Australian Indigenous Coffee (AIC) Creative Grants
AIC Creative Grants Applications are NOW OPEN for 2026!
2 x $10,000 Creative Grants will be awarded to First Nations storytellers, writers, illustrators and artists.
Magabala Books are proud to partner with Australian Indigenous Coffee (AIC) to offer the AIC Creative Grants. These grants, worth $10,000 each, are intended to provide valuable time for storytellers, writers, illustrators and artists to work on a current manuscript or illustration portfolio.
The grant is open to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander storytellers and writers working in any genre, this could include junior, young adult and adult fiction, non-fiction, poetry, memoir, children’s picture book and graphic novels. The grant is also open to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists and illustrators working in any medium.
You must be able to outline how you would benefit from this grant and what the publication intentions are for your work. If a publishable work is produced as a result of the grant, Magabala Books reserves the first right of refusal to publish the work.
Applicants will be asked to provide:
(a) an entry form;
(b) confirmation of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander identity;
(c) no more than 500 words explaining how this grant of money would benefit you;
If you are applying as a storyteller or writer, please also submit:
(a) a writing sample;
(b) plot summary – no more than 250 words.
If you are applying as an illustrator or artist, please also submit:
(a) artwork and illustration samples;
(b) publication summary (i.e. the type of book you would like to illustrate) – no more than 250 words.
Click here for full guidelines and application form.
Closing date: midnight, AWST, Friday 18 September 2026.
Please contact: Ngaire Pigram via projects@magabala.com or call on 08 9192 1991 with any queries or to discuss your application.
Previous Grant recipients
2025 Grant not opened.
2024 Winners
Aliyah Jayde Bradbury & Haylee Escalante
2023 Winners
Daniel Browning & Neika Lehman