Courses taken at AWC:
Writing Picture Books
How to Write for Children and Young Adults
Freelance Writing Stage 1
Engineer-turned-maths teacher Charlotte Barkla never imagined she’d become a published writer – but three children’s books later, she’s thrilled to have rediscovered her passion.
So you’ve got a fantastic idea for a picture book – but you’ve never done it before, and you’re a bit lost on where to start? You’ve come to the right place. Here are seven surprising tips from successful Australian Writers’ Centre graduates and teachers on how to make your
The vast majority of authors who are starting out juggle their passion for writing with a day job. If you want to write a novel, you might wonder how to get that done when you’ve already got a bunch of other commitments. The authors we spoke to all combined day
World-class crime and thriller author and Australian Writers’ Centre presenter, L.A. Larkin, joined Valerie Khoo for the ‘Creative Conversations’ Facebook Live event to discuss the adrenaline-fuelled world of crime and thriller writing. And you get to watch the replay here. L.A. Larkin, also known as Louisa Bennet, talks about her
Heather Rose’s novel Bruny, which won the 2020 ABIA for General Fiction Book of the Year, is not easily classified: it combines political satire with thriller, and adds elements of romance as well as complex family dynamics into the mix. For Heather’s part, she says she never set out to
So you’re creative, inspired and want to write fiction? Great! For all writers, from first-timers to those with multiple novels under their belt already, the process can present some surprising challenges. Perhaps you’re struggling to get the first sentence onto the page, or maybe you’re part-way through and worried you’re
Clare Bowditch’s ABIA award-winning memoir, Your Own Kind of Girl, goes deep into love, loss and grief. For her first book, Clare drew from her experience as a musician to get through the process of endless re-drafting, as well as using the names of her songs as chapter titles. Clare
The shortlist for the 2020 Text Prize has been announced – and we’re delighted to see two Australian Writers’ Centre alumnae among them! Miranda Luby, who completed our How to Write for Children and Young Adults course, and Lauren Draper, who has taken a creative writing course, have both been
British-Australian crime and thriller writer L.A. Larkin – who teaches the Australian Writers’ Centre’s popular Crime and Thriller Writing course is our go-to woman for crafting suspenseful, exciting literature. Larkin’s latest thriller novel Prey was released in April 2020, published by Clan Destine Press in Australia and Bloodhound Books in
Award-winning author, speaker and Australian Writers’ Centre presenter Nicole Hayes has made no secret of her passion for AFL. Much of her back catalogue is football-adjacent, and she’s a founding member of weekly ABC podcast The Outer Sanctum. Nicole’s latest project speaks to a different audience from her previous young
Multiple generations of children have grown up with the books of Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton. From their first book Just Tricking!, released in 1997, to their latest The 117-Storey Treehouse – which was awarded the ABIA award for the Book of the Year for Younger Children in 2020 –
Natasha Lester is the bestselling author of five historical novels, including The Paris Secret, The French Photographer, The Paris Seamstress, Her Mother’s Secret and A Kiss From Mr Fitzgerald. She’s also one of our wonderful presenters here at the Australian Writers’ Centre with her online courses 2 Hours to Scrivener
Courses taken at AWC:
Writing Picture Books
Creative Writing Stage 1
Freelance Writing Stage 1
We’ve taken to having Friday afternoon trivia quizzes here at AWC HQ, through the amazing power of Zoom and Google Docs – and of course a virtual cheers or two. One of last week’s topics was ‘television’ and it’s amazing how diverse our range of knowledge is (Nat = 3/10,
Are you searching for something to focus on? Tasmanian author Kate Kruimink explained that was what she was doing when she decided to write and enter her manuscript into The Australian/Vogel’s Literary Award 2020. A great creative focus indeed, as Allen and Unwin have announced Kate’s A Treacherous Country the
Tara Moss – author, journalist, documentary-maker and human rights activist – joined Australian Writers’ Centre CEO, Valerie Khoo, in the ‘Creative Conversations’ Facebook Live event. Tara explains her latest paranormal fiction novel The Cobra Queen, the fourth book in the Pandora English series following The Skeleton Key. Amidst paranormal fiction,
This is a guest post by Leah Swann You open a novel, you open a door. I learned this from my first chapter book – Enid Blyton’s The Naughtiest Girl in the School. Although shocked by the ‘spoiled’ Elizabeth Allen, deliberately behaving badly enough to be expelled from the school
This is a guest post by Leah Swann You open a novel, you open a door. I learned this from my first chapter book – Blyton’s The Naughtiest Girl in the School. Although shocked by the ‘spoiled’ Elizabeth Allen, deliberately behaving badly enough to be expelled from the school she’s
A guest post by Vanessa McCausland I have a theory that a big part of what makes someone a writer is what writing does for us. It’s an outlet. It’s a balm. For me, writing has always been a place where I can let all my emotions out. I’ve had
A guest post by children’s book author Andrew Daddo This was meant to be a blog post along the lines of ‘5 reasons funny books are great for kids’. I think we all know the main reason, and that’s to make kids laugh. There’s a healthy by-product, another compelling reason
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