Category: Alumni/Student success stories

Picture book author Millie Lewis with baby
Alumni/Student success stories
Australian Writers' Centre Team

Millie Lewis finds success with her picture book ‘Mr Price’s Pet Emporium’

Courses taken at AWC:
Writing Picture Books
Writing Chapter Books for 6-9 year olds
Laugh Out Loud

Millie Lewis had an unexpected birthday treat when she received an ‘I’m interested’ email from publisher James Layton at Larrikin Books. While on maternity leave from her job as a paediatric psychologist, Millie had turned to writing to reclaim her pre-mummy identity, enrolling in courses at the Australian Writers’ Centre. And just a short time later, she had a positive response to her manuscript for Mr Price’s Pet Emporium.

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27 April 2022
Alumni/Student success stories
Australian Writers' Centre Team

Rebecca Marshallsay on ‘Facing the Wave’ and becoming a published children’s author

Courses taken at AWC: 
Writing Picture Books
Reinvent Yourself
Having completed a picture book manuscript, Rebecca turned to the Australian Writers’ Centre.

“I knew it was worth taking the time to workshop it a bit and, serendipitously, an AWC Writing Picture Books course was starting the following week. I took the leap and signed up straight away,” Rebecca says.

That manuscript became Facing the Wave and it has now been published by Larrikin House.

“I was very excited to be published from my first pitch and I know that the things I learned through the AWC helped me be as prepared as possible.”

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4 April 2022
Alumni/Student success stories
Australian Writers' Centre Team

Congratulations to the AWC alumni shortlisted for the CBCA 2022 Book of the Year

Congratulations to all the wonderful authors, illustrators and publishers who have made it onto the Children’s Book Council of Australia’s (CBCA) shortlisted books for 2022. We’re particularly chuffed for the talented graduates from our Writing Picture Books course – children’s authors Vikki Conley, Sandhya Parappukkaran and author/illustrator Freda Chiu –

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30 March 2022
Jeanette Stampone, author of picture book Shadow and the Girl
Alumni/Student success stories
Australian Writers' Centre Team

Jeanette Stampone becomes a published author with debut picture book, ‘Shadow and the Girl’

Courses taken at AWC: 
Writing Picture Books
Presenting to Kids
When Janette Stampone came across AWC’s Writing Picture Books course, she was intrigued. She was on maternity leave and felt like the right time to take her writing seriously.

“Enrolling on the course meant I had actually invested in myself and my dream,” Jeanette says. “While I was taking the course, I felt a strong sense of ‘this is what I should be doing’.”

Jeanette’s decision to invest in herself paid off and she can now call herself a published author. Her debut picture book Shadow and the Girl has been released by Red Paper Kite with illustrations by Demelsa Haughton.

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25 March 2022
Alumni/Student success stories
Australian Writers' Centre Team

AWC alumna Freda Chiu on the Ena Noël Award Shortlist 2022

Huge congratulations to Freda Chiu on being shortlisted for the Ena Noël Award Shortlist 2022! This is an incredible achievement for Freda who wrote and illustrated her picture book A Trip to the Hospital (Allen & Unwin), published last year.  Although she was a successful freelance artist and educator when

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8 February 2022
More than 50 AWC alumni and presenters published books in 2021
Alumni/Student success stories
Australian Writers' Centre Team

More than 73 books published by AWC alumni and presenters in 2021!

Success comes in all shapes and sizes and for more than 62 of our alumni and presenters, it came in the size and shape of a published book. That’s right, 51 alumni from the Australian Writers’ Centre community published more than 57 books in 2021! Of course, that’s no surprise

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15 December 2021
Alumni/Student success stories
Australian Writers' Centre Team

Jacinta Froud: From teacher to published children’s author

Courses taken at AWC:
Writing Picture Books
Writing Picture Books Masterclass


Writing Chapter Books for 6-9 year olds
When Jacinta Froud came across the Writing Picture Books course at AWC, she jumped at the chance to learn the practical storytelling skills for children’s fiction.

“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.

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25 October 2021
Alumni/Student success stories
Australian Writers' Centre Team

Gary Nunn: From freelance journalist to published author of ‘The Psychic Tests’

Courses taken at AWC: 
Novel Writing Essentials
The Story Doctor
Although he had a successful career as a freelance journalist, Gary turned to the Australian Writers’ Centre to help hone his craft in writing fiction and creative non-fiction. The result is his first book, The Psychic Tests: An Adventure In The World Of Believers and Sceptics, published by Pantera Press.

“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.”

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19 October 2021
Alumni/Student success stories
Australian Writers' Centre Team

Congrats to the AWC alumni shortlisted for the 2021 Richell Prize

The shortlist for the 2021 Richell Prize for Emerging Writers has just been announced, and we are proud to congratulate our talented AWC alumni on the list! The winner will receive $10,000 in prize money from Hachette Australia, and a year’s mentoring with one of their publishers. Kay Harrison has

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13 October 2021
Alumni/Student success stories
Australian Writers' Centre Team

AWC alumna Veronica Lando wins the HarperCollins 2021 Banjo Prize

Publishing house HarperCollins launched the Banjo Prize in 2018, as “a quest to find Australia’s next great storyteller” – inviting unpublished commercial fiction manuscripts and awarding each year’s winner with a publishing contract. Now in its fourth year, the Banjo Prize recently announced its 2021 winner. And we were SO

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5 October 2021
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