Emily Maguire named Charles Perkins Centre Writer in Residence

Emily Maguire has been awarded the 2018 Charles Perkins Centre Writer in Residence Fellowship, receiving $100,000 and other benefits to support her work on a novel addressing the complex relationship between social identity and health. Chosen from a shortlist of exceptional writers that included Heather Rose, Gabriel Carey, Ceridwen Dovey and Kate Cole-Adams, Maguire thanked the Charles Perkins Centre for the opportunity and said she was excited to begin work. "I can't imagine a better place to develop my novel about hoarding, consumerism and illness, and to research the role family, social class and economic status play in it all," Maguire said. Much of the Charles Perkins Centre's work is directly relevant to my project, and the general atmosphere of the place - encouraging collaboration, creativity and conversation around the big issues - is a gift to any writer. The Sydney-based author of five novels - including An Isolated Incident, shortlisted for the 2017 Stella Prize and Miles Franklin Literary Award - as well as two works of non-fiction and multiple essays and articles, will work from the Charles Perkins Centre on the University of Sydney's Camperdown campus, with access to the University's library and Centre researchers, educators and clinicians to help inform her work. "I'm also very grateful for the generous financial support," she added. "Such support is rare and precious and, for me at this point in my life and career, transformative." Inaugural Writer in Residence Charlotte Wood, who expects to complete her novel examining women and ageing this year, served as a judge of the 2018 fellowship.