Creative Australia has recently announced the appointment of Wenona Byrne to lead Writing Australia, which started this year and is responsible for supporting and promoting the literature sector as well as the development of markets and audiences for Australian literature.
Byrne has served as Head of Literature at Creative Australia since 2017; prior to that she’s worked in publishing for 11 years. She’s also worked as a writer/director in film and television as well as a freelance feature writer. Byrne speaks to ArtsHub about her new position.
Wenona Byrne, Writing Australia: 5 questions
What do you see as your main responsibilities at Writing Australia?
My role is to lead Writing Australia in directly supporting and promoting the Australian literature sector, both at home and internationally.
This means shaping investment strategies that respond to the sector’s priorities, providing opportunities for writers and ensuring the voices of Australian writers are heard and valued.
We have the opportunity to invest in the entire creative chain from writers to publishers to readers, in Australia and overseas.
We look forward to delivering the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards in September, and working towards the establishment of the National Poet Laureate later this year, as some of the key deliverables of the Australian Government’s National Cultural Policy Revive: A place for every story, a story for every place.
At its heart, this role is about connecting Australian stories to more readers.
What are some of the major challenges of this job?
Like many parts of the creative sector, the literature community is navigating rapid change. A key challenge is ensuring that our writers can continue to make a sustainable living from their work.
Traditional funding models have not always been able to reach into the commercial sector, so part of the challenge is building new approaches and partnerships.
We need to ensure that Australia’s literary culture remains visible, accessible and valued. We need to ensure writers can have sustainable careers and continue to expand to new markets.
What about the writing industry in general in Australia?
Australian writers and illustrators are rich in talent and diversity. They write stories that help us to understand ourselves and our world. Importantly, they inspire and delight children and young people who go on to be lifelong readers.
But this can’t be taken for granted. In an increasingly busy online world, we need to support readers to discover books that will engage them and keep them reading.
The establishment of Writing Australia reflects the importance of investing in the infrastructure, partnerships, and policy settings that will allow the entire industry to thrive.
Can you tell us a little more about the investment strategy you have in mind for Writing Australia?
Writing Australia will invest more than $26 million over three years in initiatives that support writers, publishers and literary organisations to grow local and global audiences for Australian books.
Our investments will be guided by sector priorities and informed by research, including an upcoming piece that will provide insights about Australian’s reading habits and identify tools the industry can use to drive engagement with books and reading.
There is a lot of news and worry around AI at the moment and how it affects writers’ and artists’ livelihoods. Do you have any plans in place to mitigate AI?
Creative Australia has been advocating for an approach that ensures artists, including writers, provide consent and are fairly remuneration for the use of their work. Writing Australia will also build on and contribute to this important conversation with a focus on Australian writers.
Readers also deserve to know which books are authored by humans. We are advocating for transparency and a fair deal for our creators.
Creative Australia has set out clear principles to guide the ethical use of generative AI for creative output, including transparency around the use of AI.
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There is an opportunity for Australia to be a world leader on this. We want to ensure technology and culture can thrive together, where innovation does not come at the expense of the rights and livelihoods of our writers.
