If you’re an emerging writer ready to take the leap into long-form fiction, the Copyright Agency Frank Moorhouse Fellowship for Young Writers could be the opportunity that changes everything. Designed to support early-career Australian writers, this fellowship offers a $10,000 grant to help one writer aged 18-35 develop a new work of fiction – providing the time, financial support and confidence to focus on a major creative project.
From the Copyright Agency website:
The Copyright Agency Frank Moorhouse Fellowship for Young Writers will support a writer aged 18-35 years to develop and write a new work of fiction.
Named in honour of the late Frank Moorhouse, the Fellowship will provide a genuine career development opportunity for a young fiction writer who has not yet published a full-length work of fiction.
Applicants must have previously published some short stories/work in literary magazines, journals or a curated/edited online site. Writers who have published a full-length work of any length, in fiction or any genre, are not eligible to apply for this Fellowship.
The Fellowship is essentially a living allowance to create a new work of fiction. It may also be used for mentoring costs; however, support for editorial costs before submitting the manuscript to a publisher/literary agent is not a priority for this Fellowship as publishers will usually edit the work once accepted for publication.
The Fellowship does not support the writing of young adult fiction, children’s fiction, including picture books, and graphic novels, or the creation of work for an academic or scholarly purpose and readership.
Your application
One Fellowship will be awarded each year. As the Fellowship is intended to support one writer, joint applications are not eligible.
Projects may start after October 2026 and should be completed by October 2027.
Amount of grant: $10,000
Who can apply
This Fellowship is open to writers aged 18-35 years by the application closing date.
To be eligible to apply for this Fellowship, applicants must:
- Have published short stories or some work in literary magazines, journals, anthologies or curated/edited online sites.
- Not have previously published full-length works, including novellas, chapbooks, or self-published work.
- Be Australian citizens or permanent residents.
- Acquit any overdue Cultural Fund grants.
Important dates
- Opens: Monday 23 March 2026
- Closes: 1pm AEST 22 June 2026
- Entrants notified: End of September 2026
Find out more and apply at the Copyright Agency website.
