Writers, editors, agents, publishers and more share their thoughts, experiences and stories.
Some days it’s hard to take yourself seriously as a writer. Or even to just take yourself seriously. And perhaps it’s okay to need that permission from the universe. That’s how earning a place at the Glenfern Writers Studio as part of the Grace Marion Wilson Fellowship for emerging writers made me feel – I can call myself a Writer now (yes, even with a capital W).
Author and tutor Eliza Henry-Jones believes that writing about loss and grief can help us find meaning in overwhelming circumstances. Ahead of her upcoming workshop, we caught up with Eliza to find out what motivates writers to explore this difficult, yet necessary, terrain.
Commercial and literary fiction can feel like disparate worlds. Not so, says tutor Kate Cuthbert, whose workshop in July will explore the lessons writers can learn by taking a closer look at the mechanics behind popular fiction narratives.
It's a misconception that Young Adult writing is a watered-down version of literary fiction. We spoke to author Eli Glasman ahead of his Winter School workshop to find out why he loves YA and what adult fiction has to learn from its younger counterpart.
Story is an ancient art form. They stood by the campfire, the early storytellers, and gave shape to their experiences, and in doing this, they gave voice to the collective. The storyteller acquired their art through practice. Their tales took shape as they worked at them. They found the best ways to tell their stories by standing in front of an audience, and seeing what worked, through trial and error.
Writing historical non-fiction is daunting, but also thrilling, says Dr Liz Conor. Ahead of her workshop, part of our Having a Voice: Writing Women series, Liz gave WV an insight into her writing process, uncovering untold stories, and the pleasures of the archive
Balancing research with personal experience is often tricky for non-fiction writers. Ahead of her Writing Women's History workshop, part of our Having a Voice series, WV intern Nicola Wetzel caught up with Iola Mathews to find out how she researches and writes about women's stories.
One of my favourite movies as a child was a time-travel romance called ‘Somewhere in Time’. It stars the late Christopher Reeve (think Clark Kent without the glasses) and is embarrassingly corny now that I look back, but the reason my sister and I kept renting that worn old video cassette wasn’t the romance, it was the origin of the pocket watch.
It’s not every day you get to step onto the surface of an alien planet. I got to do that in February, not as an astronaut but as the 2016/17 Australian Antarctic Division’s Arts Fellow. My plane touched down on the ice runway at Wilkins aerodrome and there I took my first bold step into the environment on earth that’s closest to Mars. All in the name of research.
