HarperCollins Australia has announced their winner of The 2020 Banjo Prize and we are thrilled it’s Dinuka McKenzie, one of our talented alumni! Dinuka took out the major prize for her manuscript Flood Debris (released in 2022 as The Torrent), winning a publishing contract with HarperCollins and a $15,000 advance.
HarperCollins Australia has released the shortlist for the 2020 Banjo Prize and we’re so proud that all four are from the Australian Writers’ Centre community. The 2020 Banjo Prize shortlist: The List by Megan Albany The Tuesday Afternoon Murder Club by Karli Florisson Roses of Budapest by Rachael Keene Flood
One of Australia’s most prestigious novel-writing competitions, the Richell Prize, released its 2020 longlist – and we were thrilled to see so many familiar names on the list from the Australian Writers’ Centre community! Out of 800 entries, 22 authors made the longlist. Among some of the names are AWC
Sonya is now proud to call herself an author with her debut adult novel, Inheritance of Secrets, out now through HarperCollins.
We’re thrilled to share that AWC alumna Petronella McGovern has made the shortlist for the 2020 Ned Kelly Crime Awards for her thrilling debut novel Six Minutes. It’s an incredible achievement as the awards attracted a large number of entries this year. Australian Crime Writers Association chair Robert Goodman said
After more than 20 years as a solicitor and legal academic, Penelope Janu thought it was high time she finally followed her creative impulses. She completed a short course at the Australian Writers’ Centre (AWC), which gave her the confidence to pursue a creative writing degree – and led to her first novel, In at the Deep End, being accepted for publication. She has since gone on to publish several more popular romance novels.
Congratulations to AWC alumna Samera Kamaleddine (a graduate of our Creative Writing Stage 1 course), for being shortlisted in the inaugural Matilda Children’s Literature Prize. Launched in 2020, the mission of this prize is to discover Australia’s next great voice in children’s literature. Samera was shortlisted from nearly 300 entries!
AWC alumnae shortlisted for the 2020 Davitt Awards for best crime books Congratulations to AWC alumnae Astrid Scholte and Petronella McGovern who have been shortlisted for the Davitt Awards 2020! Astrid Scholte made the list with her debut YA novel Four Dead Queens and Petronella McGovern with her debut thriller
Sisters in Crime recently announced their 20th Davitt Awards and we’re thrilled that so many familiar names are featured on the long list! Our amazing alumnae Sarah Bailey (Where the Dead Go, Allen & Unwin), Sandie Docker (The Cottage at Rosella Cove, Penguin Random House Australia) and Petronella McGovern (Six
Engineer-turned-maths teacher Charlotte Barkla never imagined she’d become a published writer – but three children’s books later, she’s thrilled to have rediscovered her passion.
The shortlist for the 2020 Text Prize has been announced – and we’re delighted to see two Australian Writers’ Centre alumnae among them! Miranda Luby, who completed our How to Write for Children and Young Adults course, and Lauren Draper, who has taken a creative writing course, have both been
Not one but two people in the AWC family have made the shortlist for the CBCA Book of the Year Awards 2020 with both Lesley Gibbes and Astrid Scholte making it on the list. AWC presenter Lesley Gibbes has been shortlisted for her gorgeous picture book Searching for Cicadas. Featuring
It’s a celebration of children’s books this week as the Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) announced their list of Notable Books for the 2020 CBCA Book of the Year Awards. We’ll find out which books are selected for the shortlist later this year. But for now, we’re jumping for
There are few things more satisfying than completing a manuscript. And there are few things more challenging and isolating than the process of writing that manuscript! The act of writing a book is usually a lonely experience, immersing yourself deep in your story and your own mind. But you don’t
Nothing makes us prouder here at the Australian Writers’ Centre than seeing writers reach their publishing dreams. Over the years, our students have published hundreds of books, and 2019 has been another amazing year of success. From short stories to novels, picture books to picturesque romances, non-fiction, historical fiction, contemporary
It was a hot weekend in November when we held our Writing Picture Books course in Perth, the last for 2019. Five students from across the city got together to spend two days learning about the craft of picture books with award-winning author Judith Rossell. In fact, one particularly eager
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