The Wheeler Centre’s Hot Desk Fellowships are back for 2020 – once again made possible by the generous support of the Readings Foundation. Twenty writers will be offered fellowships throughout the year. For the fourth year, an additional Playwright Hot Desk Fellowship will be offered to an emerging female or non-binary playwright supported by the generosity of the Just Pretending theatre group.

These 21 fellowships, which include a $1000 stipend and workspace in the Wheeler Centre over a ten-week period, have been created simply to provide emerging writers with the space to write and create. Hot Desk fellows will also have the opportunity to meet, network and work with the Wheeler Centre’s resident organisations including Writers’ Victoria, Emerging Writers’ Festival, Australian Poetry, Express Media, Small Press Network and the Melbourne Writers’ Festival.

In addition, Hot Desk Fellowships introduce emerging writers and their work to the public – we will feature all our writers and their projects on our website, as well as in a special Hot Desk Edition of The Next Big Thing series. In 2019, several of our Hot Desk fellows were approached by publishers and agents interested in their work, with many alumni having been published since their involvement in the programme.

Join a community of creativity, as well as having the productive space of a desk of your own.

Applications for 2020 Hot Desk Fellowships are now closed.  Successful applicants will be announced in May via the Wheeler Centre website.