James McCauley Creative Fellowship

The College of Arts, Law and Education at the University of Tasmania invites applications for the 2022 James McAuley Creative Fellowship. The fourth Professor of English at the University and the first born in Australia, McAuley was appointed to the Chair of English in 1961 and remained Head of English until his death in October 1976.

In his poem “In the Huon Valley,” McAuley declares, “Life is full of returns;/It isn't true that one never/Profits, never learns.” Launched in 1977, the James McAuley Memorial Fund was created with funding from private, public, and corporate donors to honour and perpetuate the memory of McAuley’s contributions to scholarship and teaching in the arts, and to the wider life of the University. The Fund has been inactive since the 1990s. The James McAuley Creative Fellowship marks the return and redesign of the fund to bring established writers and artists to the University to deepen engagement with the arts for and from the University of Tasmania.

The annual theme of the James McAuley Creative Fellowship will be announced each year with the call for applications. Fittingly, the focus of the 2022 Fellowship is on poetry [or creative writing], with applications invited from established Australian poets [or writers in any genre].

Applicants are to apply via xx@XXXXXXXX  and are to submit a covering letter outlining:

i)          How you would contribute through the McCauley Fellowship to University students in XXX (writing, art) and to the wider creative community in Tasmania

ii)         Topic for the public lecture/event  (up to 100 words)

iii)        The importance of the Fellowship at this stage of your career

Assessment Criteria

Eligible applications will be assessed using the following criteria:

• The creative and innovative excellence of your project and its outcomes
• The relevance of the project to your professional development
• Your project’s potential to invigorate Tasmanian arts locally, nationally or internationally
• The level of support from your nominated referees