Aboriginal Writer's Fellowship
The Aboriginal Writer’s Fellowship is open to all unpublished and published Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers living in Tasmania.
Winner
Nunami Sculthorpe-Green
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Judges’ comments
The 2025 Tasmanian Premier’s Literary Awards Aboriginal Writer’s Fellowship entries share beautifully crafted Aboriginal storytelling with deep cultural effect and talent. Writers adeptly transformed age old oral tradition narrative into written form able to take the reader on diverse journeys of family, Country and personal insights and sharing. Entries were high quality and varied in style and messages, but all spoke with Aboriginal sovereign strength and purpose. Writers brought unique contributions and outlooks, all which we enjoyed and value. The entries and our decision for the winning entry are a celebration of the wonderful talent of Aboriginal writers here in Lutruwita.
Nunami Sculthorpe-Green demonstrates outstanding merit and significant potential as a storyteller and writer. This award acknowledges her existing achievements and is intended to provide the impetus for her to strive towards further realisation of her substantial talent. In her published piece ‘It’s not George that we follow’ inUninnocent Landscapes, Nunami draws her personal life, family and ancestors into a historical context in an immersive and compelling way. She critically engages with the narrative power of colonial history and writes her way into challenging this - through a project of shifting the power to not only Aboriginal voices, but to Country itself. Her critique of Ian Terry is confident and gentle. Nunami demonstrates courage and ambition in her writing. Her poetry flows in similar vein. It is unforced, a natural lyrical voice that allows space for the issues she confronts to be exposed and challenged. Nunami’s poems tell of strong Blak sovereign reclamation and personal stories that are embedded in Country with deep philosophical grounding. The decision to award this prestigious award to Nunami was unanimous.
The shortlisted entries all demonstrated substantial literary merit across a range of existing experience and potential. Renowned for his contemporary short fiction nationally award winning pakana writer Adam Thompson is an accomplished author. His creative, political and defiant poetry calls out colonising injustice. Likewise, Adam’s short story work takes the reader on journeys to special places and events that hold profound memories and alternative realities of family and Country. Aboriginal life here on Lutruwita has been lovingly shared widely by the highly regarded writer Jillian Mundy. Her work tells the stories of our families and important events, that Jillian so beautifully narrates with care and power. The emerging voice and writing of Brooke Robinson communicate delicate introspection of self with raw honesty and hope. Her ability to draw close personal reflections through unstructured prose while addressing identity issues with personal effect is moving.
The authors are highly skilled story tellers, who have shared themes of sovereign strength, love and connections to Country, family and ancestors, and calling out of ongoing and historical colonisation. The strength of the entries showcases the quality and value of literary talent amongst Aboriginal people in Lutruwita. We celebrate and honour the authors, and we congratulate them for their exceptional work and talent.
Shortlist
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Judges’ comments
The entries received to the Aboriginal Writer’s Fellowship 2025 were of a high quality and were reflective of the skill and ambition of the many growing number of active Aboriginal writers living and working across lutruwita/Tasmania.
Entries came from both published and unpublished writers, and included works in a variety of forms such as short stories, factual essays, poems and extracts from larger works.
The subject matter of these works was also diverse, ranging from odes to Country, to personal stories and cultural explorations.
In their determinations, the judges noted that regardless of form or subject, all shortlisted entries were highly worthy and had demonstrated a high level of literary merit in employing these diverse modes of writing to the task of cultural expression.
The judges congratulated all shortlisted writers, noting that each should be proud of their ability and the important contributions that they have made, and will continue to make, to the broader Tasmanian literary sector.
They observed that determining a single winner would be a difficult process as it was clear that each entrant would greatly benefit from the opportunities that this Fellowship would provide.
Adam Thompson
Adam is a fiction author and screenwriter/producer from Launceston. He is co-director of the first Palawa screen production company, Kutikina Productions.
Jillian Mundy
For almost two decades, Palawa woman Jillian Mundy has been taking stories of her people and other First Nations people to the world through the Koori Mail, the national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander newspaper – and, on occasion, through other publications and in other mediums. Born and raised in Nipaluna/Hobart, Jillian is an award-winning photographer, writer, emerging filmmaker and sometimes artist. She hopes her work has a positive influence, whether playing a part in righting a wrong, educating, inspiring, making someone’s heart swell with pride or simply brightening their day.
Brooke Robinson
Brooke would like to surf, write and create art every day, but instead she works in education, homeschools her son and looks after a menagerie of animals on her coastal bush property. As a Pakana woman she is very passionate about caring for Country and her Culture. During the last few years, Brooke completed a mentorship grant with Arts Tasmania and also received a scholarship from Magabala Books. Although not yet a published author, these opportunities and guidance from mentors have allowed her to find expression in writing that she is excited about developing more professionally, along with her interest in visual arts.
Nunami Sculthorpe-Green
Nunami Sculthorpe-Green is a Palawa and Warlpiri woman, based in Nipaluna, with cultural and familial ties to North-East Lutruwita and the Tanami Desert. As a storyteller, Nunami focuses on Tasmanian Aboriginal culture and history through writing and visual art, and through her business, Blak Led Tours Tasmania. Grounded in connection to community, her work often looks at the layered stories of place and centres the culturally based expression of these stories.