
Kanika Chopra
Frankey Chung-Kok-Lun
Michael Earp
Karen Gardner
Gabrielle Williams Fellowship
Grace Hall
Nalini Jacob-Roussety
Eric Jiang
Gurmeet Kaur
Lise Leitner
Sarinah Masukor
Madison Pawle
Vuong Pham
Jana Pleyto
Ernest Price
Tayla Richardson
Just Pretending Playwright
Shahrin Shamim
Samantha Smith
Saraid Taylor
Annie Zhang
The Wheeler Centre’s Hot Desk Fellowships are generously supported by the Faculty of the Arts, University of Melbourne as part of a new three-year cultural partnership celebrating Australia’s leading literary talents.
The 2026 Hot Desk Fellowships are also made possible through the Readings Foundation and the Just Pretending theatre group.
