Magabala Books is thrilled to announce Tristan Michael Savage has won the inaugural Magabala Fellowship – an award of $10,000 to provide valuable time for a mid-career author to work on a new manuscript.

Tristan Michael Savage is a Brisbane-based, Kalkadoon man who grew up in Townsville, North Queensland. He is the author of the young adult sci-fi adventure novel Rift Breaker (Magabala Books 2014) and has written for the Logie nominated children’s television series, Grace Beside Me. Tristan’s other creative pursuits include the performing arts, filmmaking, and stand-up comedy. Of the Fellowship win, Tristan said:

“I’m absolutely stoked and consider it a great honour to be chosen as the inaugural winner of the Magabala Fellowship, and I look forward to further developing my current work-in-progress."

Magabala Publisher, Rachel Bin Salleh, said:

“Tristan’s entry demonstrated his immense talent as a writer and presented such an exciting work-in-progress. We’re looking forward to seeing where Tristan takes this manuscript.

 

“All the submissions we received revealed just how important financial support is for the realisation of new work. For this reason, we’re incredibly grateful to the Serp Hills Foundation who have recognised the value of ‘time to write’ and made this Fellowship possible.”

With so many strong submissions to the Fellowship, Magabala is excited to award a runner-up grant, thanks to the generous sponsorship of Australian Indigenous Coffee. An AIC Creative Grant of $5,000 will be awarded to Jared Thomas to work on his manuscript ‘Uncle X-box’.

Dr Jared Thomas is a Nukunu person of the Southern Flinders Ranges, Curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art and Material Cultural at the South Australian Museum and the international award-winning author of Calypso Summer, Songs That Sound Like Blood (Magabala Books 2014 and 2016) and co-author of the Patty Mills Game Day series.

Wadjigany woman and author, Maree McCarthy Yoelu, will also receive a discretionary scholarship and creative development fees to develop new work, thanks to the support of the JTM Foundation.

These grant outcomes reflect the vibrancy of contemporary Indigenous writing and Magabala’s continued commitment to nurturing and celebrating the talent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers. Congratulations to Tristan, Jared and Maree, who will develop their work throughout 2021.

Magabala acknowledges the generous support of The Serp Hills Foundation, Australian Indigenous Coffee and The JTM Foundation in awarding these creative grants. The next mid-career Fellowship will open in September 2021 and will continue to be offered annually.