Writers Program

ALGAEIC INTENT, by carolyn craig. 2025. Photo by: Jessica Maurer

In 2025, Firstdraft is partnering with our friends at un Projects to support two writers to develop and present an experimental text and contribute to a public program outcome.

Firstdraft’s Writers Program fosters experimental and expanded approaches to arts writing, supporting writers at any stage of their career. Selected writers will receive mentorship and editorial support from the un Projects team to develop a text for un Extended, un’s online platform, and on Firstdraft’s website, alongside a publicly presented outcome at Firstdraft’s Woolloomooloo gallery. The opportunity for the writer to present their work as part of a public program allows the writer to consider how writing can move beyond the page.

We encourage writers working across all forms of writing, including but not limited to:

• Experimental and traditional text-based writing

• Spoken word and performance

• Music and sound-based writing

• Poetry and digital literature

Writers must be based in Australia, but there are no restrictions on career stage.

We are encouraging writers to propose works created in response to 1 of the 2 following prompts to coincide with Firstdraft’s 2025 screening program:

1. The unbearable middle: As we navigate a period of deepening wealth and social inequality, the re-emergence of authoritarianism, and a reimagining of feudalism under capitalism, how are class structures impacting our daily lives? We are seeking works that explore the lived realities of class in Australia. We invite perspectives that interrogate the systemic conditions of class stratification and reflect on how class intersects with race, gender, disability, migration, and other structural inequalities. 

2. Doomsday clock set to my circadian rhythm: We are currently living within overlapping systems of collapse, with our everyday being shaped by climate catastrophe, economic instability, political volatility, and social fragmentation. The weight of these crises is not only felt at a structural level but absorbed into the body, reshaping our rhythms, nervous systems, and ways of moving through the world. How do we register disaster in real-time when there is no space for recovery, only the relentless churn of the next unfolding emergency? We are calling for works that examine the human body under constant pressure, exploring how the toll of crisis is something lived, embodied, and endured. 

key dates

callout opens

Monday 5 May 2025 5:00 PM

callout closes

Friday 6 June 2025 11:59 PM

successful applicants receive:

• $700 writers fee;

• $300 speakers fee to deliver an on-site outcome at Firstdraft;

• Access to travel support bursary to attend on-site event at Firstdraft (if the applicant is not based in Sydney)

• Editorial mentorship and support from un Projects;

• Online publication of the developed text across Firstdraft & un Projects digital platforms;

• A public program presentation outcome at Firstdraft in Woolloomooloo in collaboration with Firstdraft and un Projects

how to apply?

Prepare the following materials:

• A proposal (200–500 words or a 4-minute audio file) outlining your writing practice, how you plan to use the program to expand your approach to experimental writing and how you expect to respond to the prompt.

• A one-page CV and links to other support materials, such as personal websites, media articles, work-in-progress pages, or formatted images (compiled as a single PDF).

• Optional: 1–2 examples of previous work.

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