The Cove Park / Varuna – The National Writers’ House of Australia Residency Exchange Programme was launched in 2019 to create new international opportunities for writers connected to both organisations. To date, and with support from The Bridge Awards, we have created three one-month residencies in Australia awarded to the writers and former Cove Park residents Jan Carson, Victoria Mackenzie, and Nicola White, and three one-month residencies in Scotland for former Varuna residents Roanna Gonsalves, Leah Kaminsky, and Jeanine Leane.

The programme has been adapted to take place over two years, with recipients travelling in alternating years: the Varuna writer will travel to Cove Park in the autumn of 2024, and the Cove Park writer will travel to Australia in the the autumn of 2025. We are also pleased to have established a new partnership with Wigtown Book Festival, connecting the participating writers in 2024 and 2025 with this acclaimed Scottish book festival.

The call for applications from Cove Park Associates and former residents for the one-month fully funded residency in Australia in 2025 is now live!

The deadline for applications is Monday 4 March 2024 and the residency dates are 13 October to 10 November 2025.

Further information and the link to the online application form is available here.

Read the blog by East Belfast-based writer Jan Carson on her Varuna residency in 2023 here.