The Blake-Beckett Trust Scholarship

Terms and Conditions

1. The Blake-Beckett Trust (ABN 70 807 885 041) is pleased to offer a grant of funds to an ASA Full member who is an established Australian writer, has already traditionally published a minimum of two books and would benefit from a grant of money to allow the writer unrestricted time to complete a fiction or biography book on which they are currently working (the Scholarship). The winner of the Scholarship will receive AU$35,000 and the runner-up will receive AU$15,000.

2. The Australian Society of Authors (ABN 26 008 558) of Suite C1.06, 22-36 Mountain Street, ULTIMO, NSW (ASA) is assisting the Blake-Beckett Trust by promoting the Scholarship to its members and administering the application process. The ASA does not provide the Scholarship funds, nor is the ASA a trustee of the Scholarship.

Eligibility for Entry

3. The purpose of the Scholarship is to provide an Australian author with time to work on a current fiction or biography manuscript (Manuscript).

4. To be considered for the Scholarship, you must:

(a) be an Australian citizen or permanent resident;

(b) be aged 18 years or over or a New Zealand citizen living in Australia, holding a Special Category Visa (subclass 444);

(c) have published a minimum of two traditionally published books in any genre (for the avoidance of doubt, self/independently published works, and poems, short stories and articles published in anthologies and journals, literary and academic, are not eligible to meet this criteria);

(d) be currently working on a fiction or biography unpublished manuscript, or have the intention to work on a fiction or biography unpublished manuscript should you win the Scholarship; and

(e) be able to outline how you would benefit from this fellowship.

5. Entrants must be current financial FULL members of the ASA.

6. Your Manuscript must be in English.

7. The Scholarship is open to writers of adult fiction in ANY genre, and writers of biography. Works of poetry, memoir, autobiography and children’s writing (including YA) are not eligible for this Scholarship.

8. You will be required to complete an online submission form to apply for the Scholarship. You must provide all details required in the form, including your full name, postal address, email address and telephone number. You will also be asked to provide the following (in 12 point, double-spaced in Word Document format):

(a) no more than 500 words explaining how this grant of money would benefit you;

(b) your author biography, including an overview of your publishing history, of no more than 150 words;

(c) a synopsis of your Manuscript of no more than 250 words; and

(d ) a small sample of your Manuscript of no more than 5 pages.

9. Entrants may submit no more than one entry to the Scholarship each year. Only one manuscript project can be included per entry. 

10. The Assessors, Board members and employees of the ASA and The Blake-Beckett Trust, and their immediate families, are ineligible to apply for this Scholarship. Immediate family means any of the following: spouse, ex-spouse, de-facto spouse, child or step-child (whether by natural or by adoption), parent, step-parent, grandparent, step-grandparent, uncle, aunt, niece, nephew, brother, sister, step-brother, step-sister or first cousin.

The Scholarship

11. The winner of the Scholarship will receive from the Blake-Beckett Trust an amount of AU$35,000, paid in a lump sum, to afford them time to complete their Manuscript.

12. The runner up of the Scholarship will receive from the Blake-Beckett Trust an amount of AU$15,000, paid in a lump sum, to afford them time to complete their Manuscript.

13. Recipients of the Scholarship agree to include the following acknowledgment in any publication of their Manuscript: “This publication has been assisted by the generosity of the Blake-Beckett Trust.”

Key Dates

14. Applications for the Scholarship open at 9am, AEST, on Wednesday 21 August 2024.

15. Applications for the Scholarship close at 5pm, AEST, on Friday 4 October 2024.

16. Late applications will not be eligible for consideration.

17. The winner and runner-up of the Scholarship will be announced on or about 11 December 2024. The recipients’ names will also be published on the ASA’s website, newsletter and social media.

How to enter

18. You must complete and submit the online application form. No paper or email submissions will be accepted.

19. Confirmation of your application will be acknowledged on-screen after submission or by email (if the entrant is logged in to the ASA website when submitting).

Selection Criteria

20. Applications will be assessed by a judging panel comprised of three (3) people, including two assessors appointed by the ASA and Wendy Beckett on behalf of the Blake-Beckett Trust. The judging panel will be announced on the ASA website by October 2024.

21. The judging panel will determine a shortlist of five authors who would most benefit from the Scholarship, having considered the applicant’s need for the Scholarship, writing history, creativity, originality and writing ability, focusing on style, appropriateness of form, skilled use of language, clarity of expression and ideas.

22. From the shortlist, Wendy Beckett will decide the winner and runner-up of the Scholarship.

23. Applicants acknowledge that, in the event the applications fall short of a professional standard in the reasonable opinion of the judging panel, the panel of judges may determine not to award the Scholarship.

24. The judging panel’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into either during or after the assessment process. Feedback will not be provided to applicants.

Disqualification

25. The judging panel, in their absolute discretion, may disqualify any applicant if they reasonably suspect the applicant has acted unlawfully, for example by infringing a third party’s intellectual property rights, or if they determine the applicant is ineligible to apply or has breached these terms and conditions.

Intellectual property

26. Each applicant warrants that:

(a) they have all necessary rights to submit their entry;

(b) their Manuscript is and will be their original creation;

(c) their Manuscript is and will be free from any claims that it infringes any third party rights, including copyright; and

(d) their Manuscript is not already under consideration by a publisher or agent.

Privacy

26. By applying for this Scholarship, you are consenting to the ASA collecting your contact details for the purposes of processing your application and administering the Scholarship. The ASA may disclose your contact details to the judging panel and to the Blake-Beckett Trust. The ASA may use your name and author bio for the purpose of announcing the winner of the Scholarship.

27. Each applicant warrants that they meet the entry requirements, all details included in their entry is true and accurate, and accepts these terms and conditions.

28. To the full extent permitted by the law, the ASA will not be liable for any delay, injury, damages, expenses, or loss whatsoever (whether direct or consequential) to persons or property as a result of any person applying for the Scholarship or accepting the Scholarship, including without limitation non-receipt of the Scholarship or the winner’s failure to comply with the terms and conditions (if any) specified by any third party.

Queries should be directed to Lauren Anderson, Services and Awards Coordinator, on 02 9211 1004 or [email protected].