The recipient of the 2021 Jesse Cox Audio Fellowship is award-winning podcaster, Jay Ooi.
The annual fellowship, executed in partnership with Sydney podcast studio Audiocraft, provides a career defining opportunity for an Australian storyteller to accelerate their career and create an innovative audio work.
Jay says, “I have been obsessed with audio storytelling for much of my adult life and I’m beyond excited to share more ambitious stories made by and for Asian Australians through the Shoes Off podcast. Asian Australian voices deserve more amplification and Asian Australian stories deserve to be better understood in this country, especially during the current climate. Jesse Cox was known for his nurturing of new talent and his innovative approach to audio storytelling. I’m humbled to be associated with his name and with those qualities through this opportunity.”
Established in honour of award-winning radio producer, the late Jesse Cox, the Jesse Cox Audio Fellowship (JCAF) is continuing Jesse’s determination to strengthen and build the Australian audio community, amplifying audio storytelling and supporting local and underrepresented voices.
In its second year, the JCAF attracted impressive applications from around the country with strong representation from regional Australia. The diversity of applicants was also impressive, with 36% identifying as LGBTQI+, 9% as living with a disability, 51% as culturally and linguistically diverse, and 9% as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander.
The JCAF selection panel were looking for proposals demonstrating a strong vision from people whose career development would benefit from the support of the JCAF.
Five applicants were shortlisted:
Aimee Chan, author and writer across print, online and radio. She has published two children’s picture books and has curated and project managed numerous creative audio based projects.
Travis De Vries, a Gamilaroi podcaster, artist, writer and producer. He is the co-host of Broriginals and the producer of Fear of a Blak Planet. In 2020 Travis founded the non-for-profit First Nations podcasting corporation Awesome Black.
Michele Lee, an award-winning Asian-Australian writer and theatre-maker working across stage, live art, audio and screen. Her work is largely narrative-focused, in comedy and drama, and explores stories of women, otherness and found families.
Sheila Ngoc Pham, writer, editor and producer working across radio, print, online and film. She has held digital and editorial roles at the ABC and has produced radio documentaries and stories for Radio National, most recently Tongue Tied and Fluent, a five-part series exploring multilingualism in Australia.
Jay Ooi – 2021 JCAF Fellow. Jay has released three seasons of Shoes Off, a podcast about Asian Australian experience, issues and culture.
Jesse Cox Audio Fellowship founding member, Que Minh Luu, says, “We’re thrilled to have Jay as our 2021 fellow. We were impressed by the selflessness and humility that Jay showed, and the extent to which community is imbued in everything he does. That combined with his natural curiosity and already substantial body of work, is exactly the type of thing that would have excited Jesse and make him an ideal recipient of the fellowship.”
Jay will use the fellowship to develop his long form audio storytelling skills and help build an audience for his podcast Shoes Off.
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