The Foundation for Australian Literary Studies (FALS) has announced Terri-ann White, Upswell publisher and writer, as the recipient of the third $5000 PF Rowland Manuscript Development Grant offered to support a book project.
Associate Professor Roger Osborne, FALS Executive Director, said the grant is part of the James Cook University-backed foundation's dedication to celebrating Australian writers and writing for 60 years.
"The grant this year is to support the writing of a manuscript to completion," Assoc Prod Osborne said.
"This much-needed financial support will enable Terri-ann to be present with author Stephen Pigram, Yawuru man, legendary musician, historian and storyteller. Terri-ann's role is to support the writing in Pigram's hometown of Broome, to excavate and record Kimberley multicultural history and language through Pigram's extraordinary and lively work.
"It is our pleasure to announce this project, a slight change in delineation for this year's grant: the funding enabling support for the completion of a book by Stephen Pigram in a remote location amongst his key reference materials."
The grant is made possible by the P. F. Rowland Memorial Fund, which has previously partnered with Brio Books in 2021 and 2022 to support the Viva Novella Prize.
FALS also awards the annual Margaret and Colin Roderick Literary Award for the best Australian book of the year in any genre, with the winner receiving $50,000.
The prestigious award is administered by the Foundation for Australian Literary Studies (FALS), based at James Cook University, and is open to any book that deals with some aspect of Australian life that has first been published in Australia. It is coupled with the silver H.T. Priestley Memorial Medal.
First time author Khin Myint won the award in 20205 for his debut novel Fragile Creatures, which tells the story of lost love and grief, both the author's own and that of his sister whose life and death, of tragic complexity, were played out not only within a family, but on social media and television.
