Competitions, Awards and Residencies

This program is presented in partnership with Varuna, the National Writers’ House, and the Northern Territory Government through Arts NT.

Nine fellowships are available, with three residency fellowships and six virtual fellowships available. Participants will be selected from the Top End and Central Desert regions and one fellowship place will be reserved for a First Nations writer.

Applications for 2024 closed in September 2023.

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2024 Fellowships

This unique residency supports emerging NT writers to develop a new work through a paid writing retreat.

Applications for 2024/25 will open on 4 March 2024.

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The annual Northern Territory Literary Awards have celebrated the unpublished work of Northern Territory writers for more than 35 years.

Whether established or emerging, all writers from across the Northern Territory are encouraged to enter unpublished work for a chance to win cash prizes, free memberships and masterclasses.

Entries for 2023 closed in May.
Congratulations to the winners announced at the Awards Ceremony on 27 September 2023.

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Started by the NT Writers’ Centre in 2009, and originally called Territory Read, the Chief Minister’s NT Book Awards have celebrated excellence amongst published authors residing in the NT for over a decade.

The awards are held biennially and will take place again in October 2024 to honour books published by NT authors in 2022 and 2023.

Submissions will open in April 2024.