How do I apply?
Applications for The Next Chapter 2027 are now open and will close at 5pm on Friday 31 July 2026.
It is free to apply for The Next Chapter.
Applications must be submitted online, via The Wheeler Centre’s online portal. If you require assistance or alternative arrangements, please contact The Wheeler Centre.
There are four main questions that applicants are required to answer in their application:
- What the applicant seeks to get out of this program, explaining how they will personally benefit from the opportunity (max 300 words).
- A brief summary of the applicant’s writing sample (max 200 words).
- A one-page letter of support from someone who can vouch for the applicant’s capacity and commitment to deliver the work.
- A 10,000-word (or equivalent, see below) writing sample from the project the applicant wishes to work on during The Next Chapter.
- If you wish to apply for the Malcolm Robertson Fellowships, please ensure to check the corresponding box on your application form.
- The Malcolm Robertson Fellowship will be awarded to an emerging poet. All applicants who apply for these fellowship places will also be considered for the eight other general fellowship places.
Eligibility
Here’s what you need to know about whether you’re eligible to apply (or be nominated) for The Next Chapter. If you have any questions or require clarification for any of the advice provided here, you are welcome to call reception or email inquiries to thenextchapter@wheelercentre.com
Applicant eligibility:
- Applicants must reside in Australia, but do not need to be Australian citizens. We encourage people who came to Australia as a refugee to apply.
- Applicants must at least 18 years of age.
- Current staff or board members of The Wheeler Centre are ineligible. Casual staff, volunteers, and staff of resident organisations at The Wheeler Centre are welcome to apply.
Eligible works:
- Writing samples must be entirely the author’s own original work.
- Writing samples must not have had more than 25% of the work previously published through one or multiple outlets or publications (excluding personal author blogs), including online, unless previously self-published (i.e. published independently at your own expense);
- Writing project must not be already under contract with a publisher.
- During the fellowship year, the writing project must not actively be pitched to publishers, to ensure the fellow maximises the benefits of their mentorship.
- Application and writing sample must be presented in English.
- Bilingual editions where one of the languages used is English are also eligible.
- Writing sample maybe a work of prose, poetry, fiction or non-fiction, or a graphic novel.
- Writing sample must be aimed at readers aged 13 years and above.
- Screenplays and playscripts are not eligible for The Next Chapter.
- Applicants may enter only one application per year for consideration.
- Applicants who have applied for The Next Chapter in previous years for the same project must submit a substantially reworked 10,000-word sample of writing.
Please also refer to the Terms and Conditions of entry for further information on eligible works and/or authors.
Selection criteria
The Next Chapter celebrates writers who reflect the diversity of Australian identities and experiences. As such, grants in any given year are distributed amongst writers from a diversity of backgrounds.
Applications will be considered on the basis of:
Merit: the quality of the writing – including but not limited to the craft demonstrated in story and character development, innovation in form, and the sophistication of phrasing and lyricism.
Impact: the potential impact that the program would have on the applicant’s writing practice and career. This includes considering ways in which the publishing industry was previously inaccessible to the applicant.
Potential: the applicant’s potential success and/or impact as a professional writer in future.
Suitability: the applicant’s commitment to completing the project within the year.
Significance: the potential impact that the writing produced through the program may have in the wider community.