Creative writing opportunities for people with disability

Creative writing allows people to tell stories that are important to them and explore different ideas. It also supports the development of self-awareness and empathy through engagement with different points of view. In Australia and all over the world, there are many platforms for people with disability to get support with their writing and share their writing.

We created a list of Australian resources that you can use to build your writing skills or share your work. This includes:

• writing competitions and awards
• writing programs
• grants and other resources.

There is a lot more than we could fit into this article. We encourage you to search for opportunities beyond this article and apply where you can.

Dulcie Stone Writer’s Competition

The Dulcie Stone Writer’s Competition is for writers with an intellectual disability living in Australia. Entries can be a short story or poem that is no more than 500 words. The 2023 winner was Bue Maher for his poem ‘Fog fog’. The 2024 winner is yet to be announced.

You can find out more about the competition on the VALiD website.

Dickson Memorial Literary Competition

The Dickson Memorial Literary Competition is for Australian residents who are legally blind. The winner will receive $350 and second place will receive $150. There are 6 different categories, including:

• Adult short story
• Adult poem/song lyrics/limerick
• Adult article/opinion
• Senior student creative category
• Junior student creative category
• People’s Choice category – short story.

You can find more information about the competition on the Braille House website.

The Jennifer Burbridge Short Story Award

The Jennifer Burbridge Short Story Award is an annual short story competition. The competition accepts fiction and non-fiction short stories on the theme of disability in an Australian setting. The winner will receive $500.

You can read the winning story from 2024 on the Willy Lit Fest website.

You can find out more on the Willy Lit Fest website.

The Writeability program

Writers Victoria hosts an award-winning program called Writeability. It supports writers with disability who want to develop their skills and careers. It focuses on promoting self-told stories, disability leadership and peer support. Anyone who identifies as having a disability is eligible to join Writeability.

Writeability tutor, Jessica Walton says ‘Your voice is needed […] we need disability characters that reflect the reality of our lives’.

You can find out more on the Writers Victoria website.

The Next Level Creative Mentorship Program

The Next Level Creative Mentorship Program is run by Accessible Arts. The program is available to artists with disability working in the performing arts. This includes writers, musicians, actors and dancers. The program offers $3,000 in project funding and access to a 3-month mentorship to develop a new creative project.

You can learn more about the program by searching the Accessible Arts website.

Grants for creative writing projects

There are 4 categories of grants available for South Australian writers and artists through the Richard Llewellyn Deaf and Disability Grants. Richard Llewellyn AM was born in 1936 in South Australia and acquired polio in his early twenties. During his life, he promoted South Australian contemporary artists and was a pioneer for disability advocacy in Australia.

The grant categories are:

• professional development
• projects – individual
• projects – organisations and groups
• access.

You can find out more about the Richard Llewellyn Deaf and Disability Grants on the CreateSA website.

A collection of stories by writers with disability

If you’re interested in learning about the experiences of writers with disability, give Growing Up Disabled in Australia a read. It’s a rich collection of stories by more than 40 Australian writers with a disability or chronic illness. The stories span different generations, from elders to young people, as well as different cultures, genders and sexual orientations.

You can purchase the book from the Black Inc. website or find it at your local library.

More resources

The Writers Victoria website has lots of resources for writers with disability, like anthologies you can submit to, webinars, videos and audio.

You can find out more on the Writers Victoria website. You can also find a list of writing contents and competitions on Nicole Melanson’s website. Nicole is a published writer and poet who provides writing mentorships and poetry workshops. She works with NDIS participants to provide tailored writing support.