Category: Alumni/Student success stories

Wow, winter sure brings out the writers! Here’s the latest selection of successes from our graduates. Prepare to be inspired! It could be you next time…

First up, Gabriel McGrath has been a man on a mission of late – proving that parent posts can indeed come from dads too! Heeding the mantra of matching a story to something topical, Gabriel latched onto Coeliac Week, and his piece about his own son’s experience with gluten issues was snapped up by the Essential Kids editor and its readers too – generating plenty of great comments.

We spotted Jo in Sunday Life recently! Then I flip the page and there is Australian Writers’ Centre grad Jo Hartley’s article in today’s Sunday Life mag! A photo posted by Valerie Khoo (@valeriekhoo) on Sep 6, 2014 at 5:08pm PDT Congratulations Jo! If you have a success story to share with

We spotted Cassy in Sunday Life recently! So fab to see Australian Writers’ Centre grad Cassy Small @csmall80 ‘s article in today’s Sunday Life mag! A photo posted by Valerie Khoo (@valeriekhoo) on Sep 6, 2014 at 5:06pm PDT Congratulations Cassy! If you have a success story to share with us, you

We spotted Cassy in Feast Magazine recently! Sitting at the hair salon and first article I flip to in Feast mag is by @writerscentreau grad @csmall80 Cassy Small! Go Cassy :) A photo posted by Valerie Khoo (@valeriekhoo) on Aug 24, 2014 at 11:34pm PDT Congratulations Cassy! If you have a success

Every year across Australia, there are thousands of dollars on offer in the form of writing prizes. Some of these are awarded to existing works or published pieces, but there are still plenty open to aspiring unpublished authors to enter.

Sharon Elisara completed our Creative Writing Stage 1 course earlier this year with Pamela Freeman and it was while she was on the course that she noticed the Hunter Valley Writers Group writing competition. The theme was ‘grief’ or ‘grieving’ and the top story would win $1000. Bolstered with the confidence from her course, she edited and submitted a story (in the first week of her next course with us!).

It was only the second story that Sharon had ever written. And it won. Originally from Perth, but currently living in New Zealand, Sharon was thrilled with the win – awarded in Newcastle at the end of August.

We love hearing from our students no matter what they have to say, but when we hear of a student being published, we just want to shout it from the rooftops! We’re a little scared of heights, so we’ll go with a blog post instead. Bexy says: I have finally

We spotted Jo in Sunday Life recently! Thrilled to see Australian Writers’ Centre grad Jo Hartley’s article in today’s Sunday Life :) A photo posted by Valerie Khoo (@valeriekhoo) on Aug 3, 2014 at 3:32am PDT Congratulations Jo! If you have a success story to share with us, you can do so

Our recent rubbish winter weather makes this week’s glow of student successes so much warmer! And where better to start than Hawaii, where Brooke Lumsden managed to fit in a stay with her family and a story for Essential Kids. Nice work Brooke – another example of finding opportunities wherever

We spotted Lindy in Sunday Life recently! Fab to see Australian Writers’ Centre grad Lindy Alexander’s piece in today’s Sunday Life mag :) A photo posted by Valerie Khoo (@valeriekhoo) on Jul 12, 2014 at 4:58pm PDT Congratulations Lindy! If you have a success story to share with us, you can do

We love hearing from our students no matter what they have to say, but when we hear of a student being published, we just want to shout it from the rooftops! We’re a little scared of heights, so we’ll go with a blog post instead. Gabe says: For the past

We love hearing from our students no matter what they have to say, but when we hear of a student being published, we just want to shout it from the rooftops! We’re a little scared of heights, so we’ll go with a blog post instead. Claudine says: My first book

We had so many reports of graduate success this week, we thought we’d better do a bumper edition!

Michelle Stacpoole was “slightly excited” (read: thrilled!) to see her first article published on The Drum, and Stacey Gladman’s article on Australia becoming a “nanny state” debuted on Essential Kids.

Catherine Rodie was a commissioned-article-machine in June (with a total of 21 we believe!), including an article on the dangers of US-style kids beauty pageants. Speaking of which, another Magazine and Newspaper Writing graduate, Lisa Almond, explored beauty standards recently on Essential Kids, as well as lamenting her wedding planning mania on iVillage.

We love seeing our graduates out and about in the world, being published in all manner of ways. People like Sharlene Zeederberg on SApeople.com, striking a note on what it means to be South African in Australia. At the same time, Elly Michelle Clough proved the topical stories work by celebrating World Gin Day with a piece on Australia’s fast growing boutique distilleries – in The Guardian.

Thuy Yau has been blogging up a storm as a regular on HuffPost UK, along with articles in Essential Kids – covering topics such as motherly love and teaching empathy.

Being published for the first time is especially sweet. One of our first Perth graduates, Tania Connolly, was thrilled to see her “Twice the Trauma” piece published in Offspring magazine, and Michael Carland adapted his Creative Writing Stage 1 assignment piece into a short story that was published in the Stringybark anthology “Behind the Wattles” last year. And Kym Campradt was published for the first time on Essential Kids for her piece on parenting when your partner works away. The first of many for you all!

We love hearing from our students no matter what they have to say, but when we hear of a student being published, we just want to shout it from the rooftops! We’re a little scared of heights, so we’ll go with a blog post instead. Victoria says: I had an

We love hearing from our students no matter what they have to say, but when we hear of a student being published, we just want to shout it from the rooftops! We’re a little scared of heights, so we’ll go with a blog post instead. Lucille says: I did the

We love hearing from our students no matter what they have to say, but when we hear of a student being published, we just want to shout it from the rooftops! We’re a little scared of heights, so we’ll go with a blog post instead. Stephen says: I am a

We love hearing from our students no matter what they have to say, but when we hear of a student being published, we just want to shout it from the rooftops! We’re a little scared of heights, so we’ll go with a blog post instead. Libby says: I was published

We love hearing from our students no matter what they have to say, but when we hear of a student being published, we just want to shout it from the rooftops! We’re a little scared of heights, so we’ll go with a blog post instead. Ambra says: I was commissioned