Express Media and the Muscat family are excited to announce the 2025 Kat Muscat Fellowship, offering support and development for a young writer or editor, now in its 10th year. Kat Muscat was a brilliant young mind of the Australian writing community, whose formidable talent was demonstrated extensively through her incisive writing and perceptive editing. Kat was an integral part of the Express Media community for many years, before stepping up to become Editor of Voiceworks from 2012 – 2014. Throughout her 10 years with Express Media, Kat helped to shape the careers of young writers and editors from all around Australia. Kat’s writing embodied her personal mantra of defiance, feminism and empathy, and the recipient of the Fellowship will take up her notion of challenge: exploring bold subjects, thinking deeply and critically about the world and the culture we consume, and reflecting and building on the craft of writing or editing. 

The Kat Muscat Fellowship offers professional development up to the value of $5,000 for an editorial project or work of writing by a young person of an underrepresented gender. The work must respond to the above values and provocation, continuing Kat’s legacy and further developing the future of defiant and empathetic young Australian writers and editors. The 10th iteration of the Kat Muscat Fellowship marks a decade without the much loved and deeply influential young writer and editor, and a decade of brilliant literary projects realised through the Fellowship. The 2025 Fellowship is a timely opportunity for an emerging writer or editor to make their mark. 

You can donate to the Kat Muscat Fellow and honour ten years of supporting young writers and editors. This is also the final year the Fellowship will be awarded in this structure, before it evolves into its next chapter. 

The Kat Muscat Fellow is selected by the Custodial Committee of The Kat Muscat Fellowship, which includes members of Express Media’s board and staff, the Muscat family and appointed community members. Past recipients include Bri Lee (2016), Fury (2017), Ana Maria Gomides (2018), Liana Skrzypczak (2019), Maddie Godfrey (2020), Dženana Vucic (2021), Munira Tabassum Ahmed (2022), Taylor Mitchell (2023) and Xiaole Zhan (2024).

Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible, applicants must: 

• Be a person of an underrepresented gender or sex. This includes cis women, trans women, trans men, agender people, non-binary people, intersex people, genderqueer people, genderfluid people, gender diverse people and those who are otherwise marginalised due to their gender or sex.
• Be aged 16 to 30 at the commencement of the fellowship on March 11, 2025.
• Be an Australian citizen or permanent resident of Australia.
• Propose a suitable project that aligns with the theme of ‘Challenge’, and the values of Express Media and The Kat Muscat Fellowship.

What Can I Apply For? 

The Kat Muscat Fellowship offers professional development up to the value of $5,000 in 2025. These funds may be used towards professional development opportunities, including, but not limited to: mentoring, residencies, interstate travel, or project fees. A proposed budget must be submitted as part of the application process, and the final budget will be developed in consultation with Express Media.   

Selection Criteria

These must be directly addressed in your application:

• Vision: What is your idea and proposed project?
• Impact: What impact will the Kat Muscat Fellowship have on your artistic practice and career, and what is the potential impact of your project on the wider community?
• Capacity: What relevant experience or track record have you demonstrated, or how can you outline your personal and creative potential to make this project happen?
• Feasibility: How will you realise or execute your proposed project, and is it achievable within the budget and timeframe of the Fellowship? Please include a brief budget to indicate how the funds will be used and if you have secured other funding for this project. If you would like to use our budget template you can download it in Word format here. The Custodial Committee of The Kat Muscat Legacy Projects, which includes members of Express Media’s board and staff, the Muscat family and appointed community members, will select successful applications. 
• Reporting: The successful applicant will be required to submit a brief update in October 2025. At the completion of the fellowship, the successful applicant will be required to provide a report on the activity undertaken throughout the year. This report will be retained for Express Media and the Muscat family for their records and may be used to promote the Fellowship in future years. Guidelines for reporting will be provided to the fellow by Express Media.