About the residency
The BR Whiting Studio residency is an opportunity for writers to direct their own program of activity and expand their practice and networks. There are 3 residencies on offer of varying duration: 1-month (with $5,000 support), 3-months (with $12,500 support), and 6-months (with $25,000 support).
The Studio is an apartment in the Roman neighbourhood of Trastevere. It was given to Creative Australia by Lorri Whiting, an Australian abstract painter who was embraced by the Italian art scene. She spent many years living in Rome and exhibited in prestigious galleries across Italy, the UK and New York. She established the BR Whiting Studio as a gift to Creative Australia in honour of her late husband, the writer B.R ‘Bertie’ Whiting. The residency was originally established for the benefit of Australian poets and poets are encouraged to apply for the residency.
Due to its location, the apartment can become hot in the summer months. Please take this into consideration when selecting your preferred residency period.
Rome is a city rich in history, culture and religion. There are many opportunities for a writer to connect with bookshops, literary societies, universities, academics and translators. Residents are encouraged to make contacts prior to the commencement of their residency. Several previous residents have organised readings through universities and institutions such as the Keats Shelley House.
Resources to help strengthen your application and maximise your residency experience can be found here.
Information pack: Download PDF.
If you need advice about applying, contact an Artists Services Officer.
Meet the latest recipients
Eunice Andrada
Eunice Andrada
Eunice Andrada is a poet, educator, and librarian. Her debut poetry collection Flood Damages (Giramondo Publishing, 2018) won the Anne Elder Award and was a finalist for the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Poetry and the Dame Mary Gilmore Award. Her second poetry collection TAKE CARE (Giramondo Publishing, 2021) has gained many honours as a finalist for the Judith Wright Calanthe Award, Stella Prize, Australian Literature Society Gold Medal, and two NSW Premier’s Literary Awards. Eunice has performed her poetry on diverse international stages, including the UN Climate Conference in Paris and the Sydney Opera House.
euniceandrada.com
Louris van de Geer
Louris van de Geer
Louris van de Geer is a writer working across theatre, live performance, and screen. She has been described as a “distinctive new voice” and her work as a “brilliant…study of human existence” by The Age. Her work has been shortlisted for the 2015 and 2016 Rodney Seaborn Award, the 2015 Griffin Award and the 2014 Edward Albee Scholarship. In 2019, she received a Bundanon Fellowship. She was selected for the Australia Council JUMP Mentorship Program and Malthouse Theatre’s Besen Family Artist Program. Louris was named as one of Melbourne Writers Festival’s ‘30 Under 30’ best young writers in Melbourne. Louris was one of Melbourne Theatre Company’s inaugural Next Stage Commissions, where she adapted the Australian literary classic The Well by Elizabeth Jolley for the stage. More recently, Louris has been commissioned by Malthouse Theatre and English Touring Theatre. She has several screen projects in development.
Bella Li
Bella Li
Bella Li is the author of three hybrid books of poetry and visual art – Argosy (2017), Lost Lake (2018), and Theory of Colours (2021), published with Vagabond Press. Her work has won the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Poetry, the NSW Premier’s Literary Award for Poetry, and the Australian Book Designers’ Association Award for Best Designed Independent Book; and has been shortlisted or commended in the Judith Wright Calanthe Award, the Anne Elder Award, and the Wesley Michel Wright Prize. Her writing and artwork have been published widely, and have featured in exhibitions, catalogues, and public programs at the National Gallery of Victoria, Buxton Contemporary, and Heide Museum of Modern Art. In addition to her own practice, she has made work in collaboration with composers, visual artists, and other writers. She holds a PhD from the University of Melbourne and is a book editor and publisher.
Gretchen Shirm
Gretchen Shirm
Gretchen Shirm is the author of a collection of short stories Having Cried Wolf, for which she was named a 2011 Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Australian Novelist. Her first novel Where the Light Falls, was shortlisted for the 2017 Christina Stead Prize for Fiction in the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards. Her short stories have been published in Best Australian Stories, Kill Your Darlings, the Griffith Review, Meanjin, Overland, Review of Australian Fiction and Southerly. Her criticism has been published widely, including in The Saturday Paper, Sydney Review of Books, Australian Book Review, The Australian, The Monthly, Art Monthly, The Sydney Morning Herald, and The Age. The Crying Room will be published by Transit Lounge in 2023.
Who can apply
- Only individuals may apply to this category.
- You must be a practicing artist or arts worker and an Australian citizen or an Australian permanent resident.
Who cannot apply
You cannot apply if:
- You received a grant, or administered a grant, from Creative Australia in the past and that grant has not been satisfactorily acquitted
- You owe money to Creative Australia
- We will not accept applications from legally constituted organisations.
We will consider applications according to the assessment criteria and will seek recommendations by industry advisors as needed. Successful applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application by mid February 2024.
Applicants must address the following assessment criteria:
- Artistic merit
- suitability of your practice to the residency program and its artistic environment/offer
- quality of work previously produced, and public and peer response to your work
- Viability
- suitability of your proposal to the residency program
- the skills and artistic ability of your collaborators (if applicable) and their relevance to the proposed activity
- realistic and achievable planning, resource use and evaluation.
- Impact on career
- how the proposed activity strengthens your artistic practice
- the relevance and timeliness of the proposed activity
- how the proposed activity strengthens your capacity as an arts professional, particularly in relation to international development and collaboration.
You should submit support material with your application. Assessors may review this support material to help them gain a better sense of your project.
What you should provide
We do not accept application-related support material submitted via post. Application-related material received by post will not be assessed and will be returned to the sender. If you think you will have difficulty submitting your support material online, or need advice on what type of material to submit, please contact Ellen Dwyer, International Engagement Adviser, Europe on +61 2 9215 9051 or ellen.dwyer@creative.gov.au.
There are three types of support material you may submit:
1. Artistic support material
This should include relevant, recent examples of your artistic or cultural work.
Types of support material we accept
Our preferred method of receiving support material is via URLs (weblinks).
You can provide up to three URLs (weblinks) that link to content that is relevant to your proposal. This may include video, audio, images, or written material.
These URLs can include a total of:
- 10 minutes of video and/or audio recording
- 10 images
- 10 pages of written material (for example, excerpts of literary writing).
Please note: Our assessors will not access any URLs that require them to log in or sign up to a platform. Please do not provide links to Spotify or other applications that require users to log in or pay for access.
If you are linking to media files that are private or password protected like Vimeo, please provide the password in the password field on the application form.
Other accepted file formats
If you cannot supply support material via URLs, you may upload support material to your application in the following formats:
- video (MP4, QuickTime, and Windows Media)
- audio (MP3 and Windows Media)
- images (JPEG and PowerPoint)
- written material (Word and PDF).
2. Biographies and CVs
You can include a brief bio or curriculum vitae (CV) for key artists, personnel or other collaborators involved in your project.
Brief bios or CV information should be presented as a single document no longer than two A4 pages in total.
3. Letters of support
Individuals, groups, or organisations can write letters in support of your project. A support letter should explain how the project or activity will benefit you, other artists or arts professionals, participants, or the broader community. It can also detail the support or involvement of key project partners, or evidence of consultation.
If relevant to your activity, letters of support must provide evidence of appropriate permissions and support from First Nations organisations, communities, and Elders. Please refer to the First Nations Protocols for more information.
You can include up to five letters of support, with each letter not exceeding one A4 page.
The apartment is in a security building within walking distance from Roma Trastevere train station, and close to the River Tiber. A short distance away is the old district of Trastevere, which alongside its historic significance, boasts some of the best pizzerias and bars in Rome.
The apartment consists of a spacious multi-purpose room, a bedroom, bathroom, and library annexe. It contains a collection of more than 2,000 books that previous residents have added to over the years. A door from the main room leads onto a leafy terrace that overlooks the rooftops of Rome and its surrounding hills. The main room contains the kitchen and dining area, a desk, sofa, sofa bed, storage cupboard (containing vacuum cleaner, ironing board etc.), coffee table, electric heater and wood stove. There is also a printer and a television. The bedroom contains a clothes cupboard and a double bed. Bed linen, towels and blankets are supplied. There is a washing machine in the bathroom, a telephone and ADSL internet connection. Residents are responsible for cleaning the apartment and for purchasing cleaning materials.
The BR Whiting studio is not wheelchair accessible and has limited flexibility regarding physical access needs. A guide dog, and/or a carer could accompany the artist for the residency, as the living quarters can accommodate two people.
While the studio would accommodate a couple and a small child over five, it is not recommended for families. There are no parks or facilities in the area and the apartment is quite old.
Your application must comply with the following Protocols. We may contact you to request further information during the assessment process, or if successful, as a condition of your funding.
Protocols for using First Nations Cultural and Intellectual Property in the Arts
All applications involving First Nations artists, communities or subject matter must adhere to these Protocols, provide evidence of this in their application and support material. More information on the First Nations Protocols is available here.
Commonwealth Child Safe Framework
All successful applicants are required to comply with all Australian law relating to employing or engaging people who work or volunteer with children, including working with children checks and mandatory reporting. Successful organisations who provide services directly to children, or whose funded activities involve contact with children, will additionally be required to implement the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations.
2020-2021
- Lisa Gorton
- Fiona McGregor
- Robert Lukins
- Sandra Thibodeaux
2019-2020
- Gabriella Coslovich
- Stuart Cooke
2018-2019
- Fiona McFarlane
- Emily Bitto
2017-2018
- Kristel Thornell
- Josephine Rowe
Frequently Asked Questions
Unless stated otherwise in the program description, all residencies are offered for fixed dates and periods of time.
Yes, but this will be at your own cost and we will not be able to provide additional funds towards the extension.
No. You are not required to provide a budget with your application.
It is not essential, but you may want to consider using the ‘Activity Details’ section in the application form to outline the key stages of your proposed residency.
Yes. If successful, you are required to take out travel insurance for the duration of your residency. It is recommended you pay for this from your grant.
The capacity to accommodate children and partners varies for different residencies. Please check the program descriptions for specific requirements. Please note that the programs are limited to the participating artist only and have various limitations e.g. communal living and/or working space or modest living quarters.
Yes, the grant to an individual that accompanies a residency is considered income and taxable. Please visit the Australian Taxation Office website for more information.
The International Residencies Program is dynamic and responsive and the programs on offer may vary from year to year.
Yes. If you are looking for some tips on organising your residency or programs in the region you’re interested in, check out the Tips and Links resources on our International Engagement web page.
There is no limit to the number of international residencies applications you can submit. However, you will need to consider how the assessors will perceive your commitment to a particular residency program and/or market if you have applied for multiple residencies. Each residency requires you to submit a separate application form. Please note, applications to International Engagement funding opportunities do not count as an application to the Creative Australia Grants Program.
Yes, as long as you have satisfactorily acquitted the previous residency grant.
The grant is not intended to cover lost income or rent at home and applicants will need to consider their capacity to undertake the residency prior to applying.
We partner with established and reputable residency providers and each program is unique. Successful applicants will be provided with detailed information about each residency and introductions to the residency providers who will assist artists with making local connections. Our staff are able to provide further advice and contacts, as requested. Artists are also expected to have their own resources, contacts and project plans for the residency.
The grant is a contribution from Creative Australia toward your travel (including airfares and travel insurance) and living costs during the residency period. Applicants are expected to research the cost of living in the residency location they are travelling to. You may need to supplement the grant with your own funds depending on your projected costs for the residency period.
We cannot provide any advice on visa or immigration matters. You must contact the relevant country’s visa service to get current information. We suggest you allow plenty of time to apply for all international visas.