26 February 2020

Announcing the 2020 Kat Muscat Fellow

Express Media and the Kat Muscat Fellowship Committee are honoured to announce Maddie Godfrey as the recipient of the 2020 Kat Muscat Fellowship, which offers support and development to a young Australian writer and/or editor of an underrepresented gender.

The 2020 Kat Muscat Fellowship offers professional development up to the value of $5,000 for an editorial project or work of writing by a young person aged 16-30. Now in its fifth year, the Fellowship aims to continue Kat’s legacy and further develop the future of defiant and empathic young Australian feminists.

Image credit – Rachel Barrett

Maddie Godfrey, the recipient of the 2020 Kat Muscat Fellowship, says

“Thank you endlessly to the Kat Muscat Custodial Committee, the Muscat family, and Express Media’s incredible team for selecting me as the 2020 Kat Muscat Fellow.”

Maddie Godfrey  is a Perth-bred writer, poet, editor, educator and emotional feminist, who uses storytelling to facilitate compassionate conversations about social issues. Maddie Godfrey plans to use the fellowship to develop a hybrid manuscript of poetry and personal essays called ‘Womanhood Is A Hungry Mirror’. They will use autobiographical experience to explore the complex visibility of female strippers working in their home town of Perth, Western Australia.

Maddie Godfrey says about their project: 

“The manuscript tackles feminist contradictions about what it means to monitor our bodies and hold our own gaze. This Fellowship will allow me to conduct interviews with local community members and participate in two relevant mentorships. As a writer who admires Kat Muscat’s writing and values, I am honoured to receive this opportunity, and excited to continue creating work which embodies her motto ‘feminism, defiance and empathy’.” 

Kat Muscat was a brilliant young mind of the Australian writing community, whose formidable talent was demonstrated through her incisive writing and perceptive editing. Kat was an integral part of Express Media for many years, before becoming Editor of Voiceworks from 2012 to 2014. Throughout her 10 years with Express Media, Kat helped to shape the career of young writers and editors from all around Australia.

The Kat Muscat Fellow is selected by the Custodial Committee of The Kat Muscat Legacy Projects, which includes members of Express Media’s board and staff, the Muscat family and appointed community members.

The Kat Muscat Fellowship Custodial Committee were greatly impressed by the high calibre of applicants this year, and awarded the place of highly commended to Briar Rolfe’s application.

We congratulate both Maddie and Briar, and look forward to working with Maddie. We can’t wait to read the incredible work they will produce.

The Fellowship is made possible with the generous support of the community and the Muscat family. For information on The Kat Muscat Fellowship, find us here.