What We Offer
Our Vision
Our vision is that Australian creators of children’s literature are valued for their role in the preservation and shaping of our culture.
Our Mission
Our mission is to support the creativity and careers of contemporary Australian children’s authors and illustrators by providing Creative Time Residential Fellowships (CTR fellowships).
What We Offer
- Environments and opportunities for Australian children’s authors and illustrators to concentrate on their creative work; to research, think, experiment, write and re-write and achieve the highest standard of excellence
- Encouragement for Australian children’s authors and illustrators to share and develop ideas with co-creators, including young writers and illustrators
What Children's Authors and Illustrators Say
"I have been renewed and replenished as a writer. It is such important work you do here and I am so grateful to have been a recipient of your kindness. I honour your vision." Terry Whitebeach, Adelaide, 2014
"Being able to reflect, rest and think in a quiet, uninterrupted and comfortable space certainly benefited my writing. The solitude, space and time opened my mind, both conscious and sub-conscious, and allowed new thoughts, ideas and vivid dreams to enter." Angela Sunde, Adelaide, 2013
“It felt so free to be fully immersed in my work. I found that random thoughts and funny lines came more freely than before… I found myself having a productive evening too. BONUS writing time. So it felt like 2 days for 1!” Oliver Phommavanh, Adelaide 2013
“I feel like I’ve been given the gift of time to do all the writing-related things that I haven’t had time for lately.” Corinne Fenton, Brisbane, 2011
"I found that my interaction with people from the Canberra CBC... provided me with valuable networking opportunities and an opportunity to expand my professional contact base." Bernadette Kelly, Canberra August 2010
"I thought that if I could get the main part of the research done during my residency and the plot outline for the books, I'd be well ahead. If things were going really well I thought I might get the first 30 or so pages written. I never dreamed that I'd achieve so much more. Not only did I complete the 56,000 word first draft of book one, but I also had so much time to read, meet with other authors and just enjoy being a writer." Dee White, Brisbane April 2010
"For me, the most valuable aspect was simply to have time to write - to focus on developing the pulse and heart of my manuscripts and to listen to my inner storyteller - to sometimes be still and to sometimes write until the early hours of the morning." Dianne Wolfer, Canberra August 2009
"The gift of time is what this has meant to me more than anything else, and I have achieved in three weeks an amount of work that would I believe have taken me months in the "real" world. It has been invaluable. As well it has helped me as a vote of confidence. Confidence is a difficult thing for me to maintain through the duration of a project, and I was able to remind myself, when it waned, that I had been awarded this fellowship for a reason, that others beside myself see some value in what I am attempting to achieve." Sally Heinrich, Brisbane, November 2008
"This has been a truly amazing opportunity, one I will never forget. A chance to know yourself a little better is something we can all do with." Corinne Fenton, Adelaide, June 2008
"I've worked on four stories while I've been here and so enjoyed the luxury of being able to keep writing way into the night, or get up really early and launch a new attack." Krista Bell, Adelaide, May 2008
"I have had a wonderfully productive stay at the Rothbury Roost almost completing the fourth draft of my YA novel, Little Paradise. I worked solidly for three weeks, what a luxury that was too, without interruption from children, pets, family etc. But I also took wonderful walks through the city and to the wide Brisbane River along the boardwalk where I sat and wrote new chapters or just simply enjoyed watching the passing parade of boats, cyclists, joggers and tourists." Gabrielle Wang, Brisbane, April 2008
"But the best thing has been time. To work, to think, to walk, to draw and see the ideas go charging off so fast I could barely keep up. This is a gorgeous place!"
Elise Hurst, Adelaide, April 2008
"The great part about the whole MGCLT set up is that you can be a hermit but you can also enjoy some wonderful company." John Heffernan, Adelaide, March 2008
"My Melbourne Fellowship proved to be most productive and the writing that was achieved over the month was certainly not something that would have happened easily if I had not had the time and space to collect thoughts, play with ideas and know that it was okay to spend a whole day just concocting scenarios." Ian Trevaskis, Melbourne, March 2008
"My adventure novel certainly has progresses dramatically. Having the time away from commitments and interruptions rekindled my enthusiasm for it and my confidence that it can actually work - a wonderful thing to have!'"
Michael Bauer, Adelaide, September 2007
"It was a unique window of time for me alone, for me the writer, to think, to dream, to celebrate my writing life." Lorraine Marwood, Adelaide, August 2007
"I learned what is possible in an environment like 'the Burrow' - so much more than can be planned or predicted." Claire Saxby, Adelaide, July 2007
"Last month I was honoured to be offered part of a Creative Time Residential Fellowship in the newly acquired May Gibbs Canberra Studio. To be given time to write, create and research at whatever hour of the day I felt like was the most amazing experience. To wake at 5 am and begin work without worrying about disturbing the rest of the household was sheer bliss and the same applied at the other end of the day. If I felt like working till midnight there was nothing to stop me.
"The studio itself has a large living room with kitchenette, a big bedroom and huge bathroom complete with spa bath which was another special treat. I felt very spoilt. The joy at being able to spread my creative mess about the room was something I continued to revel in every single day I was there... and piles of paperwork could just 'blob' without ever having to be moved to another place or shoved into a cupboard or drawer somewhere because someone was dropping in! There is a great computer desk in the main room where my lap top sat happily, except for the times when I carted it off to places like the Botanical Gardens, the courtyard at the National Film and Sound Archive and to the peaceful Sculpture Garden at the National Gallery. The research places I needed to visit - the War Memorial, the National Library and the rose garden at Old Parliament House - were all easily accessible.
"Thank you to everyone involved with the May Gibbs Children's Literature Trust for offering creators this wonderful opportunity to do what they love doing best. For me the most precious gift was being locked away with my characters and spending uninterrupted time getting to know them so much better."
Corinne Fenton, Canberra, November 2007
"It was the longest time I'd spent in the 'city' - any city - since we lived in the suburbs when I was twelve, and while it did end up being a productive and creative time, I wrestled with the distraction of a public transport network that could take me anywhere I wanted to go for just a few dollars. I know that sounds hick but unencumbered time at the museum, the State Library and the steps of Flinders Street Station fed me just as much as the time at the desk."
Scot Gardner, Melbourne, June 2007
"Here I had space in which my creativeness could expand, have possibility and grow instead of stealing writing time in small chunks as you do in normal life. I could expand out into this vast space - thought I would run out of ideas but they just kept flowing." Leonie Norrington, Brisbane, March 2007
"A whole month, time out in a kind of caring capsule where it’s possible to be single-minded, in a way not so easy to attain at home…I’m not counting this time in the words I’ve been able to write, and there have been many, or the chapters I’ve been able to edit and/or rewrite, but rather in the time and space for this novel to crystallize, to slowly take up its life, to partner me during those blissful days of writing and some long nights of just thinking about it – a kind of necessary luxury, but then again something basic to bringing something important to one to conclusion. This month has made a difference. In fact it has been critical to this particular work." Libby Hathorn, Adelaide, October 2005