Dear Deb
Further to my last post, neither publication of a volume
on the internet, or self-publication of a volume of poems
is recognised as publication proper by Literature Fund guidelines.
If a given poet chooses to publish
in these ways, he/she remains officially unpublished and 'emerging'
and thus ineligible for any international studio or for a grant
of more than AU $15,000 (not much in US$ at present).
In my case, from the time I started publishing to becoming an
author, I was 12 years 'emerging' according to the AC,
my best friend has been 25 years 'emerging' and remains
an 'emerging' writer to date, although he is the President of the
Melbourne Poets Union.
I'm aware that the arbitrary nature of these distinctions has been
raised of late with the Literature Fund by the Australian Society of
Authors. The rules seem quite elitist to me, designating new writers
as 'emerging' second class citizens and barring them from equal pay or
use of valuable developmental facilities like the Rome and Paris
studios.
sincerely
Hugh Tolhurst
PS Having also raised this unfairness with the Literature Fund
myself during 2000, I know that international studio eligibility
criteria is to be discussed/reviewed at the Feb 2001 Literature
Fund meeting. Hopefully, 2000 will be the last year in which
studios are the exclusive perquisite of 'developing writers and
established writers' (authors with recognised publishers).
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