Awards and scholarships

Arts Queensland proudly supports a suite of awards and scholarships to recognise and encourage Queensland's music and literary artists.

Music awards and scholarships

Arts Queensland supports awards and scholarships through the Queensland Music Awards to recognise and celebrate emerging and established music artists.

Named in honour of the late Queensland rock musician, Arts Queensland's $15,000 Billy Thorpe Scholarship supports an emerging contemporary musician or band with specialist career planning and advice, and the opportunity to record with a local producer. The Scholarship is funded by Arts Queensland and administered by QMusic.

Scholarship recipients:

The $15,000 Carol Lloyd Award honours the late Carol Lloyd’s contribution to Queensland’s music scene and is presented to an emerging female identifying or non-binary singer-songwriter residing in Queensland. This award provides emerging artists a career head start, broadening their music industry experience. The Carol Lloyd Award is supported by Arts Queensland and APRA AMCOS.

Award recipients:

The $15,000 Grant McLennan Fellowship honours the late great Queensland singer-songwriter and founding members of the legendary Brisbane band The Go-Betweens, Grant McLennan. The scholarship offers a songwriter or songwriting duo the opportunity to travel overseas to develop their skills and career. The Grant McLennan Fellowship is funded by Arts Queensland and administered by QMusic.

Fellowship recipients:

The $15,000 Dennis ‘Mop’ Conlon Scholarship honours the contribution of the 'King of Murri Country', Dennis ‘Mop’ Conlon and supports an emerging Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander musician or band from Queensland to develop and record a song or series of songs. The Dennis ‘Mop’ Conlon Scholarship is funded by Arts Queensland and administered by QMusic and delivered in partnership with Triple A Murri Country 98.9FM.

Scholarship recipients:

2026 Dubbzone | 2025 Rudy Matoy | 2024 Kristal West | 2023 Dean Brady

Further information on these awards and scholarships is available from QMusic. For enquiries, please contact QMusic on 3257 0013 or at info@qmusic.com.au.

Literary awards

Queensland Poetry Awards

Queensland Writer’s Centre produces the Queensland Poetry Awards annually, and administer the following awards on behalf of the Queensland Government:

Arts Queensland Val Vallis Award,
Arts Queensland Thomas Shapcott Poetry Prize for an Unpublished Manuscript
XYZ Prize for Innovation in Spoken Word

For details see the Queensland Writers Centre website.

Queensland Literary Awards

Brisbane Writers Festival produces the Queensland Literary Awards as part of their annual festival, and administers the following awards on behalf of the Queensland Government:

Queensland Premier's Regional Publisher and Writer Award
Queensland Premier's Young Publisher and Writer Award
Queensland Premier’s Award for a Work of State Significance

For details see the Brisbane Writers Festival website.

Queensland Writers Fellowships

Funded by the Queensland Government, through Arts Queensland, the Fellowships are valued at $24,500 each, allowing recipients to develop and complete a writing project over a 12-month period in addition to undertaking professional development with Queensland Writer’s Centre.

In 2026 the Queensland Writers Fellowships recipients are:

Gavin Yuan Gao for The Apparitions, a poetry manuscript exploring how identity is shaped through inheritance, displacement and loss.
Dr Melanie Myers for Ambition, a meta-biographical novel examining the literary phenomenon of ‘forgotten’ stories of women in the arts and sciences.
Charlotte Barkla for I Only Told One Little Lie, a murder mystery novel from the perspective of four teenage main characters.

Performing Arts Awards

Arts Queensland supports the Matilda Awards recognising excellence in the performing arts sector. The Matilda Awards have honoured and celebrated the achievements of Queensland’s performing arts sector since 1987, with Arts Queensland providing support since 2003. The Matilda Award currently comprise around 20 categories, including awards for leading productions, as well as individual awards in areas such as costumes, sets, lighting, video, composition, direction and performance. The Gold Matilda is presented to a standout individual, company or production and is presented by the Minister for the Arts.

Banner image: Carmouflage Rose at QMusic. Credit: Bianca Holderness.
In-page image: Queensland Literary Awards 2019. Credit: Josef Ruckli.

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Awards and scholarships