Magabala Mid-Career Fellowships 2026
Fri, Sep 18, 2026
Mid-Career Fellowship Applications NOW OPEN
Magabala is now taking submissions from mid-career authors and illustrators for their annual $10,000 Mid-Career Fellowships.
Launched in 2020, the Magabala Books Mid-Career Fellowship grants $10,000 to a mid-career author and is intended to provide valuable time to work on a current manuscript.
This year, Magabala Books are pleased to offer two fellowships. The Fellowship for a mid-career author, and new distinct Fellowship for a mid-career illustrator, worth $10,000 each.
Fellowship for a Mid-Career Author
The Fellowship is open to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander storytellers and writers of junior, young adult and adult fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and memoir (please note children’s picture book manuscripts are ineligible).
To enter you must have previously published at least two books. These can be in any genre or category, but they must have been traditionally published. Self-published works are excluded. You must have a manuscript underway and be able to outline how you would benefit from this Fellowship. If a publishable work is produced as a result of the fellowship, Magabala Books reserves the first right of refusal to publish the work.
Applicants will be asked to provide:
- an entry form.
- no more than 250 words explaining how this grant of money would benefit you;
- a short outline of the plot of your manuscript of no more than 250 words; and
- a draft manuscript.
Fellowship for a Mid-Career Illustrator
This opportunity, worth $10,000, is intended to provide valuable time for a mid-career illustrator to develop a work in progress. The Fellowship is open to mid-career Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander illustrators and graphic artists who are developing new work for publication.
To enter you previously must have illustrated at least two published books. These can be in any genre or category, but they must have been traditionally published. Self-published works are excluded. You must have an illustrated manuscript underway and be able to outline how you would benefit from this Fellowship. If a publishable work is produced as a result of the fellowship, Magabala Books reserves the first right of refusal to publish the work.
Applicants will be asked to provide:
- an entry form;
- no more than 250 words explaining how this grant of money would benefit you;
- a short introduction to your current project;;
- a draft storyboard, roughs and sample artwork.
Please contact us at projects@magabala.com or call Magabala Books on 08 9192 1991 with any queries or to discuss your Fellowship project ideas.
Applications close MIDNIGHT 12th October 2026
Previous recipients of the Mid-Career Fellowship include Jeanine Leane, Jane Harrison, Brenton E. McKenna, Vivienne Cleven and Charmaine Papertalk Green.