The HarperCollins Varuna Awards for manuscript development 2008/2009 are now open. Two new novels developed through this program will be launched early in 2009 –Tasmanian Katherine Johnson's thrilling novel of a sea-chase in the icy Southern Ocean, Pescador's Wake, and South Australian writer Siew Siang Tay's sensitive and beautifully sad evocation of the world of the mail-order bride, Handpicked.

The essential feature of the program is that 5 senior HarperCollins editors select 5 projects and work with 5 writers in the supportive residential environment of Varuna –The Writers' House in the Blue Mountains of NSW. This is a wonderful opportunity for engagement and industry experience, and often for profound and unexpected development for both writer and editor. There's no guarantee of publication, but manuscripts are selected on the basis of their potential for publication.

If you're serious about a project of fiction or narrative non-fiction, and if it is developed to the point where an editor would have something solid and absorbing to work with, an application to the HarperCollins Varuna Awards for Manuscript Development is a valuable port of call. In the cases of Katherine Johnson and Siew Siang Tay it was the turning point in their writing careers.

Applications for the 2008/2009 program are now open (deadline October 30 2008) and full information, including guidelines and application forms, is available at www.varuna.com.au