Eastern Riverina Writers Grant Guidelines

Eastern Riverina Arts is excited to announce a one-off Eastern Riverina Writers Grant designed to strengthen the skills, networks, and professional capacity of regional writers and support bold projects by local writing groups and collectives. This grant program will support writers take their practice to the next level in 2026 and contribute to a vibrant regional writing culture.

Objectives

The Eastern Riverina Writers Grant aims to:

Develop the skills and capabilities of writers in the region.
Strengthen networks and collaboration among local writers and writing organisations.
Support ambitious and original creative outcomes.
Increase regional access to writing opportunities, mentorship, and professional development.

Grant amount:

The Eastern Riverina Writers Grant will offer two streams:

Individuals – up to $750 per applicant for professional development. Eligible activities may include:

Attendance at national writing festivals,
One-on-one coaching or mentorship,
Engaging professional editing services,
Participation in specialist training, workshops and masterclasses,
Other activities that support skill development, professional growth, or creative practice

Projects / Collaborations – up to $3,000 per project for groups, collectives, or incorporated entities. Eligible projects may include:

Collaborative writing and publication projects: e.g. development of new anthologies, zines, digital storytelling, collecting oral histories, field research or writing residencies that produce shared creative outcomes
Capability-building activities for cohorts of writers: e.g. group mentorship programs, workshops, or professional development initiatives
Performance and public engagement: e.g. writers’ talks, readings, podcast series, scriptwriting and performance collaborations, or regional touring events

Eligibility:

Applicants must reside within one of the Local Government Areas supported by Eastern Riverina Arts
Proposed creative activity must substantially take place within the Eastern Riverina Arts region, or in the case of professional development, it must support an outcome that will take place in our region.
Individuals must have an ABN
Groups must be incorporated, auspiced, a 355 Commmittee or volunteer-run facility of local government.

There are a few things we don’t fund, and these include:

Prize money or gifts
Expenses which are already covered by an organisation's core/existing funding (eg. existing worker salaries), or that comprise the base running costs of an organisation (eg. paying for insurances, admin staff, office costs etc.)
Illegal activities, or activities that would contravene community expectations in relation to hate speech, defamation etc.
Pure printing costs

Funding Round Priorities

Eastern Riverina Arts will instruct its grant assessment panel to give consideration to the following values when assessing the applications it receives:

Our commitment to distribution funding and support across the breadth of our service region.
Utilising the Eastern Riverina Writers Grant as an opportunity to develop the capability of writers and/or writing organisations.
Supporting the development of ambitious and original creative outputs, projects and collaborations

Important Dates:

Applications open: Monday 15th December 2025 at 9:00am

Applications close: Monday 2nd February 2026 at 9:00am

Projects commence: 1st April 2026

Projects finalised and acquittals due: 28th February 2027

Funding Pool:

$13,500

Info Sessions

Information about the Eastern Riverina Writers Grant will be covered during the upcoming CASP Info Sessions over December and January. Find an info session near you and register here.

How to apply:

Applications opening soon.

If you have any questions regarding your application, request an appointment to discuss your project or contact Eastern Riverina Arts.

Applications to the Eastern Riverina Writers Grants will be assessed based on their ability to address the funding objectives and eligibility criteria outlined on this page.