Inspiration awaits in State Library Victoria’s 2025 Fellowships Program

A world of extraordinary discoveries awaits writers, creatives and scholars, as State Library Victoria today launches the 2025 Fellowships Program. 

Fourteen fellowships worth $195,000 are on offer in 2025, making the Library’s Fellowships Program one of the most substantial in Australia. Artists, performers, writers, musicians and academics are invited to repurpose, transform or imaginatively respond to the treasures of the State Collection and bring new perspectives on Victorian life and history.  

Library fellows receive funding, a dedicated office in the magnificent dome and access to a specialist librarian to navigate the State Collection. Fellowships are for everyone – no particular experience or credentials are required – and the Library encourages people from all of Victoria’s diverse communities to apply. 

Running since 2003, the program has supported more than 300 fellows with most producing career-defining work. 

2017 Creative Fellow Dr Lucy Sussex uncovered the remarkable true story of Australia’s first female crime writer, Mary Fortune, and turned her fellowship into a book, Outrageous Fortunes, a biography coauthored with Megan Brown and published this month. 

‘The Library fellowship was invaluable in allowing me to dig deep into the research and piece together Mary Fortune’s fascinating life from hidden gems in the collection. I’m delighted to now be able to share Fortune's stranger-than-fiction story with all readers’, said Lucy. 

Other recent successful projects include research into coastal communities’ geological and cultural histories regarding rising sea levels; research for a literary novel about women transported as convicts to British Colonial Australia; and plans to reenact a séance at the Library, evoking the Victorian-era obsession with the afterlife. 

State Library Victoria CEO Paul Duldig said, ‘The Fellowships Program has enabled Victorians to produce an incredible variety of books, performances, essays and artworks all inspired by the State Collection. With the support of our specialist librarians, our fellows have brought the collection to life in imaginative ways and enriched our understanding of who we are, where we’ve been and where we’re going.’ 

Minister for Creative Industries Colin Brooks said, ‘State Library Victoria’s incredible collection belongs to all Victorians and the Fellowships Program is an opportunity to use this extraordinary treasure trove to fuel groundbreaking research and creative projects. This is a significant opportunity for people working across all fields – from science to sociology, art to agriculture and everything in between – to work with, and at, State Library Victoria. I look forward seeing what new discoveries will be made.’ 

The 2025 Fellowships Program comprises: 

• 2 x Creative Fellowships ($15,000 each)  
• 2 x Climate Futures Artist Fellowships ($15,000 each)   
• 1 x Children’s Storytelling and Literature Fellowship ($15,000)  
• 1 x Amor Residency at Baldessin Studio ($5,000 cash and $5,000 in kind)  
• 1 x Tate Adams Memorial Residency at Baldessin Studio ($5,000 cash and $5,000 in kind)  
• 1 x John Emmerson Research Fellowship ($15,000)   
• 1 x Georges Mora Fellowship ($10,000)  
• 1 x Kerri Hall Fellowship for Performing Arts ($15,000)  
• 1 x Redmond Barry Fellowship ($15,000) 
• 2 x Marion Orme Page Regional Creative Fellowships ($15,000 each) 
• 1 x Berry Family Fellowship ($15,000) 

Applications for the 2025 Fellowships Program are open from 4 February until 5pm AEDT, Friday 21 March. 

To find out more, and to apply, please visit slv.vic.gov.au/fellowships.