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Ask...About Writing for Children
Refine Your Children's Middle Grade Novel
Ailsa Wild is an acrobat, whip cracker and teaching artist who ran away from the circus to do a Masters in Creative Writing at RMIT. Her ‘Squishy Taylor’ series was her first foray into the world of junior fiction. Ailsa has also collaborated on the graphic novel, ‘The Invisible War’, which was nominated by the Children's Book Council of...
Plotting and Structure for Beginners: How to Write a Gripping Story
Anna George has worked in the legal world as well as the film and television industries. Her first novel, What Came Before, was shortlisted for the 2015 Ned Kelly and Sisters in Crime Best Debut Fiction awards, and was longlisted for the 2016 International Dublin Literary Award. Anna’s second book, The Lone Child, was short listed for the 2018 Ned Kelly Best Crime Fiction Award. Both books have been critically...
CSI: Crime Story Investigations, Session Two: Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?
Anna Snoekstra is the bestselling author of crime novels Only Daughter, Little Secrets and The Spite Game. She also recently released her first book for young adults, Mercy Point. Her short work has appeared in The Guardian, Filmme Fatales and...
Summer School 2019 - Short Story Method and Art
A.S. Patric's debut novel won the 2016 Miles Franklin, but before Black Rock White City won Australia’s most prestigious award, he published two story collections: Las Vegas for Vegans (shortlisted in the 2013 Queensland Literary Awards) and The Rattler & other stories. His stories individually are winners of the Ned Kelly Award and the Booranga Prize and twice published in Best Australian Stories. In November 2018...
Carrie Tiffany was born in West Yorkshire and grew up in WA. She spent her early twenties working as a park ranger in Central Australia and now lives in Melbourne. Her novels, Everyman’s Rules for Scientific Living and Mateship with Birds were published to great acclaim. Her new novel, Exploded View, will be published in March 2019.
Cath Crowley is an internationally published author of young adult fiction. Her novels include The Gracie Faltrain trilogy, Chasing Charlie Duskin, Graffiti Moon, Words in Deep Blue and Take Three Girls, co-written with Fiona Wood and Simmone Howell. Awards include The Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Young Adult Fiction (2011 and 2017), The Gold Inky (2017), and The...
Summer School 2019 - Speculative Fiction
Claire G. Coleman is a Wirlomin Noongar woman whose ancestral country is in the South Coast of Western Australia. Her debut speculative fiction novel Terra Nullius, written while travelling in a caravan, won a Black&Write! Fellowship and a Norma K Hemming awardand has been Shortlisted for the Stella Prize and an Aurealis Award. Her second novel The Old Lie is slated for publication in the second half of 2019.
Summer School 2019 Masterclass: Poetry as Presence
Claire Gaskin has been publishing poetry and teaching writing since the 1980’s. Her collection, a bud, completed in the receipt of a Literature Board grant, was published by John Leonard Press in 2006 and shortlisted in the SA Literature Awards. Her collection, Paperweight, was published by John Hunter Publishers in 2013.
Summer School 2019 - Experimental Writing
Dave Drayton was an amateur banjo player, founding member of the Atterton Academy, Kanganoulipian, and the author of E, UIO, A: a feghoot (Container), A pet per ably-faced kid (Stale Objects dePress), P(oe)Ms (Rabbit), Haiturograms (Stale Objects dePress) and Poetic Pentagons(Spacecraft Press). He received a PhD from the University of Technology, Sydney.
Emma Viskic is a classical clarinetist turned crime writer. Her critically acclaimed Caleb Zelic series has been published in numerous countries. Ressurection Bay won the Ned Kelly Award for Best First Fiction and three Davitt Awards. It is currently shortlisted for the UK’s prestigious Dagger Awards in two categories. And Fire Came Down won the 2018 Davitt Award for Best Crime Novel. Emma learnt Australian sign language (Auslan) in order to create the character of Caleb Zelic, who is profoundly deaf.
Summer School 2019 - The Resilient Writer
Hoa Pham is a psychologist and author of seven fiction books and one play. “Wave” has been translated into Vietnamese and is being adapted to film. The Other Shore won the Vive La Novella Prize. Her inspirations are Jeanette Winterson, Haruki Murakami and Thich Nhat Hanh.
James Bradley is a writer and critic. His books include the novels Wrack, The Deep Field, The Resurrectionist and Clade, a book of poetry, Paper Nautilus, The Penguin Book of the Ocean, and most recently, The Change Trilogy for young adults. He has also written extensively about literature and the environment, and in 2012 won the Pascall Prize for Australia’s Critic of the Year.
Hidden Stories, Emerging Knowledge (Lake Tyers)
Jan ‘Yarn’ Wositzky is a renowned storyteller, musician and writer, whose first gig, in 1971, was as a founder of the now famous Bushwackers Band. His credits post-Bushwackers include performing his solo show ‘Canakkale Gallipoli’ before the Dawn Service at Gallipoli; the runaway best-selling biography of Tommy Woodcock, ‘Me & Phar Lap’; the 2014 National Folk Fellowship for his acclaimed storytelling masterpiece ‘Bilarni’; the Victorian History...
Jane Rawson has written two novels - A wrong turn at the Office of Unmade Lists and From the wreck – and a novella, Formaldehyde. She is the co-author of The handbook: surviving and living with climate change. Her short fiction and essays are in Sleepers, Overland, Tincture, Seizure, Griffith Review, Meanjin and Review of Australian Fiction. She mostly writes about the environment.
Jennifer Tutty is an experienced lawyer practising in the areas of entertainment, intellectual property and commercial law. Her practice, Studio Legal, is located on Chapel St, Windsor and services a variety of creatively driven businesses and individuals including artists, musicians, writers, designers and creative agencies (to name a few). Jennifer has been practising for nearly 15 years, and was named by Doyle’s Guide as a leading copyright and intellectual property...
Online: Advanced Short Story Clinic
Josephine Rowe is the author of two story collections and a novel, A Loving, Faithful Animal. Her writing has appeared in Meanjin, Overland, McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern, The Monthly, The Paris Review, Best Australian Stories, LitHub, and elsewhere. Rowe holds fellowships from the International Writing Program at The University of Iowa, the Wallace Stegner Program at Stanford University, and the BR Whiting fellowship, Rome. Her third collection of stories is...
Kate Mildenhall is a writer and teacher. Her debut novel, ‘Skylarking’ (Black Inc., 2016) was named in Readings bookstore’s Top Ten Fiction Books of 2016 and longlisted for Debut Fiction in The Indie Book Awards 2017 and the 2017 Voss Literary Award. Kate lives in Hurstbridge, Victoria, with her young family and is currently working on her second novel. Kate co-hosts ‘The First Time’ podcast – a podcast about the first time you publish a book.
Katherine Collette’s first novel ‘The Helpline’ comes out with Text Publishing in September 2018. Katherine had been awarded a retreat fellowship at Varuna, the Writers House and was part of the ACT Writers Centre’s 2016 Hardcopy program. Katherine works as an engineer and lives in the northern suburbs of Melbourne with her partner and their two kids. Katherine co-hosts ‘The First Time’ podcast – a podcast about the first time you publish a book.
Writing Your Way to the End: Plotting, Momentum, and Re-Drafting
Dr Kathryn Heyman 's sixth novel is Storm and Grace (Allen & Unwin). She has written several radio dramas for the BBC, including adaptations of her own fiction and was awarded the 2018 CAL Author Fellowship for work on her forthcoming memoir. Her previous work has won the Wingate, Southern Arts and Arts Council of England Writing Awards in the UK and been nominated for awards including the Scottish Writer of the Year, the Orange...
Summer School 2019 - Writing the Body
Lee Kofman is the author of four books, including the memoir The Dangerous Bride (2014, Melbourne University Press), and co-editor of Rebellious Daughters (2016, Ventura Press), an anthology of prominent Australian memoirists. Her writing received numerous awards and her blog was a finalist for Best Australian Blogs 2014. Her next two books, creative nonfiction work Imperfect (Affirm Press) and the anthology of essays Split (...
Lucy Treloar is a writer, editor, and creative writing teacher. Her short fiction has appeared in ‘Sleepers’, ‘Overland’, ‘Seizure’, and ‘Best Australian Stories’ and her non-fiction in a range of publications. Her novel ‘Salt Creek’ was published in 2015. Lucy’s awards include the 2016 Indie Award for Best Debut Fiction and the 2014 Commonwealth Short Story Prize, Pacific region. ‘Salt Creek’ is shortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize, and shortlisted for the...
The Business End: Marketing Your Work
Marian Blythe has worked in communications for the past decade. She is currently publicity manager at independent book publisher Black Inc., was previously marketing manager at Scribe Publications, and has taught digital media at RMIT. She has written, produced, and performed in live theatre shows, radio programs and podcasts, and is director of the Homecooked Comics Festival.
The Business End, Session 1: To Freelance or Not to Freelance
Marisa Wikramanayake is a freelance journalist, editor and writer, first published at 17, recently longlisted for the Kill Your Darlings Unpublished Manuscript Award and the inaugural KSP -Varuna Foundation Fellow. They have edited award winning work and are currently writing a crime fiction novel. They have covered science, arts and politics and worked in print, online, TV and radio news, most recently writing about fashion and trucks and...
CSI: Crime Story Investigation, Session Three: This Is How
Mark Brandi’s bestselling novel, Wimmera, won the coveted British Crime Writers’ Association Debut Dagger and was named Best Debut at the 2018 Australian Indie Book Awards. It was also shortlisted for the Australian Book Industry Awards Literary Fiction Book of the Year, and the Matt Richell Award for New Writer of the Year. His next book, The Rip, will be published in March 2019.
Mary Borsellino has published work with a variety of micropress publishers in Australia and internationally. Her first foray into professional fiction writing was self-publishing a lurid YA novel at eighteen to supplement her babysitting income. Since then she’s. Her mother asked her to use a pseudonym for romance novels, so sometimes Mary’s known as Julia Leijon. Her heart still lies in YA, though, where her novels have inspired cosplay, tattoos and some incredible fan...
An award-winning comedian with 16 years on national and international stages, Nelly now focuses her efforts on MCing, speaking, and writing books. She also loves to teach and is a regular guest presenter on ABC radio.
Summer School 2019 - Show Don't Tell
Nicole Hayes is an award winning author of YA fiction, a freelance writer/editor, and podcaster. Her novels have been shortlisted in the NSW Premier’s Award, WA Premier’s Award, and the YABBAs. A Shadow’s Breath and One True Thing are CBCA Notable books - the latter winning the Children’s Peace Literature Award. She’s a Stella Prize Ambassador who teaches writing to adults and young people, and is one-sixth of award winning ABC podcast/radio show...
Online: Advanced Short Story Clinic
Paul McVeigh’s short fiction has been published in journals and anthologies and been commissioned by BBC Radio 4. He has read his work for BBC Radio and at many international festivals. His award-winning debut novel ‘The Good Son’ was published by Salt Publishing in 2015. Paul is Director of the London Short Story Festival and Associate Director at Word Factory, the UK’s national organisation for excellence in the short story. He is also a judge for...
Summer School 2019 - Microfiction: Making Every Word Count
Richard Holt’s short story and microfiction collection, What You Might Find, (Spineless Wonders, 2018) was described by The Australian as ‘a tonic for readers in search of new angles from which to spin the world around in their heads’. His stories have appeared in numerous collections and journals. He also produces microfiction for public spaces in a range of video, public art and performance formats.
Summer School 2019 - The Verse Novel
Sharon Kernot writes fiction and poetry. Her verse novel ‘The Art of Taxidermy’ was shortlisted for the 2017 Text Prize and published by Text in 2018. Her first novel ‘Underground Road’ was published by Wakefield Press. Sharon’s work has appeared in a variety of journals, magazines and anthologies including Island, Mascara, Southerly, Best Australian Poems, and Australian Love Stories. She is currently working as publishing assistant at Garron Publishing....
Simmone Howell is the author of YA novels including Notes from the Teenage Underground and Girl Defective. She also writes non-fiction about houses, movies, and ways to map a city. She is a PhD candidate at La Trobe University researching life writing about adolescence and teenage dreamlives, and is working on her own pop culture memoir. Find her @postteen
Sonia Marcon is the chick with the stick. She has been working as an actor, writer, singer, producer and director for nearly twenty years. Since 2015 Sonia has performed in Quippings: Disabiity Unleashed events to deliver self-devised performances exploring the challenges and changes of disabled life with humour and pointed commentary. Sonia is one of the 2017 recipients of the Writers Victoria Write-ability Fellowship. Her works have been published with ‘ABC Open’, ‘...
Sonia Marcon is the chick with the stick. She has been working as an actor, writer, singer, producer and director for nearly twenty years. Since 2015 Sonia has performed in Quippings: Disabiity Unleashed events to deliver self-devised performances exploring the challenges and changes of disabled life with humour and pointed commentary. Sonia is one of the 2017 recipients of the Writers Victoria Write-ability Fellowship. Her works have been published with ‘ABC Open’, ‘...
Alice Pung is the award-winning Melbourne author of ‘Unpolished Gem’, ‘Her Father’s Daughter’ and ‘Growing Up Asian in Australia’. Her work has been published in ‘The Age’, ‘The Monthly’, ‘Good Weekend’ and ‘The Australian’.
Overcoming Self-Doubt and Procrastination
Annabel Smith is the author of The Ark, Whisky Charlie Foxtrot, and A New Map of the Universe, which was shortlisted for the West Australian Premier’s Book Awards. Whiskey Charlie Foxtrot, published in the USA as Whiskey & Charlie, has sold in excess of 70,000 copies. In 2012 Annabel was selected by the Australia Council as one of five inaugural recipients of a Creative Australia Fellowship for Emerging Artists, for her interactive digital novel/app The...
The Humanising Power of Story (Daylesford)
Arnold Zable is an acclaimed Australian writer, novelist, storyteller, and human rights advocate. His books include ‘Jewels and Ashes’, ‘The Fig Tree’, ‘Café Scheherazade’, ‘Scraps of Heaven’, ‘Sea of Many Returns’, ‘Violin Lessons’, and most recently, ‘The Fighter’. He is the author of numerous essays, columns, stories, features and...
The Business End: Amanda Apthorpe
Amanda Apthorpe is a published writer of two novels and an educator. She has presented papers on creative writing at conferences in Wellington NZ and London UK, has been interviewed on radio, and has convened workshops and webinars for Writers Victoria. Amanda is the author of - Time Management for Writers: The Magic of 10 Minutes, and Finding Your Writer’s Voice in the creative writing series: Write This Way.
Notes on a Walk – Writing The Bibbulmun Track (Apollo Bay)
Catherine Noske is a lecturer in creative writing and editor of ‘Westerly Magazine’ at the University of Western Australia. Her research focuses on contemporary Australian writing of place. Her creative work has been awarded the Elyne Mitchell Prize for Rural Women Writers (2008 and 2009), received a Varuna fellowship in 2014 and was shortlisted for the 2015 Dorothy Hewett Award. She is currently working on a poetry...
Editing and Enhancing Your Work
Ellen van Neerven is a Mununjali person from the Yugambeh language group of South East Queensland. Her first book ‘Heat and Light’ (UQP, 2014), a collection of interlinked short stories, won several awards including the NSW Premiers Literary Award for Indigenous Writing. ‘Comfort Food’ (UQP, 2016), a collection of poems, is her most recent release. Until 2016 Ellen was the Managing Editor of 'black&write! Indigenous Writing and Editing Project...
Gabriella Muñoz is a Mexican-Australian writer and editor. She has published feature articles and essays in English and Spanish on a wide variety of topics ranging from film and the music industry, to celebrity culture and women’s health. Her literary work focuses on motherhood, exile and the mysteries of blood and origin. She is a Digital Writer in Residence at Writers Victoria.
Hidden Stories, Emerging Knowledge (Lake Tyers)
Jan ‘Yarn’ Wositzky is a renowned storyteller, musician and writer, whose first gig, in 1971, was as a founder of the now famous Bushwackers Band. His credits post-Bushwackers include performing his solo show ‘Canakkale Gallipoli’ before the Dawn Service at Gallipoli; the runaway best-selling biography of Tommy Woodcock, ‘Me & Phar Lap’; the 2014 National Folk Fellowship for his acclaimed storytelling masterpiece ‘Bilarni’; the...
Winter School: Poetic Voice Masterclass
Jane Hirshfield is the author of eight much-honoured books of poetry, most recently ‘The Beauty’, long-listed for the National Book Award, as well as two now-classic books of essays, ‘Nine Gates: Entering the Mind of Poetry’ and ‘Ten Windows’. A chancellor-emerita of the Academy of American Poets, Hirshfield has been visiting professor at Stanford University, UC Berkeley and elsewhere.
Julia Prendergast’s short stories have been acknowledged in many forums including the Lightship Anthology International Short Story Competition (UK), Ink Tears International Short Story Competition (UK) Glimmer Train International Short Story Competition (US), Australian Book Review Elizabeth Jolley Prize and Josephine Ulrick Prize. Julia has a PhD in Writing and Literature, and is a lecturer in Writing and Literature at Swinburne University in Melbourne...
Structural Editing for Writers
Laurel Cohn is a book editor, passionate about communication and the power of stories in our lives. Since the 1980s, as a developmental editor, she has been helping writers prepare their work for publication. She also works with publishers, businesses and community organisations, and is a popular workshop presenter. Laurel has a PhD in literary and cultural studies and publishes in the academic world.
Winter School: The Novel of Ideas
Lia Hills is a Melbourne-based novelist, poet and translator. Publications include her novel ‘The Beginner’s Guide to Living’, shortlisted for the Victorian, Queensland and West Australian Premier’s Literary Awards, and her prize-winning poetry collection ‘The Possibility of Flight’. She has written about and translated works by Marie Darrieussecq and Alain Badiou. Lia’s latest novel, ‘The Crying Place’, set mostly in Arrernte and Pitjantjatjara...
Winter School: Problem-Solving in Literary Fiction
Lyndel Caffrey is a writer, mentor and creative writing teacher. She works with writers to help them build a deeper understanding of the story they have to tell, and how to tell it. Lyndel’s novella ‘Glad’ was published in ‘Griffith Review 38’, and her literary fiction manuscript ‘Gunclub’ was shortlisted for the inaugural Hachette Australian Richell Prize in 2015.
Carly Findlay is an award-winning writer, speaker and appearance activist. Carly has the rare, severe skin condition called Ichthyosis. She writes on disability issues for publications including ABC, Daily Life and SBS. She was named as one of Australia’s most influential women in the 2014 Australian Financial Review and Westpac 100 Women of Influence Awards. She has appeared on ABC's 'You Can't Ask That' and 'Cyber Hate' with Tara Moss, and has been a regular on various ABC...
Hidden Stories, Emerging Knowledge (Lake Tyers)
The Memory Code in Practice (Lake Tyers)
Dr Lynne Kelly is the author of 17 books including one novel and various education titles. Currently an Honorary Research Associate at LaTrobe University, her PhD was published by Cambridge University Press. She has four popular science titles with Allen & Unwin, the most recent being ‘The Memory...
Misbah Khokhar runs her own creative writing workshops through her company Witch and Wolf and her first book is ‘Rooftops in Karachi’ out through Vagabond Press. She holds post-graduate qualifications in creative writing, editing and publishing. She has performed and continues to perform her work in many festivals and events, and is published extensively through ‘Australian Poetry Journal’, ‘Cordite’, ‘Peril’, ‘Mascara Lit Review’ and ABC radio's ‘Poetica’.
Nick Gadd is the author of ‘Ghostlines’ (Scribe, 2008), which won a Victorian Premiers Literary Award for an unpublished manuscript in 2007 and a Ned Kelly Award for best first crime novel. He has written non-fiction about signwriting and psychogeography for ‘Meanjin’, ‘Kill Your Darlings’, ‘Griffith Review’ and ‘The Guardian’. Nick was the 2015 winner of the Nature Conservancy Australia Nature Writing Prize and was shortlisted in the essay category of the...
Rafeif Ismail, a third culture youth of the Sudanese diaspora, is an emerging writer who aims to explore the themes of home, belonging and Australian identity in the 21st century. Her current project aims to recreate the folktales of her childhood in English. She is committed to writing diverse characters and stories.
Roanna Gonsalves is the author of ‘The Permanent Resident’, winner of the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards Multicultural Prize 2018, and longlisted for the Dobbie Literary Award 2018. It is on several lists of must-read books, and on the syllabi of university courses. Roanna is a recipient of the Prime Minister’s Australia Asia Endeavour Award, is co-founder co-editor of ‘...
Bella Li is the author of 'Argosy' (Vagabond Press, 2017), which won the 2018 Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Poetry and the 2018 NSW Premier's Literary Award for Poetry. Her work has been published in a range of journals and anthologies, including ‘Best Australian Poems’ and ‘The Kenyon Review’, and was displayed in the inaugural Triennial of the NGV. Her most recent book is ‘Lost Lake’ (Vagabond Press, 2018).
Photo credit: Lisa Businovski
CSI: Crime Story Investigations, Session One - Double Indemnity
Robert Gott is the author of more than 90 works of non-fiction for children and seven adult crime novels, two of which have been shortlisted for the Ned Kelly Award for Best Crime Fiction. He is also the creator of the long-running cartoon in ‘The Age’ newspaper, ‘The Adventures of Naked Man’.
Ellie Marney is a teacher and hybrid YA author of the Every series and No Limits, contributor to Begin End Begin, a #LoveOzYA advocate, and a Stella Ambassador. Her first indie series, Circus Hearts, made No1 in Amazon category bestseller lists and sells into bookstores and libraries. Find out more at www.elliemarney.com
Picture Book and Early Chapter Book Intensive
Ask...About Writing for Children
Jane Godwin is an Australian children's book publisher, and also the highly acclaimed author of over twenty-five books for children, across all styles and ages. Her work is published internationally and she has received many commendations, including the Queensland Premier's Award (Children's Books), shortlistings in the CBCA Book...
Winter School: Writing Long-Form Journalism
Anna Krien is the author of ‘Night Games: Sex, Power and Sport’, ‘Into the Woods: The Battle for Tasmania’s Forests’, ‘Booze Territory’, ‘Quarterly Essay 45 Us and Them: On the Importance of Animals’ and ‘Quarterly Essay 67 The Long Goodbye: Coal, Coral and Australia’s Climate Deadlock’. Her work has been published in ‘The Monthly’, ‘The Age’, ‘The Big Issue’, ‘Best Australian Essays’, ‘Best Australian Stories’, ‘Griffith Review’ and ‘...
Write-ability Online: Never Just Description - How Setting Can Enhance Your Story
Angela Savage is a Melbourne writer and Director of Writers Victoria. She has lived and travelled extensively in Asia, and her first novel, ‘Behind the Night Bazaar’, won the 2004 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an unpublished manuscript.
How to kick-start your story… and how to finish it! (Mildura)
Cate Kennedy is the author of three poetry collections, a novel, a memoir and two collections of short stories. Her work has been published internationally and her story collections are both on the Victorian School Literature syllabus. She is the recipient of several awards for her work including the Queensland Literary Prize for her collection ‘Like a House on Fire’, the NSW Premier’s People’s Choice Award for her novel ‘The World...
The Salon Goes Regional (Port Fairy)
Demet Divaroren is a Melbourne-based writer, editor and creative writing teacher. Her writing has appeared in ‘Griffith Review’, ‘Island magazine’, ‘The Age Epicure’, ‘The Big Issue’ and ‘From the Outer’. Her debut novel ‘Living on Hope Street’ won the 2018 Victorian Premier's Literary Award Young Adult category. Demet is...
Eli Glasman is a Melbourne-based author. His debut novel, ‘The Boy’s Own Manual to Being a Proper Jew’ (Sleepers Publishing), concerns a homosexual boy in the Melbourne orthodox Jewish community. His short fiction has appeared in magazines across Australia.
Winter School: Writing Grief and Trauma
Eliza Henry-Jones is a Melbourne-based writer. Her debut novel ‘In the Quiet’ was shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, the Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction and longlisted for the ABIA and Indie Book Awards. She has qualifications in grief, loss and trauma counseling and psychology, and has completed a thesis exploring bushfire trauma. Her work has also appeared in ‘Daily Life’, ‘Southerly’, ‘Island’, ‘Seizure’, ‘LiNQ’...
George Ivanoff is a Melbourne children’s author with more than 100 titles under his belt. Although best known for his ‘You Choose’ and ‘Other Worlds’ book series, he has written extensively for the education market. He’s won a few awards, including a YABBA, and has books on the Victorian Premier’s Reading Challenge booklists. Check out his website:...
Writing a Non-Boring Family History or Memoir
Hazel Edwards writes quirky, thought-provoking fiction and fact for adults and children, across varied media. Known for ‘There’s a Hippopotamus on our Roof Eating Cake’ and ‘Authorpreneurship’, Hazel’s 200 books have been translated into 10 languages.
Own Voices: Why Writing Matters (Shepparton)
Jax Jacki Brown is a disability and LGBTIQ rights activist, writer and public speaker. Jax holds a BA in Cultural Studies and Communication where she examined the intersections between disability and LGBTI identities and their respective rights movements. She has written for 'Junkee', 'Daily Life', 'The Feminist Observer', Writers Victoria, ABC’s 'Ramp Up', 'Hot Chicks with Big Brains', and 'Archer Magazine: The Australian Journal for Sexual Diversity'. Jax...
Jessica Walton is a 2017 Write-ability Fellow, picture book author, teacher, parent, daughter of a trans parent and proud queer disabled woman. She wrote 'Introducing Teddy: a story about being yourself' to help explain gender identity in a simple, positive way to her kids. 'Introducing Teddy' is published in the US, UK and in Australia by Bloomsbury.
Jess is presenting a workshop as part of the Write-ability Goes Regional and Online Own Voices: Why Writing Matters forum in Horsham, ...
Kelly Gardiner’s latest book is Brimstone. Her previous novel, 1917, was shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s Young People’s History Prize. Kelly’s other books include Act of Faith and The Sultan’s Eyes, both of which were shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards; and Goddess, based on the life of the seventeenth century French swordswoman, Mademoiselle de Maupin.
She teaches at La Trobe University and is the co-host...
Online: Beginner Short Story Clinic
Laura Jean McKay writes about humans and other animals. She is the author of Holiday in Cambodia (Black Inc. 2013), shortlisted for three national book awards in Australia. Her work appears in Best Australian Stories, The North American Review and The Saturday Paper. She has a PhD from the University of Melbourne focusing on literary animal studies and...
Online: Intermediate Short Story Clinic
Applying for Writing Retreats and Residencies
Laurie Steed is the author of You Belong Here, published March 2018. His short fiction has been broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and has appeared in Best Australian Stories, Award Winning Australian Writing, The Age, Meanjin, Westerly, Island, and elsewhere. He is the recipient of fellowships from The University of Iowa, The Baltic...
Lili Wilkinson is the award-winning author of ten YA novels, including Pink, Green Valentine and After the Lights Go Out. After studying Creative Arts at the University of Melbourne, Lili established the insideadog.com.au website, the Inky Awards and the Inkys Creative Reading Prize at the Centre for Youth Literature, State Library of Victoria. She has a PhD in Creative Writing, and lives in Melbourne with her husband, son, dog and three chickens.
Reality and Fantasy in Fiction
Leanne Hall is the author of two novels for young adults: the Text Prize-winning ‘This Is Shyness’ and its sequel ‘Queen of the Night’. Leanne has had shorter pieces published in ‘Meanjin’, ‘The Age’, ‘Best Australian Stories’ and the anthology ‘Growing Up Asian In Australia’. Her work plays with the borders of reality and fantasy.
Winter School: Writing the Self in Creative Non-Fiction
Lee Kofman is an author of four books, including the memoir 'The Dangerous Bride' (Melbourne University Press), and co-editor of 'Rebellious Daughters' (Ventura Press), an anthology of personal essays by prominent Australian memoirists. Her short works have been widely published in Australia, UK, Scotland, Israel, Canada and US, including in Best Australian Essays. Her blog was a finalist for Best Australian Blogs 2014. Her...
Winter School: Making Social Media Work
Karen Andrews is an award-winning multi-form writer, author, editor, poet and publisher. Her work has appeared in journals and publications throughout the country. She is currently creative director of www.karenandrews.com.au, an established and popular parenting/personal blog and two-time finalist in the Best Australian Blog Awards. Her latest book is ‘Trust the Process: 101 Tips on Writing and...
Winter School: Building Emotional Resonance
Kate Cuthbert is Managing Editor of Escape Publishing, Harlequin Australia's digital-first imprint. She is also an award-winning book reviewer and critic, a genre fiction advocate and an in-demand moderator, presenter and teacher. She is currently pursuing a PhD examining rural settings in Australian popular fiction.
Kate Mildenhall is a writer and teacher. Her debut novel, ‘Skylarking’ (Black Inc., 2016) was named in Readings bookstore’s Top Ten Fiction Books of 2016 and longlisted for Debut Fiction in The Indie Book Awards 2017 and the 2017 Voss Literary Award. Kate lives in Hurstbridge, Victoria, with her young family and is currently working on her second novel. Kate co-hosts ‘The First Time’ podcast – a podcast about the first time you publish a book.
Summer School 2019 - Deep Dive Interviews
Michael Green is a journalist in Melbourne. He hosts the Walkley Award–winning podcast The Messenger and co-edited the book, They Cannot Take the Sky: Stories from detention. In 2018 he worked on SBS’s world-first Instagram documentary, She Called Me Red. As a feature writer, Michael has covered social and environmental issues for Harper’s Magazine, SBS, The Age, Sydney Morning Herald, Nature, Nautilus, Smith Journal, Right Now and Overland, among others.
Own Voices: Why Writing Matters forum (Sale)
Michelle Roger is a blogger and speaker, and writes about Dysautonomia and life as a disabled woman. Her work has appeared in ‘The Victorian Writer’ and ‘Kill Your Darlings’ and online for Writers Victoria, ABC RampUp and multiple support groups. Michelle received a Write-ability Fellowship in 2014 and was a panellist at the Emerging Writers Festival in 2016 and has performed at several Writers Victoria Salons. Michelle blogs at ...
Winter School: Finding the Loose Brick - Writers' Block
Myfanwy Jones is the author of two novels: ‘The Rainy Season’, shortlisted for The Melbourne Prize for Literature’s Best Writing Award 2010, and ‘LEAP’, longlisted for the Voss Literary Prize and shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award 2016. She is also co-author of the bestselling ‘Parlour Games for Modern Families’, awarded ABIA Book of the Year for Older Children 2010. She works freelance as a structural editor...
Business Writing: Editing Workplace Documents
Nicolas Di Tempora is a professional copywriter and editor and a qualified educator, who works with a diverse range of commercial, government, academic, social, and not-for-profit organisations.
He divides his commitments between freelance writing, editing and designing, and delivering professional development courses to professional communicators.
His qualifications include BA (English Literature and History), Monash University; Dip...
Paddy O’Reilly is the author of three novels, a novella and three short story collections. Her work has won awards and been published in Australia, the UK and the USA. Her latest book is ‘Peripheral Vision’, a short story collection (UQP, 2015).
Managing the Sad, Bad and Mad Bits in Your Memoir
Sarah Vincent is a graduate of the scriptwriting course at The Victorian College of the Arts and of The Professional Writing and Editing program at RMIT. Her memoir, 'Death By Dim Sim' was published by Penguin Random House in March 2017 and by Audible Books in 2018. Sarah currently teaches creative writing at Swinburne and RMIT universities and has had a long association with Writers Victoria in a previous role as Memberships Officer.
Creative Structures: Beyond the Three Acts
Phillipa (PD) Martin is the author of five crime fiction novels published ‘traditionally’ in 13 countries. Her Sophie Anderson series — Body Count, The Murderers’ Club, Fan Mail, The Killing Hands and Kiss of Death —met with international acclaim. In 2011 she moved into ebooks, releasing Coming Home, Hell’s Fury and two novels for younger readers. She’s currently working on a literary crime fiction novel and studying for her PhD in...
Dr Sian Prior has been a writer and broadcaster for 25 years and has written for newspapers, magazines and literary journals and won awards for her short stories. She has taught non-fiction at RMIT and for writers centres around Australia. Her book ‘Shy: A memoir’ was published in 2014.
Winter School: Series Fiction for Children
Sally Rippin has over sixty books published, many of them award-winning, including the best-selling 'Billie B Brown' series, which has sold more than three million copies since first published. In 2017, she launched a new imprint with Bonnier Publishing called Sally Rippin Presents. This year, Sally released the second book in a new series called 'Polly and Buster - The Mystery of the Magic Stones'.
Steven Amsterdam is the author of ‘Things We Didn’t See Coming’ (Winner, The Age Book of the Year), ‘What the Family Needed’ (shortlist, Encore Prize), and most recently, ‘The Easy Way Out’, which was shortlisted for the ALS Gold Medal Award and longlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award. His short fiction and non-fiction has appeared in The Age, The Guardian, The Monthly, Heat, The Lifted Brow, Meanjin, Overland, Salon, and Virginia Quarterly Review. He is also...
Summer School 2019 - Reviewing and Literary Journalism
Thuy On is The Big Issue books editor and writes for a range of publications including The Age, The Australian, Books + Publishing, The Sydney Morning and ArtsHub. She has twenty years’ experience in book criticism and journalism and has been a judge at the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards four times.
Terry Jaensch is an Australian poet, director and monologist. His first book of poetry, ‘Buoy’, was shortlisted for the Fellowship of Australian Writers’ Anne Elder Award. He has worked as a writer-in-community, Poetry Editor of ‘Cordite’, artist-in-residence, dramaturge, Director of the 2005 Emerging Writers’ Festival, poetry teacher and more. His latest volume of poetry is ‘Shark’.
Toni Jordan is the author of five novels. The international bestseller Addition (2008) was longlisted for the Miles Franklin award. Fall Girl (2010) was published internationally and has been optioned for film, while Nine Days (2012) was awarded Best Fiction at the 2012 Indie Awards. Our Tiny, Useless Hearts (2018) was longlisted for the International Dublin Literary award. Her latest novel is The Fragments (2018). Toni has been published...
Melanie Ostell has been in book publishing for twenty years – as an editor, publisher, consultant, literary agent and educator. A senior editor at Text Publishing for more than ten years, she has since worked with all the major publishers and held publisher positions at UWA Publishing in Perth and Murdoch Books in Sydney. She has led writing workshops across the country, taught at several universities and is a registered mentor with the ASA. In 2015 she founded...
How to Write and Sell True Crime
Vikki Petraitis marks 25 years of crime writing this year with her new book ‘Inside the Law’. For the first time, she steps into her stories to give a behind-the-scenes look at the crime writer’s journey. One of Vikki’s best-known books is ‘The Frankston Murders’ about serial killer Paul Denyer’s seven-week killing spree in 1993. Vikki has a Masters degree in Education and has taught writing skills to budding authors for many years.
Travelling in Time - Writing History
Sophie Cunningham is a former publisher and editor. She is the author of two novels, ‘Geography’ (2004) and ‘Bird’ (2008) and two books of non-fiction: ‘Melbourne’ (2011), and ‘Warning: The Story of Cyclone Tracy’ (2014) which was shortlisted for several major literary prizes. Soon to be released is book of linked essays, ‘Tree of the Day’ (2019), and her third novel, 'This Devastating Fever’ (2020). She is an Adjunct Professor of RMIT...
Shivaun Plozza is the author of 'Frankie' (2016) and 'Tin Heart' (2018). She's also been published in anthologies and journals, and works as a freelance editor and manuscript assessor.
Fiona Wood’s first novel, Six Impossible Things, was shortlisted for the CBCA Book of the Year, Older Readers in 2011. Wildlife won the CBCA award in 2014. Cloudwish won the CBCA award and the Indie Book Award for YA fiction in 2016. All three books are published internationally and are Junior Library Guild Selections in the US. Take Three Girls, co-authored with Cath Crowley and Simmone Howell, won the CBCA award in 2018, was...
