Sophie Cunningham‘Staying with the trouble’ covers very different terrain from that of Martin Thomas’s and Christine Piper’s celebrated Calibre-winning essays: ‘“Because it’s your country”: Bringing Back the Bones to West Arnhem Land’ (2013) and ‘Unearthing the Past’ (2014), which dealt with historical wrongs and biological horrors, respectively. In her essay, Sophie Cunningham describes an epic walk up Broadway in New York, and others like it. The tone is self-deprecating, conversational, and ‘gloriously social’, but all sorts of themes arise along the way: Alzheimer’s, Horseshoe Crabs, history, writers, violence against women, racism, Selma, and climate change. It is a celebration of ‘randomness’, but also testifies to Sophie Cunningham’s belief in the importance of ‘staying with the trouble’.

On learning that she had won the Calibre Prize, Sophie Cunningham, who recently moved from Brooklyn to San Francisco, told Advances: 'I wrote this essay with no expectations, from a concern with how one narrates the personal and fragmented while chronicling issues as broad as climate change and mass extinction. I had become obsessed with walking and needed a deadline. The Calibre Prize has rewarded a rich variety of writers who have tackled an extraordinary range of topics. Each year I’ve read the winner and been inspired. I feel incredibly honoured to now be among these winners’ number.’ 

This is the ninth time that ABR has offered the Calibre Prize, which is intended to advance the essay form in this country. We look forward to offering Calibre again in 2016.

Sophie Cunningham’s winning essay is published in the May 2015 issue of ABR.

Click here to download the media release.

Purchase the May 2015 print edition.

Subscribe to ABR Online to gain access to this issue online, plus the ABR archive (containing all Calibre Prize essays published from 2011).

Click here for more information about past winners.

Click here for more information about the judges.

We gratefully acknowledge the long-standing support of Mr Colin Golvan QC.

Australian Book Review is pleased to contribute to Reading Australia, a visionary initiative of Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund. Reading Australia will publish online resources for the teaching and study of Australian literature in Australian schools and universities. Distinguished Australian scholars and commentators will appraise 200 major Australian books in stylish, accessible 2000-word essays, all intended to heighten our appreciation of Australian writing.

ABR will commission and publish some of these essays (and refers our readers to the Reading Australia website for the others). Some of the ABR essays will appear in print. All of them will appear on our website. Students and general readers will learn much from these succinct essays.

Reading Australia essays commissioned and published by Australian Book Review:

Kerryn Goldsworthy on Jessica Anderson's Tirra Lirra by the River

Susan Sheridan on Thea Astley's It's Raining in Mango

Agnes Nieuwenhuizen on A.J. Betts's Zac and Mia

Ruth Starke on Isobelle Carmody's The Gathering

Brian Matthews on Marcus Clarke's For the Term of His Natural Life

Kerryn Goldsworthy on Robert Dessaix's A Mother's Disgrace

Alice Pung on Garry Disher's The Divine Wind

Kerryn Goldsworthy on Richard Flanagan's The Narrow Road to the Deep North

Danielle Clode on Tim Flannery's Here on Earth

Kári Gíslason on Raimond Gaita's Romulus, My Father

Bernadette Brennan on Helen Garner's The Children's Bach

Miriam Cosic on Germaine Greer's The Female Eunuch

Peter Craven on Kate Grenville's Lilian's Story

Felicity Plunkett on Steven Herrick's by the river

Judith Rodriguez on Jack Hibberd's Dimboola

Delys Bird on Elizabeth Jolley's Miss Peabody's Inheritance

Tony Birch on Thomas Keneally's The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith

Morag Fraser on Alex Miller's Journey to the Stone Country

Susan Lever on John Romeril's The Floating World

Patrick Allington on Kim Scott's That Deadman Dance

Peter Kirkpatrick on Kenneth Slessor's One Hundred Poems: 1919–1939

Gary Crew on Shaun Tan's The Lost Thing

Kerryn Goldsworthy on Christos Tsiolkas's The Slap

Billy Griffiths on David Unaipon's Legendary Tales of the Australian Aborigines

James McNamara on David Williamson's The Removalists

Felicity Castagna on Markus Zusak's The Messenger

Comments from previous Editorial Cadets/Interns 

‘With its editorial mentorship, rich array of programs, and diverse roster of contributors, ABR provides one of the most rigorous and rewarding environments for any budding editor or publisher. I cannot think of a better place to have started my career in journalism.’

James Jiang 
ABR Editorial Cadet (2021-22)

‘The opportunity to work for an international magazine of prestige and intellectual rigour has greatly shaped my editorial skillset and knowledge of Australia’s literary and cultural landscape.’

Jack Callil
Digital Editor (2019-22)
ABR Editorial Intern (2018-19)

'I am extremely grateful to have been offered an editorial internship, and to eventually work in a more senior capacity, at Australian Book Review. I feel a tremendous sense of pride to have worked for a prestigious literary and arts journal that upholds exemplary editorial standards while fostering emerging talent. I am excited by the potential of ABR to grow further and continue to be the gold standard of Australian arts and literary journalism.'

Dilan Gunawardana
ABR Deputy Editor (Digital) 2017-2018
ABR Editorial Intern 2016–17

'ABR’s editorial internship is something very rare and valuable: an opportunity for a recent graduate to take the skills they have been taught and develop them in the rigorous editorial environment of a high calibre literary and arts magazine. By requiring you to be active across all aspects of the production of the magazine, from commissioning reviews, to copyediting and proofreading, to introducing new features to the magazine, through to digitising the issue each month for ABR Online, it prepares you for the widest range of possible roles in the publishing industry.'

Luke Horton
ABR Editorial Intern 2015–16

‘What I valued most about the internship was the diversity and range of the position. I was able to explore and work in all aspects of the magazine’s production, from formatting, editing, advertising, designing, paging, and researching, to digitising the entire magazine online. I feel that the skills and knowledge that I acquired throughout the internship will place me in good stead to tackle any new position in the publication sphere with confidence, knowledge, and editorial acumen.’

Sam Zifchak
ABR Editorial Intern 2014

‘My time spent at ABR enabled me to engage with virtually every aspect of the magazine’s production in a way that is scarcely possible in other internships. The variety of the position is invaluable to any aspiring editor, as is the close contact you have in the role with the work of some of Australia’s finest writers. I certainly have ABR to thank for my subsequent employment as a magazine editor overseas.’

Sara Savage
ABR Patrons’ Editorial Intern, 2013

‘Being on the staff of a magazine of the calibre of Australian Book Review, with its long history in Australian letters and fine editorial standards, is a singular experience, and it has no doubt been the defining event of my professional life thus far. I look forward to drawing on what I have learned at ABR in other areas of my career and my own writing.’

Milly Main
ABR Ian Potter Foundation Editorial Intern, 2012

‘I am very proud of the contribution I was able to make at ABR, in particular through the development of ABR Online, which has already demonstrated its worth. I am also proud of the wide range of skills I have been able to develop, touching all aspects of the magazine’s development, editorial, and production.’

Tim Brewer
ABR Sidney Myer Fund Editorial Intern, 2011

‘As the recipient of an internship at Australian Book Review in 2009, I know the benefits of such a program firsthand. My internship was an unqualified success, and resulted not only in an increase in my editing knowledge and skills, but also in full-time employment.’

Mark Gomes
ABR Australian Publishers Association Editorial Intern, 2009

Applications for the 2019 ABR Patrons’ Fellowship have now closed. An announcement will be made in early 2019.

My year as an ABR fellow has been the most rewarding of my writing life. This year I've not only been encouraged, but supported, to press my ear against our culture's chest and listen to its heartbeat. I'm indebted to the ABR team, and its warm and generous community of readers and donors, for giving me the chance to grow into my profession.'

                                                                Beejay Silcox, ABR Fortieth Birthday Fellow (2018)

Australian Book Review is pleased to advertise the 2019 ABR Patrons’ Fellowship. Funded by ABR Patrons, the Fellowship is worth $10,000. The Fellow will make a broad contribution to the magazine throughout the year, with a series of four substantial articles.

ABR welcomes proposals from Australian creative writers, freelance reviewers, journalists, commentators and scholars. The Fellow’s articles will appear in the print magazine and ABR Online. Contributors to the magazine and previous Fellows and Fellowship applicants are strongly encouraged to apply.

Applications for the 2019 ABR Patrons' Fellowship closed at 5pm on 10 December 2018.

2019 ABR Patrons' Fellowship Application Guidelines

What is the Australian Book Review Patrons’ Fellowship?

This Fellowship – funded by Australian Book Review’s generous Patrons – will be a highlight of our 2019 publishing year. The Fellow will make a broad contribution to the magazine throughout the year, with a series of four substantial articles. ABR welcomes proposals from Australian creative writers, freelance reviewers, journalists, commentators, and scholars.

Who can apply?

Any writer with a publication record (books, creative writing, essays, or journalism) is eligible. Applicants must be Australian citizens or have permanent resident status in Australia. ABR staff and Board members are ineligible. Contributors to the magazine and previous Fellows and Fellowship applicants are strongly encouraged to apply.

What is ABR offering?

The Fellow will receive a total of $10,000, payable thus – $2,500 on announcement of the Fellowship and three further payments of $2,500 on publication of the final three contributions to the magazine. The Fellow will work closely with the Editor of ABR throughout the year.

Expected outcomes

ABR is seeking a suite of brilliant literary journalism from a highly engaged and professional writer. During the course of the Fellowship, the Fellow will produce four substantial articles for publication in the magazine in 2019. These can be review essays, commentaries, or interviews – or a combination of all three genres. Each contribution will be 2,000 words or longer. The features (agreed on with the ABR Editor) will be staggered throughout the year. The articles will appear in the print and online editions of ABR. The Fellow will be available for media coverage and at least one literary/promotional event. NB the Fellow is not expected to complete the Fellowship onsite.

Familiarity with Australian Book Review

ABR looks for support and engagement from its senior/regular contributors. Applicants must demonstrate considerable familiarity with ABR – its style, its content, its direction. Those totally new to or unfamiliar with the magazine or should not apply.

Selection process

The Fellow will be chosen by a panel including ABR Editor Peter Rose. We will announce the decision in early 2019. No correspondence will be entered into once the decision has been announced. ABR reserves the right not to award a Fellowship in a particular round.

How to apply?

Applicants are strongly encouraged to refer to the Frequently Asked Questions section on our website. Applicants may are also encouraged to discuss their proposals with the Editor before submitting them: (03) 9699 8822 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The application should comprise a proposal of 2-3 pages plus a short CV. Applicants should summarise the following: their interest in the magazine and its direction; why they believe their contributions will advance ABR and win us new readers; and the likely nature/scope/genre of the four proposed contributions. (We are mindful that the Fellowship will evolve throughout the year.) Applicants should also attach two examples of their literary journalism.

Applications must be emailed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by 5pm on 10 December 2018.

There is no application fee.

ABR gratefully acknowledges the generous support of the ABR Patrons.

The ABR Fellowships are intended to reward fine Australian writers and to advance the magazine's commitment to critical debate and long-form journalism. All published Australian writers are eligible to apply.

Click here to find out more about the ABR Fellowship program.

Click here to find out more about current Fellowships..

Click here to find out more about published Fellowships.

Please read our list of Frequently Asked Questions before contacting us with a question about the ABR Fellowship program.