Helen Franzmann - 2009 winner

Helen Franzmann, who lives in Brisbane, was selected as the 2009 recipient of the Grant McLennan Memorial Fellowship and will travel to Berlin in 2010 as part of her prize.

Helen, performing under the name McKisko, is passionate about honesty in songwriting. She spent two years working on her first album, Glorio, which was released to critical acclaim in 2009 and she now plans to spend her time in Berlin meeting with labels to secure a European distributor for Glorio.

The selection panel - Robert Forster, Adele Pickvance and Glenn Thompson from The Go-Betweens, and Grant's sister Sally McLennan - sought a contemporary music songwriter with both experience and exceptional talent, and Helens fit the bill perfectly.

Others shortlisted for the Fellowship were: Heinz Riegler, Kate Jacobson and Daniel Widdicombe.

The announcement coincided with the presentation of a legacy item to the Grant McLennan Archive at the State Library of Queensland by 2008 Fellowship recipients, John Busby and Christopher Dale, of Halfway. The duo, who recently returned from London as part of their Fellowship win, donated a framed photo to the Archive.

21 July 2009 - Helen Franzmann named as winner - media release