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Letty Katts Fellowship

About the fellowship

The Letty Katts Fellowship is offered biennially (every second year) to support the research and documentation of Queensland’s music history. It gives a musician, composer, scholar or researcher the opportunity to study, experiment and explore new thinking in their art or area of study, leading to the creation of new knowledge or work inspired by Queensland’s music history. It commemorates Queensland songwriter and musician Violet Mellick (stage name Letty Katts).

The recipient receives a stipend of $5,000, along with a personal workspace within the Neil Roberts Research Lounge for a period of 12 months, giving premium access to the extensive collections and expert library staff and advice.

Generously supported through the Queensland Library Foundation endowed fund established by the late Dr Stanton Mellick OAM ED and his daughter, the late Professor Jill Mellick.

2025 Letty Katts Fellow

The 2025 Letty Katts Fellowship was awarded to Dr Carl Anacin for his project, 'Migration, Musical Practices and Belonging among Filipino Migrants in Queensland: Festivals, Music Industry Participation and Everyday Lives'.

Music, arts, and heritage are invaluable cultural resources for both newly-arrived and established migrants, aiding integration into new communities while sustaining connections to home countries and diaspora networks. This project uncovers these cultural resources and practices through historical materials, offering a deeper appreciation of migrants’ role in the cultural and creative fabric of multicultural Australia. Focusing on Filipino migrants in Queensland, I will explore how they have expressed identity and belonging through music and cultural spaces across their migration history.

The project examines how Filipino migrants cultivate and promote a sense of belonging through festivals, performances, and community spaces, tracing the evolution of Filipino creative expression in Queensland. By consolidating existing materials from the State Library and gathering insights from Filipino migrant musicians and pioneers, this study seeks to document the enduring contributions of Filipino communities to Queensland’s cultural landscape.

Blog:

Dr Carl Anacin, 2025 Letty Katts Fellow with Sally Mellick, representing the Mellick family

Dr Carl Anacin, 2025 Letty Katts Fellow with Sally Mellick, representing the Mellick family.

Past Letty Katts Fellowship Fellows

The 2022 Letty Katts Award was awarded to Dr Leah Cotterell for her project Sunday Nights at the Primitif.

Leah’s project centred on a unique State Library collection of photographs, 32929 Peter Hackworth photographs and ephemera, which captured musicians and variety artists performing at The Primitif coffee lounge in the late 1950s. Her research aimed to expand the collection by identifying as many musicians as possible and compiling their biographies through public records and interviews. It also explored the cultural context in which The Primitif operated, deepening understanding of this vibrant period in Queensland’s music history and the venue’s influence on a generation of jazz musicians.

Blogs:

Videos:

Dr Leah Cotterell, 2022 Letty Katts Fellow.

Dr Leah Cotterell, 2022 Letty Katts Fellow.

Research Reveals: Sunday Nights at the Primitif.

2022 Queensland Memory Fellows. A year in review.

The 2020 Letty Katts Award was awarded to Narelle McCoy for her project Musicians Should Be Heard and Not Seen: the life and music of Letty Katts (1919-2007) and her cultural contribution to the Australian music scene. 

Narelle McCoy explored the contribution of Queensland-born composer Letty Katts to the musical landscape of Australia. Compositions such as her popular songs “Never Never” and “A Town Like Alice” offered a distinctly Australian voice in a scene largely dominated by American culture. She was the first Australian to have an original song in the popular music hit parade during the 1950s, yet little was known about her.

This project sought to redress that by researching the Letty Katts archives held by State Library of Queensland and reclaiming Katts’ deserved position as a successful creator of popular music in an era when female composers were rare. Her quote, “Musicians should be heard and not seen,” contradicted her determination and her ability to liaise with the predominantly male decision-makers, including publishers and agents.

Blogs:

Narelle McCoy, 2020 Letty Katts Award

Narelle McCoy, 2020 Letty Katts Fellow. 

Research Reveals: Musicians Should Be Heard and Not Seen: the life and music of Letty Katts (1919-2007).

The 2018 Letty Katts Fellowship was awarded to Professor Peter Roennfeld for his project, Brisbane’s Albert Hall 1901–1968: celebrating memory and heritage of a major performance venue.

The project explored the history and legacy of Brisbane's Albert Hall on its 50th anniversary, highlighting its role as a much-loved venue that hosted countless concerts, theatrical productions, film evenings, eisteddfod competitions, lectures, meetings, conferences, political rallies and thousands of personal memories. 

Blogs:

Professor Peter Roennfeldt, 2018 Letty Katts Fellow

Research Reveals: Brisbane’s Albert Hall 1901–1968: celebrating memory and heritage of a major performance venue.

The 2016 Letty Katts Fellowship was awarded to Dr John Willsteed for his project, Street life: posters and their role in the Brisbane music scene 1975–1995.

The project broadened the scope of music posters in State Library’s collection by documenting their provenance, encouraging new donations via social media and industry networks, and providing context through written interpretation, public presentations and exhibitions.

Blogs:

Exhibition:

Research Reveals: Street Life presented by Dr John Willsteed.

2016 Letty Katts Award recipient, Dr John Willsteed talks about the 2022 Queensland Memory Awards, his research project and what it's like being a State Library fellow.