Write It Fellowship recipients 2025

Penguin Random House Australia (PRH AU) is thrilled to announce the recipients of Write It 2025, a fellowship created to discover, nurture and develop writers across all genres, with a focus on under-represented communities.

Established in 2018, the Write It Fellowship aims to uncover writing that better reflects the society we live in, engaging new talent with diverse and interesting stories to tell including writers from socio-economically marginalised backgrounds, LGBTQIA+, First Nations, CALD (culturally and linguistically diverse) communities and writers with a disability.

This year, we received an unprecedented number of entries, more than double previous years, underscoring the importance of fellowships that amplify under-represented voices and foster a more inclusive publishing landscape.The 2025 Write It Fellowship recipients are:

• After Dark by Dayle Fogarty: An urban supernatural story following a woman who survives possession and uncovers the monsters haunting regional Australia.
  Dayle Fogarty is based in Newcastle, NSW.
  
  ‘The story I submitted to the Write It Fellowship came from an obscure idea at a time when I needed writing most. Writing cosy horror (with a splattering of humour) has become my happy place, and I’m deeply grateful that the Write It team also saw something in it. I hope to make PRH, loved ones and First Nations communities proud with this amazing opportunity.’
  
  
• The White Heart by Naomi Fogarty: The missing hand of a Lady Murderer sparks a quirky spectral mystery around a young girl.
  Naomi Fogarty is based in regional WA.
  
  '‘Thank you to PRH. I am delighted and honoured to be given the opportunity to be a part of the Write It Fellowship for 2025. I look forward with excitement to learning and working on my creative writing process. The White Heart is a story that mixes cultures and ideas, and I'm grateful that PRH supports the development of these types of stories and writers through this fellowship.’
  
  
• The Fine Art of Borrowing a Faerie by Violet Marr: A folkloric-inspired fantasy that explores new love, grief and the cost of what it means to let go.
  Violet Marr is based in Queensland.
  
  ‘I’m deeply honoured to be selected for the 2025 Write It Fellowship with PRH. I’ve been handed a lantern at the edge of a tangled wood with the chance to be guided deeper into the strange and tender stories I need to tell. My sapphic faerie tale of love, loss and grief has found a nurturing home with PRH and I can’t wait to see what unfurls in the year ahead.’

The three recipients will be mentored by PRH AU editors across twelve months with the hope of publication. Additionally, as part of the fellowship, each of the recipients will receive a $2,000 writing grant and the opportunity to participate in a PRH AU Open House Session to learn about various aspects of the publishing process.

The recipients were selected by the Write It team at PRH AU and Melanie Saward, a proud Bigambul and Wakka Wakka woman, who was awarded the 2021 fellowship and subsequently published her first romantic comedy novel Love Unleashed in 2024.

On the experience, Melanie commented, ‘It’s been a joy to read new stories and connect with so many wonderful authors. I’m so excited to watch these fabulous manuscripts evolve, and see where the Write It Fellowship takes them. These are names to watch.’