Ju Bavyka Wins Peter Blazey Fellowship for 2025

Ju Bavyka, a trailblazing non-binary writer, visual artist, and community organiser, has been announced as the recipient of the prestigious Peter Blazey Fellowship for 2025.

This esteemed fellowship, awarded annually to support outstanding works of biography, autobiography, and life-writing, will enable Bavyka to complete their memoir, Just a Hand’s Reach Away – Rukoi Podat.

The fellowship, which includes a financial grant of up to $17,000 and honours the life and legacy of journalist and gay activist Peter Blazey who passed away in 1997. The fellowship is granted by the University Of Melbourne Faculty of Arts each year to emerging LGBTQIA+ writers to support their works.

Bavyka’s manuscript explores themes of queer desire, migration, transition, and intergenerational relationships, weaving personal narratives with broader cultural observations across Kazakhstan, Germany, and Australia.

In accepting the fellowship, Bavyka shared their gratitude and the significance of this milestone.

“I am deeply honoured to receive the 2025 Peter Blazey Fellowship,” they said.

“More than just financial support, the Fellowship is a profound acknowledgement of my work, which is important to me.”

They described their project as a deeply personal endeavour shaped by their lived experiences.

“This Fellowship provides immense motivation to work on my book manuscript and offers crucial support during the writing process.”

The selection panel recognised Bavyka’s manuscript as a vital work of literary non-fiction, praising its reflection on “precarity, otherness and the personal courage required to choose to change.” As an emerging voice in queer and migrant literature, Bavyka’s work exemplifies the fellowship’s mission to celebrate and support bold, innovative storytelling.

Special commendations were also awarded to three exceptional writers whose works highlight diverse and compelling facets of queer life:

• Mia-Francesca Jones for Midnight Sun, an autobiographical meditation on ecological crisis and personal loss.
• David Owen Kelly for LEOPARD, a multimedia memoir chronicling his complex friendship with queer icon Lance Leopard.
• Tiger Salmon for Scratch: Memoir of a Dyke Icon, an exploration of radical queer feminist history through the lens of Wicked Women, Australia’s pioneering lesbian zine.

The Peter Blazey Fellowship continues to foster impactful and transformative storytelling. Ju Bavyka’s achievement not only underscores the importance of queer narratives but also honours the fellowship’s legacy of supporting authenticity and courage in Australian writing.