Discover past and current State Library and Archives of Tasmania Fellows.
2026 recipients
Research Fellowship – Dr Paris Buttfield-Addison
Dr Paris Buttfield-Addison’s project title is From Convict Astronomy to Cosmic Frontier: Uncovering Tasmania’s Space History Through the Archives.
Paris is a computer scientist, game designer, writer, and artist. He works at the intersection of creativity, technology, policy, and human behaviour.
Paris will explore Lutruwita/Tasmania’s extraordinary yet little-known space history. The project will cover the establishment of Rossbank Observatory in 1840 to the tracking of today’s interplanetary spacecraft.
Aboriginal Fellowship – Liz Tew
Liz Tew’s project title is Milaythina Lakapawa: seeing Country through the records of the Colonial surveyors 1803–1840.
Liz is a Pakana (Tasmania Aboriginal) researcher, writer and artist from Nipaluna/Hobart. Liz will draw from colonial maps and records to inform a Pakana observation, a rereading, seeing and mapping of Country.
As a reclaiming of cultural knowledges, the project will be shaped by Indigenous Data Sovereignty principles. It also draws on principles outlined in The Indigenous Right of Reply to Archives working towards Indigenous sovereignty, healing, and justice in archival practice (Indigenous Archives Collective, 2026).
Writing Fellowship – Robert Jarman
With Island Magazine
Robert Jarman is an established actor, theatre director, and writer. Robert’s project Swagger focuses on the convict actor and comedian Alonzo Johnson (1819–1882). Swagger explores the history of theatre, sexuality, gender, drag, cross-dressing, longing and love in colonial Lutruwita/Tasmania. Robert plans to capture this research in a piece of imaginative historical fiction and a performance.
Writing Fellowship – Sam George-Allen
With Island Magazine
Sam George-Allen is a freelance writer in fiction, nonfiction, criticism and journalism. Sam’s project is titled Lantern Slides – short stories from a forest in parallel. About a tree-loving anthropologist from another universe, Sam’s speculative fiction will examine historical artefacts from our forestry industry.
2025 recipients
Research Fellowship – Dr Joy McCann
Dr Joy McCann is the author of several books about Antarctica and the Southern Ocean.
Joy’s Fellowship project is titled ‘Telling the story of Lutruwita/Tasmania’s place in the history of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean’. Joy will create an illustrated contextual history about Antarctic and Southern Ocean history. Joy will also create some significant and unique items for exhibitions, panels and presentations.
Creative Fellowship – Robert O’Connor
Robert O’Connor is a Tasmanian artist who explores a range of concepts through painting and installation.
Robert’s Fellowship project is titled ‘Remixing the Archives; a florilegium of marginalia’. Robert’s project will explore the boundaries between personal documentation, historical records and artistic creation. Robert will produce works in response to this.
Aboriginal Fellowship – Dr Zoe Rimmer
Dr Zoe Rimmer is a Pakana (Tasmanian Aboriginal) community member. She has Ancestral connections to the northeast coast of Lutruwita/Tasmania. Zoe grew up connected to her community, Country and culture. This has inspired her work in the museum and cultural heritage management sector over the past 20 years.
Zoe’s Fellowship project is titled ‘Connecting the VDL Company Archives with Pakana Community, Country and Culture’. Zoe aims to find and share cultural information about Tasmanian Aboriginal people of the west coast in the Van Diemen’s Land (VDL) company records held in the State Library and Archives of Lutruwita/Tasmania collections.
Writing Fellowship – Ivy Alvarez
With Island Magazine
Ivy Alvarez is a highly respected writer and editor.
Ivy’s Fellowship project is titled ‘The Pain Button and other stories’. Ivy aims to uncover the obscure links between Filipino people who travelled to Tasmania. This will include Tasmanians who have sought a relationship with the Philippines.
Writing Fellowship – Ben Walter
With Island Magazine
Ben Walter is one of Australia’s most widely published contemporary literary writers.
Ben’s Fellowship project is titled ‘Developing experimental nature fiction through engagement with the journals and letters of Tasmanian bushwalker, Jack Thwaites’. Ben will create three pieces of experimental nature writing based on Jack Thwaites logbooks, letters and notes.
2024 recipients
Research fellow – Dr Richard Tuffin
Dr Tuffin is well known to the State Library for the research he has conducted into convict and post convict sites and systems. His research proposal detailed using his extensive experience to add to existing knowledge of the settlement of Van Diemens Land by using GIS (Geographical Information Systems) to show how the location of the convict probation stations facilitated European expansion.
The output from his studies is being used to enhance the information we can provide on the locations for all the female convicts and 10,000 male convicts in our names index. Dr Tuffin will also provide a talk and publish an article. His research can be found in the project portal Forgotten and threatened: Reclaiming Tasmania’s probation system, 1839-53.
Creative fellow – Dr Margaret Woodward
Dr Woodward has held artists residencies across the United States and in Tasmania, has exhibited through-out Australia and internationally and has published prolifically since 2015. Her creative works have been inspired by archive research in libraries and collections around the world.
Her proposal centres around an 1868 artefact, Tasman’s Peninsula – Semaphore Code Dictionary CON133/1/1, held in the State Archives of the State Library. The dictionary functions as a detailed material and social catalogue of the colony of Van Diemans Land. Dr Woodward will revisit this artefact and write a contemporary code book for present day Lutruwita/Tasmania.
Her output will include writing and publishing an original personal code book and sewing two sets of 10 semaphore flags, one set life size and the other scaled for use in a performance piece. The semaphore flags will be used as installation in the library both in the North and the South.
