Roderick Centre for Australian Literature and Creative Writing News Roderick Competitive Research Grants

Roderick Competitive Research Grants

Ambition

The Roderick Centre for Australian Literature and Creative Writing at James Cook University (JCU) seeks to foster the reading and writing of Australian literature in all its forms. We seek to open up the book beyond narrow confines of imagination to embrace a broad understanding of what literature, storytelling, narrative, and poetics are or could be, and what new purposes they could serve. We seek to do so by showing that literature and storytelling have an important role in connecting urgent areas of inquiry at JCU and elsewhere, in relation to the environment and place, wellbeing, health and tropical medicine, and the advancement of First Nations’ peoples.

Based at JCU, we desire to become an incubator, facilitator, and connector for publications, funding, conferences, and exhibitions that bring new interdisciplinary and cross-institutional narrative and writing-based kinds of research to life.  As a regional centre, we also seek to form grass-roots collaborations and address community-centred needs and solutions, broadly conceived.

Funding available

In order to develop the capacity in these areas of research, the Roderick Centre for Australian Literature and Creative Writing (RCALC) invites expressions of interest for research grants of up to $10,000. The total funding pool available for this round of applications is $30,000.

In addition to proposals that address traditional literary research, the RCALC welcomes proposals for arts-based projects that foster individual or community narratives through print and digital storytelling. Proposals that work to form new cross-disciplinary research groups or support partnership and collaboration that extend beyond JCU are also encouraged.

Themes*

Proposals that align with and contribute to research and understanding of the way creative writing and literary studies can promote understanding of and engagement with the following themes will be highly ranked:

  • Environment and Place
  • Wellbeing
  • First Nations Perspectives.

Who can apply?

Applications from individuals or teams are welcome. We encourage applications from teams that include investigators from outside traditional literary or creative writing fields.

To apply as an individual, you must be:

  • a continuing or fixed-term Academic staff member at JCU; or
  • a continuing or fixed-term Professional/Technical staff member at JCU; or
  • hold an honorary appointment at JCU (e.g. Adjunct).

Applications from a team must include an investigator who meets the above criteria for individual application, i.e. team applications must include a JCU staff member or honorary title holder.

How do I apply?

Please fill in the application form and email to us at RCALC@jcu.edu.au before 15 October 2024 5pm AEST.  You can also let us know whether you would like discuss your idea by reaching out to us by email no later than 15 October 5pm AEST.  If you might consider a grant application for a further year but don’t think you have an idea to go just right now, you are welcome to email us anytime (applications in 2025 will re-open in the new year, date TBA).

If you would to discuss your idea, the RCALC team can be on hand to give feedback and/or work more closely with you to develop and submit a full application. If you’re ready to go, there is no need to contact us in advance, and you are welcome to submit an application in full by the closing date.

Full applications will be assessed by the RCALC team and an external reviewer(s) against the selection criteria (see below). This will result in a recommendation of funding.

Key Dates

  • Consultation period closes 15 September 2024
  • Applications close 15 October 2024
  • Outcomes of funding announced  1 November 2024
  • Funding available from 15 November 2024 (must be expended within 12 months).


Selection criteria:

  • Clearly articulated methodology with a link to one of the Roderick themes
  • Feasible scope, budget, and timeframe
  • Clear and effective knowledge translation strategies including identified conferences
  • Clear and achievable publication and dissemination plan (publication plan to include high impact academic journals/book publishers)
  • A clear way of linking this research with the aims of the Centre and of crediting the research to the Roderick Centre for Australian Literature and Creative Writing
  • At least one Proposed impact-generating activities to linked with the agenda of capacity building for the Centre, such as community event, HDR masterclass, seminar, or other hosted activity (to be developed alongside consultation with the Centre Director and the Program Advisor)

Potential areas of exploration within the three themes* could include, but are not limited to:

Environment and Place*

  • The relationship between literature and the environment
  • Literary studies that connect with the tropical environment: reef, rainforest, dry and wet tropics
  • Place-based studies or place-making in literary, narrative, or poetic practice
  • Climate and narrative
  • The study or advancement of regional writers or regional writing communities, broadly conceived
  • Literary ecologies in regional areas
  • Creative practice and the regions
  • Publishing histories and the regions
  • Regional literary histories and cultures
  • Studies of regional communities in literature
  • The impact of regional living on communities and individuals
  • Critical regionalism and bioregionalism
  • The aftermath of catastrophe or disaster in regional literature
  • The depiction of regional work, living, or industries
  • Migration, displacement, resettlement, and refugees and regional literature

Wellbeing*

  • Exploration of narratives that address the impact of trauma on individuals or communities and their healing
  • Carceral narratives or narratives that provide agency to justice-impacted youth
  • Investigation of how narrative or poetics reflect or engages with the experiences of people dealing with illness, recovery, disability, caregiving, end-of-life, or health systems
  • Analysis of or use of narratives to  address issues of human and social inequity, including but not limited to race, gender, socio-economic status
  • Neurodiversity and poetics
  • Writing within arts for health paradigms
  • The impact of societal norms, values, and historical events on the portrayal or experiences of wellbeing or in narrative
  • The impact of AI or technology on humans, communities, or societies
  • Analysis of adversity and resilience through literature or narrative-making
  • Studies of how narrative addresses issues of poverty, economic inequality, and social class that elucidate socioeconomic factors in wellbeing
  • Studies of ageism or issues such as mortality, identity, and societal perceptions of the elderly in narrative
  • Narratives of aged care, advanced care directives, dementia, supporting the aging or dying process
  • Narratives that focus on issues of equity, equality, discrimination, or adversity in relation to  gender identity, sexual orientation, gender violence
  • Literature or storytelling that focuses on acceptance, discrimination, and mental health
  • Literature that focuses on the impact of military service, the literature of veterans, or on building communities of resilience
  • Responses to disaster or catastrophe.

First Nations Perspectives*

  • Literature, storytelling, or poetics as a tool for anti-colonial strategies or decolonisation
  • Ways of teaching or using literature that are inclusive and foster cultural understanding
  • Studies of how First Nations authors, poets, or storytelling challenge and subvert colonial narratives, reclaim Indigenous voices, and resist cultural appropriation
  • Studies of First Nations storytelling or poetics that acknowledge the impacts of colonisation, missions, and reserves, the stolen generation, forced relocation, and other historical injustices
  • Studies that embrace a diversity of First Nations’ contemporary perspectives
  • Studies that advance Indigenous literary criticism, the understanding of First Nations peoples and society through literature, and/or foster Indigenous storytelling
  • Studies of storytelling and research practices that adhere to ethical research practices, respecting the protocols and wishes of First Nations communities and individuals
  • Studies that foster understanding of the relationship between First Nations narratives or poetics and the land and of sea country
  • Comparative Indigenous Studies and Literature.

Terms and Conditions

Funds will be held at JCU for successful applicants to expend within Australia. Recipients must have an Australian bank account. Funding must be expended within 12 months of receipt.

Funding may be used for the following:

  • Costs directly related to the project, including research assistance, small equipment/software, consumables and travel.

Funding cannot be used for:

  • Salary costs for investigators.
  • Infrastructure costs for basic facilities, such as access to a basic library collection or provision of basic computing facilities, e.g. laptops, printers.

A short report on outcomes and outputs must be submitted within two months after the end of the project. Presentations and publications should acknowledge funding by RCALC. Research and researchers funded through this round shall agree to list their affiliated research profile and activities with the RCALC via our website.