Are you a senior Australian editor wishing to develop knowledge and expertise through a research project, and share your findings with peers and the industry? Apply to the 2023 Beatrice Davis Editorial Fellowship (BDEF) today. This fellowship is only offered every two years and applications close on 15 November.
Previous recipients have undertaken research on several highly topical areas, such as diversity within Australian publishing, a comparison between the role and career development of editors in Australia and the United States, the performance of young adult fiction in different markets, and emerging digital book formats.
This year, a few suggested areas of examination include:
- Sustainability and supply chain – How are other territories coping with logistical problems posed by printing, delivery and distribution, post-COVID and the war in Ukraine?
- The ethics of being an editor – Who gets to be an editor? Who gets to be edited? How much editing is too much or not enough?
- Changing business models – Can the impact of an edit be quantified (in terms of the reading experience or sales outcomes)?
- Editing First Nations authors – Examine how First Nations authors are being edited in Canada/the United States.
- Editors working with chronic illness/disability – There has been a lot of discussion about long COVID on the future of the workforce. Do we need to re-look at our processes to be more inclusive?
The Fellowship is named after the distinguished literary editor, Beatrice Davis, and honours her contribution to Australian publishing. The Fellowship has been awarded biennially since 1998.
The BDEF involves the Fellow undertaking interviews and other research activity in an overseas market. A research report is then produced and promoted through workshops and presentations, sharing this knowledge and sparking conversation across the industry.
Key dates
- Closing date for applications: Tuesday 15 November 2022
- Interview dates: Tuesday 29 November to Friday 2 December 2022 Announcement of the winner is planned for Tuesday 13 December 2022.
- Deadline for completion of travel: End of September 2023. It is a condition of the Fellowship that a report should be completed by the end of November 2023 and that an acquittal of grant funds should be submitted by 30 December 2023.
The application process is listed in the Guidelines and How to Apply document. Download and prepare your application according to the guidelines and submit your application through the online form.
Ensure your application meets the selection criteria and apply prior to the deadline of 15 November 2022.