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 will be open from Monday 20 January – Monday 24 February 2020, and successful applicants will be announced on Monday 20 April 2020 via the Wheeler Centre website. Please note that applications close at 5.00 pm on Monday 24 February 2020.

How to apply

We are currently taking applications for Hot Desk Fellowships for the intake periods below:

• Monday 27 April 2020 – Friday 3 July 2020
• Monday 6 July 2020 – Friday 11 September 2020
• Monday 14 September 2020 – Friday 20 November 2020

To apply you must complete the online application form, which includes a 500-word sample of writing (or equivalent as detailed below), by 5.00 pm Monday 24 February 2020.

Guidelines for applicants

1. Successful applicants will receive a dedicated hot desk at the Wheeler Centre for a specified period and a stipend of $1000.
2. In addition to the 20 Fellowships supported by the Readings Foundation, the Just Pretending Playwright Fellowship will be offered to an emerging female or non-binary playwright.
3. Each Hot Desk fellowship lasts for a period of ten weeks. Writers are encouraged to use their hot desk space as frequently as possible during this period but are not required to be in the space full-time. Fellows will be required to attend a compulsory induction at the start of the fellowship, and will be expected to use their hot desk at least one day per week.
4. Fellowships will be offered on the strength and merit of each application. However, we aim to award fellowships to a diverse group of writers.
5. Fellowships are offered to writers in order to produce a specific piece of work, either in full or in part, during their time at the Wheeler Centre.
6. The Wheeler Centre reserves the right to publish all or part of the project descriptions of successful fellows on our website or in other Wheeler Centre publications. On request, successful applicants agree to provide a photograph for publicity purposes and to the Wheeler Centre publishing approximately 500 words from their work-in-progress on its website.
7. Successful fellows agree to enter into discussion regarding publishing completed projects on the Wheeler Centre’s website, although the copyright will remain with the fellowship recipient.
8. Payment of the stipend will be made in two parts – one payment to be made at the commencement of the fellowship, and one upon its completion and with the recipient’s submission of their work in progress, which will appear on the Wheeler Centre website.
9. The Wheeler Centre will endeavour to offer a fellowship to an applicant during the intake period they have requested, but cannot guarantee this.
10. Applicants who have previously received a Wheeler Centre Hot Desk Fellowship are ineligible in 2020.
11. Full-time or part-time Wheeler Centre staff, Wheeler Centre Resident Organisation staff, and Readings Head Office staff are ineligible for consideration for a 2020 Hot Desk Fellowship.
12. Hot Desks Fellows are able to work across all written forms, including but not limited to fiction, non-fiction, memoir, poetry, playwriting, screenwriting and comics/graphic novels.
13. Writing samples should be 500 words and provide an example of your proposed project. For illustrated or graphic samples, these should be 2-3 pages of representative work.
14. The sample must be supplied in PDF form and must use the following naming convention: surname_initial_title.pdf
15. Applications close at 5.00 pm on Monday 24 February 2020 and late applications will not be considered for selection.
16. The selection panel’s decision is final.