Mitch Jennings had ambitions to be a novelist, but like so many others, didn’t know how to turn his dreams into reality. In his day job as a sports journalist, he was no stranger to writing, but crafting a crime novel would require a whole new set of skills. The
Camille Booker had never allowed herself to imagine being a ‘real’ author one day – but faced with new motherhood and a demanding teaching job, she started to dream of the possibility. “I’d always loved reading, language, words, poetry,” she says. “Writing was my creative outlet: a way to avoid
Despite being surrounded by books in her day job, Kell Woods knew that if she wanted to be successful in publishing her own fiction, she’d need some guidance. That’s where the Australian Writers’ Centre came in – providing the content and flexibility to learn a range of new skills and
For New South Wales-based picture book author Bec Nanayakkara, the past few years have been quite a whirlwind. A graduate of the Australian Writers’ Centre Writing Picture Books course, Bec found success immediately with her first two books Grow Big, Little Seed and Book Star – published by Hardie Grant
When Shankari Chandran took time out of her career as a lawyer to have her fourth child, she turned her hand to writing in between baby feeds and family demands. This pastime has turned into a new career and Shankari has now released her first novel The Barrier, a futuristic fast-paced thriller that has been compared to the works of Michael Crichton and Matthew Reilly.
Melissa Garside always dreamed of becoming a published author, and her children’s novel, Lexie Moon & The Word Burgling Bungle, is out now with Riveted Press!
Karina May was working in digital marketing when she started dabbling in creative writing just for the fun of it – but she soon found herself hooked on the craft of storytelling. She voraciously attended courses at the Australian Writers’ Centre, including two rounds of Write Your Novel with Pamela Freeman, which gave her the structure to complete her first manuscript. After signing a two-book deal with Pan MacMillan, Karina has now released her novel Duck à l’Orange for Breakfast.
Lesley Gibbes is an internationally published, award winning author of 17 books for children. She writes picture books, poetry and chapter books. Lesley is also the presenter of our online, self-paced course Writing Chapter Books for 6 to 9 year olds here at the Australian Writers’ Centre.
Jess Horn was a busy working parent with no time for hobbies, but she decided she could just squeeze in a few minutes to enter the Furious Fiction competition at the Australian Writers’ Centre. After that, she was hooked. With her childhood love of writing rekindled, Jess enrolled in Creative Writing Stage 1 and then dived into Writing Picture Books.
Dinuka McKenzie was a busy working mum when she decided to start writing as a creative outlet. The more she wrote, the more she loved it, so she decided to complete a few courses at the Australian Writers’ Centre to hone her craft. After finishing her first crime manuscript, she entered it in the Banjo Prize for unpublished fiction – and then came the extraordinary news that she had won!
Allie Reynolds is the author of The Bay and Shiver. She’s also a former professional freestyle snowboarder who spent five winters in the mountains of France, Switzerland, Austria and Canada. Her short fiction has been published in magazines in the UK, Australia, Sweden and South Africa. Allie swapped her snowboard
Vikki Conley dreamed of writing for children and, over the years, that little voice telling her to write books got louder until she simply couldn’t ignore it. She threw in her marketing job, enrolled in an Australian Writers’ Centre course and started writing. Within two years, she has already established herself as a prolific author, with the publication of seven picture books and contracts with four publishers. Her most recent book is the CBCA shortlisted Amira’s Suitcase, while Milly and the Mulberry Tree and Where the Lyrebird Lives will be released in 2022. Vikki’s other publications include Tomorrow Girl, Little Puggle’s Song, The Lost Moustache and Ella & Mrs Gooseberry.
“I enrolled in Writing Children’s Novels and became a much better writer for it,” Reece told us. “I took everything I’d learned and wrote a fourth manuscript, A Girl Called Corpse, and the rest is history!”
When Dr Zewlan Moor started her training to become a general practitioner, she had two goals: to complete her GP fellowship and to write a novel for National Novel Writing Month (Nanowrimo). It might seem like an unusual combination, but Zewlan was determined to follow her passion for writing alongside her medical career. She was drawn to Writing Picture Books at the Australian Writers’ Centre and is now delighted to announce that she will be publishing two picture books in 2023.
Katherine Rundell is a bestselling author whose novels for children include Rooftoppers, The Wolf Wilder, The Explorer and The Good Thieves. She has won the Costa Children’s Book Award, the Blue Peter Book Award and the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, amongst many others. Her books have sold millions of copies worldwide.
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