Patricia Kailis International Writing Fellow Announced!
June 28, 2022
Announcing Patricia Kailis International Writing Fellow, Norman Erikson Pasaribu!
Centre for Stories is pleased to announce Norman Erikson Pasaribu as the Winner of the Patricia Kailis International Writing Fellowship. Valued at $30,000, the Fellow will work on a manuscript in Perth for three months in 2022.
Pasaribu was born in Jakarta in 1990. Their first short story collection Hanya Kamu yang Tahu Berapa Lama Lagi Aku Harus Menunggu (Only You Know How Much Longer I Should Wait) was shortlisted for the 2014 Khatulistiwa Literary Award for Prose. Pasaribu’s debut poetry collection Sergius Mencari Bacchus (Sergius Seeks Bacchus) won the 2015 Jakarta Arts Council Poetry Competition, was translated into English by Tiffany Tsao and published by Giramondo in Australia in 2019. In 2022, Happy Stories, Mostly was released to critical acclaim and longlisted for the International Man Booker.
The Patricia Kailis International Writing Fellowship aims to ‘support the work of talented individuals who have demonstrated a commitment to ideas and practices that foster belonging and better cross-cultural understanding’, ‘deepen and broaden the literary culture in Western Australia’, and offer Western Australian emerging writers access to writers of international reputation. Centre for Stories creative director Robert Wood judged the applications alongside authors Elfie Shiosaki and Roanna Gonsalves.
‘We were overwhelmed by the quality of proposals which included extremely talented writers from all across the world. Norman’s aim to write the next Great Indonesian Novel was seen by all as a worthy project supported by their own track record as a globally recognised talent. We cannot wait to host Norman here.’
As prize benefactor George Kailis stated, ‘Indonesia has a very important place in my parent’s history with involvement in Eastern Indonesia in the late 1960s and early 1970s’, and Centre for Stories is keen to extend this involvement in the long term. Pasaribu has visited Australia twice previously and is looking forward to the Fellowship.
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