Why this local writer is urging Canberra to back its creative voices this June
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When emerging Canberra-based writer Callie Doyle-Scott was told that the award-winning Isobelle Carmody was willing to mentor her, she literally dropped her teacup.
It was a dream that had always felt out of reach – and one she had only shared with MARION when they reached out to tell her that she was the recipient of the MARION Fellowship Award in 2024. Along with providing her with much-needed financial support, Callie was shocked when she was told that she would also be mentored by an author or editor of her choice.
Isobelle was a “blue sky” blurted-out suggestion – something she could see but never thought she would reach. Until MARION called her the following day and said that not only had Isobelle read Callie’s work, but she was willing to mentor her.
“I was honestly speechless. The first thing out of my mouth was ‘How did she get her hands on my work?’. It did not occur to me that for the consultation that I’d done with MARION, I had sent the first couple of chapters of my book and the synopsis,” says Callie.
“It was as if the empress of Australian fantasy had reached down from the heavens, plucked my manuscript out of nowhere, consulted it, and gone ‘All right, I’ll mentor this one’. I was utterly, utterly shocked.”
It was a career – and life – changing moment for Callie.
Already spending many years working on the manuscript for her gastronomic fantasy novel Soup for the Moon, Callie was facing what she describes as the “dark tea-times of the soul”. Considering abandoning the project altogether after lacking the time and resources she needed to write the story she wanted to write, her self-belief was dwindling.
Callie reached out to MARION in 2023 for support; she says that everything they have done for her since has been invaluable.
“Marion has existed in Canberra ever since I was a teenager in some form or another, back when they were the ACT Writers Centre. They’ve been here unbroken – despite a change of name – helping Canberra authors,” says Callie.
“Having a group like that supporting you, able to offer you advice, introduce you to people, or provide you with information on workshops you can attend or facilitate a meeting with a mentor…having all of that at your fingertips is an invaluable resource.”
“Even though my fellowship has ended, I still stay in contact with MARION, I still stay in contact with Isobelle. The benefits that this Fellowship offers are not transient – those connections stay with you.”
Advocating for writers across the ACT and surrounding regions since 1995, MARION has always remained dedicated to addressing financial barriers faced by writers.
This year, the not-for-profit is hoping to sponsor two mentorships for breakthrough ACT writers like Callie.
“MARION have proved with me that they have the ability to find mentors that are suited to writers, ones who can encourage them to get better, ones who are invested in their work and can help them grow,” says Callie.
“Being able to offer that service is so important, because it is a gateway to advancement that a lot of emerging writers – and even newly established writers – normally wouldn’t have access to.”
MARION is calling on the Canberra community to support the work that they do, and is aiming to raise $5,000 before 30 June. All donations will go directly to transformative mentorship opportunities for local voices, supporting writers at a crucial stage in their career. Every dollar will make a significant difference.
“I thought that I’d reached the end of my rope, that I could never tell the story I wanted to tell, and MARION and Isobelle convinced me otherwise,” says Callie.
“I’m still going, I’m still writing. The long dark tea-times of the soul – where all you can do is sit and listen to yourself in the dark of night and where everything just seems hopeless – MARION dispelled that for me. MARION made me want to keep going and keep making art in this world that sorely, sorely needs it.”
For more information or to donate to MARION before 30 June, visit marion.ink/donate-to-marion.
