Years ago, I started up a collective of writers with the aim of doing some interesting projects/stunts that would make a useful impact on Australian literature. We cheekily called ourselves “Saving Literature”.
We hatched plans re: various initiatives such as developing new forms of literary distribution. Something I especially wanted to do was to have an online repository of successful arts funding applications. I think people should have access to this stuff – it’s an easy way to share knowledge about writing arts funding applications.
So here are two of my own successful arts funding applications:
- A New Work application to the Literature Board of the Australia Council for a much earlier incarnation of my current short fiction collection: I wrote this application in 2001. What I’ve included here is the section where one has to discuss their project (the main part of the application – the rest was stuff like including a list of publications, etc.). This section had to be a maximum of 2 pages. These days I’d probably be inclined to leave out the slightly more academic footnotes. My collection has also changed a great deal since I wrote this application (as have my thoughts about identity). But it’s still a handy funding application. Download it here (PDF; 64 KB).
- An application to the 2 XCITE U program of the Australia Council to tour the show Hello Kitty to the Sydney Writers’ Festival: 2 XCITE U was a one-off program run by the Theatre Board to support multicultural performance by young artists. I wrote this application in 2002. Download it here (PDF; 160 KB). (Note: You can learn more about Hello Kitty at this page on an earlier version of my website.)
I hope you find these applications useful. Feel free to contact me if you have any feedback about your experiences with using these applications.
P.S. Saving Literature didn’t end up lasting that long. But I still have fond memories of the interesting ideas we had for projects/stunts. Actually, in 2001, a few of us went to the awards ceremony for the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards. Wearing customised badges, we mingled with the publishers and other literary bigwigs. Each badge had the wearer’s name on it. I got the badges specially made up so that each one looked like this:
Some of the Saving Literature members were also interested in streaking at the Melbourne Writers’ Festival. That idea was never acted upon – although I later did a different prank on the Melbourne Writers’ Festival.