ABR Laureates

In creating the ABR Laureateship our intentions are twofold: to celebrate our finest writers, but also to advance the work of a younger writer admired by the Laureate. Accordingly, we invited the Laureate to nominate an ABR Laureate’s Fellow, who will work closely with the Editor over a period of weeks or months, and who will give the magazine a substantial work for publication – an essay, a suite of poems or long poem, a short story, or a memoir.

Sheila Fitzpatrick (2023)

Professor Sheila Fitzpatrick is a distinguished historian of modern Russia and migration. Her many books include White Russians, Red Peril: A Cold War history of migration to Australia (2021) and The Shortest History of the Soviet Union (2022). Her many awards include the Prime Minister’s Literary Award for On Stalin’s Team (2015). She was based in the United States for many years, latterly as Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago, before her return to Australia in 2012. Since 2013, when she began writing for ABR, she has contributed 26 articles. She brings immense scholarship and brio to everything she writes, and she is among ABR’s most popular writers. Sheila Fitzpatrick’s chosen ABR Laureate’s Fellow, Dr Ebony Nilsson, will contribute a series of articles to ABR over the coming year, funded by the ABR Patrons.

Robyn Archer (2016)

Robyn Archer – a performer and writer of many accomplishments – is an internationally renowned exponent of classic European cabaret. Audiences here and abroad have relished her inimitable voice, artistry, and superlative diction. In addition to her writing and artistic work, she has directed numerous arts festivals, including Adelaide and Melbourne. She is a ceaseless advocate for the arts and a respected mentor to new generations of artists and artistic directors. Robyn Archer will nominate an ABR Laureate’s Fellow, who will work closely with the Editor on a substantial work for publication. The Fellow will receive $7,500, courtesy of the ABR Patrons.

David Malouf (2014)

David Malouf was named as the inaugural ABR Laureate in April 2014. He is one of our most distinguished authors, with an internationally renowned body of work in fiction, poetry, essays, libretti, and memoir. The Laureateship reflects the Editor’s and the Board’s high regard for David Malouf’s artistry, for his principled and eloquent advancement of literature, and for his generosity to readers and writers – and indeed to this magazine. Michael Aiken was chosen as the first ABR Laureate's Fellow and received $5,000 for his Fellowship poem ‘Satan Repentant’, which was published in the August 2016 issue of Australian Book Review.