Award-winning South Australian author Dr Cath Kenneally has been named as the inaugural Copyright Agency (CAL) J.M. Coetzee Writing Fellow at the University of Adelaide.
Announced last night at the University, the fellowship – the first of three $30,000 fellowships funded by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund – will see Dr Kenneally become a writer-in-residence for six months, based at the University’s J.M. Coetzee Centre for Creative Practice. During that time, Dr Kenneally will work on a new novel as well as giving masterclasses to students in the Department of English and Creative Writing.
Dr Kenneally is an accomplished author, with two published novels (Room Temperature and Jetty Road) and six books of poetry, among other publications.
She is a regularly published reviewer of books and visual arts in The Weekend Australian, Australian Book Review, and the Adelaide Review, and since 1990 has been a producer and presenter of flagship arts programs on Radio Adelaide, such as Arts Breakfast and Writers Radio. Her awards include the Barbara Hanrahan Fellowship and the John Bray National Poetry Award.
Dr Kenneally is also a graduate of the University of Adelaide, with both a Masters and a PhD in Creative Writing.
“Receiving this fellowship has come just at the right time in my writing career,” Dr Kenneally says. “It’s a vote of confidence from my peers, and it’s both exciting and motivating to know that I’ve been given this opportunity to focus on my new novel.
“I’m looking forward to being back on campus at the University of Adelaide, this time as an academic and writer-in-residence. In particular, I’m extremely pleased to be joining the J.M. Coetzee Centre for Creative Practice during my fellowship,” she says.
Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund Manager, Zoë Rodriguez, says the residency is aimed at giving South Australian writers time to develop a creative work while participating in the rich environment offered by the J.M. Coetzee Centre.
“We are excited to be able to provide this fellowship to assist mid-career writers in South Australia, helping to keep their creative momentum going at a critical stage in their writing careers. There is so much assistance already for new writers to establish themselves, but being able to support mid-career writers is also incredibly important,” Ms Rodriguez says.
“We congratulate Cath Kenneally on becoming the first CAL J.M. Coetzee Writing Fellow, and we look forward to seeing the results of her work at the end of the residency,” she says.
Dr Kenneally’s fellowship will start immediately.
