Category: Alumni/Student success stories

“Enrolling in those AWC courses made all the difference in the world, the best thing I ever did – I wouldn’t be published now if I hadn’t!” Al says. Her debut novel, ‘The Keepers’ published by University of Queensland Press is out now.

“I enrolled in the Writing Picture Books course to learn as much as I could about the industry I was entering and build on my confidence and capabilities as an author. I’m so incredibly grateful that I did.” With her newfound skills, Sarah went on to publish her debut picture book ‘Down the Road, Little Bee’.

“I loved the fact that it was online, self-paced and that I could complete the course around my family commitments,” Jacinta says. “I made connections with the lovely writing community and more recently I secured a publishing deal with the amazing Larrikin House.”

Jacinta’s debut picture book Jingle Belly will be published by Larrikin House in November 2021, with illustrations by Gabriella Petruso.

“The AWC was such a key part of that: meeting other writers, access to those who’d done it, the community that forms around those taking a course. Writing can be such a solitary pursuit for a gregarious, garrulous person like me! The AWC was the antidote to that.”

That’s how Freda Chiu describes the moment she found out that her debut picture book, A Trip to the Hospital, was going to be published by Allen & Unwin. Although she was a successful freelance artist and educator, Freda wasn’t sure she had the skills to write her own picture book. But after taking the Writing Picture Books course with the Australian Writers’ Centre, Freda was unstoppable.

“I loved how structured and practical the Writing Picture Books course was,” Freda says. “I learned more in the two days I was at the AWC than in the few years prior doing self-research.”

That momentum led to the start of her career as an essayist and has culminated in the release of her memoir The Shape of Sound, published by Text Publishing in March 2021.

“Signing the contract was an out-of-body experience—it was both thrilling and terrifying! It took weeks for it to sink in.”

“I wrote a story for one of the assignments, and soon after the course, I polished it up and submitted it to Affirm Press. It was my first picture book submission to a publisher,” Bec told us. “Six months later they got in touch, and I have just signed a contract with them. They will be turning my manuscript into a real live story book in 2023!”

“As I worked my way through the course, I began to feel more confident as a writer. And once I completed the course, I was so eager to dive back into my manuscript and apply all my new learnings.”

Anika’s debut book Our Sunburnt Country is out now with Pan Macmillan.