"Who has time to write applications? The obvious answer is no one."

How do you find time to submit to writing prizes? What makes a great awards application? How does it feel when judges read and love your work?

In this post we interview 5 writers who won development awards at the 2023 Queensland Literary Awards: Maria van Neerven (David Unaipon Award for an Emerging Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Writer), Steve MinOn (Glendower Award for an Emerging Queensland Writer), Al Campbell and Melanie Saward (Queensland Writers Fellowships), and Jasmin McGaughey (Queensland Premier’s Young Publishers and Writers Awards).

If you're looking for encouragement to keep writing or you have a creative idea burning a hole in your pocket, read on to learn insights and application tips from these winners, and to hear about their exciting new projects.

What is your manuscript or fellowship project about?

Steve MinOn:

My winning manuscript, "First Name Second Name", is a novel about four generations of two migrant families whose contest of identity culminates in a protagonist who can’t rest, and who is compelled on an epic journey, a nocturnal walk north to the town of his birth, Innisfail. It’s an autofiction about self-loathing, which is something I felt a lot while I was writing it (like many authors who question their ability). 

Jasmin McGaughey: 

With this prize money I aim to spend dedicated time on writing a YA fantasy novel inspired by my own background! I’m hoping to use the funds to learn more about craft in this area. 

Maria van Neerven: 

My writing focuses on themes such as colonisation, racism, discrimination, family, and mental health. Growing-up in a large Indigenous family we had to deal with these issues daily. Back then my family had no voice for the injustice they encountered. I hope that through my poetry I can give my family and other First Nations people a voice. 

Al Campbell: 

My novel project is "Door 64", which re-imagines the murder of Betty Shanks in 1952, 13 years before I was born. I grew up in the same neighbourhood and passed the house where Betty was killed on my way to and from school. Local lore persisted in our area; Betty’s name was invoked to urge young women to be cautious, as though ill-caution had somehow played a part in what happened to her. Spanning 1952 to now, "Door 64" is a 3-timeline manuscript that’s definitely a challenge! But this can only be a good thing, in terms of my development as a writer. 

Can you tell us about your application? Was this your first time entering? 

Al Campbell: I first applied for a Queensland Writers Fellowship in 2021, the year before my debut novel, The Keepers, was released – my first ever application! After I wasn’t successful, I all too quickly assumed that application writing (and, indeed, the whole business of grants and fellowships) was above my pay grade. I let my confidence cave in, and I didn’t even apply the following year. In 2023, however, after reading early pages of my current manuscript, a very smart friend of mine (Angela Slatter, see final point) gently insisted I throw my hat back into the ring, and I ended up applying for 8 things. I’ve been successful twice this year. Honestly, the Queensland Writers Fellowship was the one I’d have predicted I had the least hope of winning. Just goes to show that the secret sauce is this: APPLY! APPLY! APPLY! And then when you still don’t win anything, apply some more!  

Jasmin McGaughey: This was my first time submitting to the awards, but I’d written applications in the past and lost my nerve before applying. 

Melanie Saward: This was my third time entering the Queensland Literary Awards and my first time winning an award (the previous two times I was unpublished and submitted to the David Unaipon Award and was shortlisted both times.) 

Maria van Neerven: This is the first time I entered the David Unaipon Award. I never thought my writing was good enough. My family and friends encouraged me to participate after reading my work. 

What does winning this award mean to you?

Melanie Saward:

Publishing is a long road and we often think that the goal is to see our book published, and we spend years working on and refining one project. When the awards opened, I was on the cusp of having my first novel published. I was starting to think about what comes next and how I could change both the way I work and my perception of myself as a writer. My winning Fellowship project is a novel called "The Next Chapter", a funny, sweet, quirky, Blak, queer rom-com set between Brisbane and Sydney about an Aboriginal girl who chases her dream of working in publishing.

Steve MinOn: 

I mentioned in my ceremony acceptance speech that I was worried I wouldn’t be able to sell "First Name Second Name" to a publisher, that publishers might not want to take a risk on an ambitious story from an unknown writer. But everyone who enters the Glendower Award is an 'unknown writer' and they’re all judged on their literary merit. Now I have a contract lined up with the brave UQP to cross the unpublished/published divide with a sticker on my novel that reads: Queensland Literary Awards winner. Wow. 

Jasmin McGaughey:

Heaps! Firstly, a validation that, possibly, my writing holds weight to readers (who aren’t my own friends and family.) It also means a little more financial stability because, as many of us creatives know, it’s not easy to guarantee income in this industry. It’s encouraging because it feels as if my Queensland writing community supports me. I have attended past ceremonies and participated in Queensland Literary Awards judging. One of the best parts about the awards is networking with writers and creatives who get just as happy and as animated about books and storytelling as I do. 

Maria van Neerven: 

My plans have not changed since winning the David Unaipon Award. I will continue to write for my family as they are my inspiration. The financial support is fantastic. It will make it easier to develop my skills as a writer and hopefully provide more opportunities in 2024. 

Al Campbell:

Well, the money is a godsend, of course.  As a renter in my 50s and primary carer of my two adult sons … well, I don’t need to spell out that I’m on-my-knees-grateful for the financial support. Some very welcome breathing space. But more than that, winning this fellowship means the judges ‘saw something’ in my current project that they consider worthy of supporting. When you’re elbows-deep in a manuscript, you don’t know if it’s going to have legs, you don’t know if anyone is going to like it or want to publish it or read it. But this fellowship is rolled-gold encouragement – that’s how it feels. It lets me know that the book I’m writing might actually be okay, that something about it stood out, at least for the judges, and that it’s worth the struggle and the juggle and the hard work.    

What advice do you have for writers thinking about applying? 

Al Campbell:

The amazing and extraordinarily hard-working local writer Angela Slatter has the best advice: she insists that grant and fellowship applications are as much a part of the job as writing itself. Unless you are very lucky and are independently wealthy, grants and fellowships are how you survive and keep doing the work. On social media recently, after the 2024 Varuna Residential Fellowships were announced, one person asked: Who has time to write applications? The obvious answer is no one. Nobody has the time to write them; you decide to make the time as you do anything else in life that matters to you. 

Jasmin McGaughey: 

Be honest in your application. I used to think I had to write an application that the judges wanted. And while in part that’s true, I think being honest in your application (about who you are and your writing voice) is what will show your best work. That’s how judges get excited for you.  

Maria van Neerven:

Never give up your passion and belief in yourself. Just give it a go, follow your heart. We are all good enough. 

Melanie Saward:

I submitted to the awards mostly because I thought that the process was a good time to sit and think about what I needed to be able create a new novel in a year. But actually winning has given me so much more than just the cash and time and space to put that plan into action – it's given me validation. 

Which authors inspire you? Which local writers are you excited about? 

Al Campbell:

Amanda O’Callaghan writes like no one else; she is immensely gifted. I know Amanda is working on a novel and I cannot wait to read it. Emily O’Grady’s third novel-in-progress sounds very intriguing as does Laura Elvery’s upcoming novel "Nightingale" – a bit of a ghost story, so I hear, which is right up my alley. And my chum Brendan Colley is working on his next novel and I know enough about that one to be very excited! 

Maria van Neerven:

I am a big poetry reader; my main interest is in Indigenous and First Nations writers. Also, minority and marginalised poets’ writers and people of colour. But all poets motivate me because I love poetry. 

Poets and writers who encourage me include: Ellen van Neerven, Oodgeroo Noonuccal, Samuel Wagan Watson, Ali Cobby Eckermann, Natalie Harkin, Anna Jacobson, Alison J Barton, and Rae White. Maxine Beneba Clarke, Joy Harjo, Roger Robinson, and Jay Bernard. Too many to name. 

Jasmin McGaughey: 

I am inspired by anyone who puts words down and gets excited by their work. Young people who I’ve met, young people who ask questions about how to get into the industry and how to share their writing. I’m especially excited by other First Nations writers, poets, and editors. The list feels endless. 

We thank Maria, Steve, Al, Melanie, and Jasmin for their time. We wish them well with their writing in 2024! 

Learn more about guest and presenter Aunty Elaine Kropinyeri and State Significance winner Sarah Holland-Batt. 

Entries to the 2024 Queensland Literary Awards will open early in the new year. Follow us on social media for updates or email the team at qla@slq.qld.gov.au.