Statement: State Librarian and CEO Vicki McDonald AM

2025 black&write! Fellowships 

22 May 2025

For more than a decade, black&write! Fellowships have encouraged and supported First Nations writers and resulted in fiction and poetry manuscripts edited and developed for publication. 

On 20 May a decision was made by the Queensland Government to rescind one of the 2025 black&write! Fellowships, in response to previous public statements made by the writer.

In the Queensland Parliament, Minister for Education and the Arts John-Paul Langbroek confirmed the Queensland Government had “taken the decision that this award should not be presented at the State Library”. 

State Library of Queensland complied with that decision and postponed the black&write! ceremony and rescinded the fellowship to K.A. Ren Wyld.

State Library has committed to undertake an independent review of the suite of awards and fellowships we administer. It will have specific focus on how we balance our strong commitment to freedom of expression and our role as a Queensland Government funded cultural institution.