The National Library of Australia has announced the 16 recipients who have been awarded Fellowships, Creative Arts Fellowships, Folk Fellowship and Summer Scholarships for 2023.
Drawing on the library’s extensive collections to inform their projects, the 2023 recipients will use the National Library’s unique collections to conduct research into subjects including the arts in Australia, Japanese fashion history, ballast water, the Australian wool industry and various social history themes.
Fellowship Recipients:
Supported by the Ray Mathew and Eva Kollsman Trust for Research in Australian Literature
Dr Deirdre O’Connell, independent researcher
- Pakie’s Club: Mapping the Literary Salons of Augusta “Pakie” MacDougall 1875-1945
Supported by the Stokes family
Dr Mei-fen Kuo, Lecturer in Contemporary Chinese Culture and History, Macquarie University
- Print Culture, the Cold War Legacy and Understanding “Chineseness” in Australia
Dr Lorinda Cramer, Research Fellow, Australian Catholic University
- From Shoddy to Superfine: A Material History of Australian Wool
Dr Adam Sundberg, Associate Professor, Creighton University USA
- Globalizing Exotics: An Environmental History of Ballast Water Management in Australia
Supported by the Harold S. Williams Trust for Japan Studies
Dr Tets Kimura, Research Associate in the Creative Arts, Flinders University
- The Historical and Cultural Development of Japanese Fashion: A Chronology from the Edo (17th Century) to the Reiwa (21st Century) Eras
Supported by past and present members of the National Library Council and Patrons
Dr Eleanor Hogan, independent researcher
- Eleanor Witcombe: Her Brilliant Career
Offered by the Library
Dr Alice Garner, Research Associate, Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne
- Making it Count: The Many Lives of Mavis Robertson
Associate Professor Deane Williams, Film and Screen Studies, Monash University
- A Cultural Biography of Ron Maslyn Williams
Dr Wesley Lim, Lecturer in German Studies, Australian National University
- Between Austria and Australia: Staging Hybrid Nationhood in the Photographs of Gertrud Bodenweiser and Her Dance Companies
Funded through generous philanthropic support, the Library’s Fellowships and Scholarships program has supported more than 200 emerging and established Australian and international scholars since 1986, encouraging new and innovative research across a range of scholarly and creative disciplines
The 2023 Fellows will undertake a 12-week residency in Canberra, where they will have supported access to the extensive national collections, full office facilities including a designated workstation, and, for funded Fellowships, an honorarium, travel and accommodation support. At the end of their residency, Fellows will present their findings in free public lectures.
Summer Scholarship Recipients:
Summer scholarships are offered to PhD students from across Australia, offering recipients the opportunity to further their postgraduate research using material from the Library’s collections over a six-week residency. Four scholarships have been awarded in 2023.
Carol Moya Mills Summer Scholarship
Ms Kate Kirby, University of the Sunshine Coast
- The 1982 Brisbane Commonwealth Games: exploring event impact, legacy, and memory outside the city limits
National Library of Australia Summer Scholarship, supported by an anonymous donor
Mrs Judith Bartholomeusz, Charles Sturt University
- Caroline Chisholm, John Dunmore Lang and Utopian Impulses in Australian Colonial Society
Seymour Summer Scholarship
Mrs Stephanie Shon, University of Oxford, UK
- Writing About Australian Music: Discursive Mediations of Taste and Aesthetics 1960s-1970s
Professor Robert and Josephine Shanks Scholarship
Ms Yvette Grant, University of Melbourne
- Ballet, Modernism and Early Women Choreographers in Australia: a Laurel Martyn Case Study
In 2023, the Summer Scholarships program marks its 21st year supporting postgraduate research from the next generation of Australian scholars. Since 2002, more than 80 Australian postgraduate students have taken part in the program, undertaking a six-week residency in Canberra with special and supported access to the library’s extensive national collections.
During their time at the Library, Summer Scholars also have access to full office facilities including a personal workstation and are provided with $6000 for use as a stipend, travel and accommodation support.
Image: National Library of Australia (sourced)