This could be you | Australian Writers' Centre

Writing Podcast Episode 485: Meet Rae Cairns, author of the crime thriller ‘The Good Mother'

Meet Rae Cairns, author of The Good Mother, on her journey from indie author to publishing sensation; the most important thing you can do when interviewing someone; where Agatha Christie got all her ideas; and win Anna by Amy Odell, about iconic editor Anna Wintour. You can listen to the episode below, on Apple Podcasts, […]

Cathrine Mahoney quit her day job and wrote her memoir on divorce and dating

Cathrine Mahoney had a successful career as a publicist for the likes of Sony Music, Channel Nine and Nova radio. So why did she make the decision to quit her day job?

How AWC graduate Julie Fison learnt to build suspense in her novel ‘One Punch’

Julie Fison had been writing professionally her whole adult life, having worked as a journalist and published books for kids and young adults. But when she decided to write a novel for adults, she knew there was more she could learn. She turned to the Australian Writers' Centre to hone her skills around plotting and characterisation.

Writing Podcast Episode 483: Bestselling middle-grade author Nat Amoore, author of ‘We Run Tomorrow'

Bestselling middle-grade author Nat Amoore, author of We Run Tomorrow. Cool writing resources and much more. And you could win Family of Liars by E Lockhart in our giveaway. You can listen to the episode below, on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or add the podcast RSS feed manually to your favourite podcast app. Links mentioned in this […]

Picture book author Millie Lewis with baby

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

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.

Writing Podcast Episode 476: Young adult sensation Astrid Scholte on novel ‘League of Liars'.

Meet Astrid Scholte, author of League of Liars. And what is “front and back matter” anyway? Plus we have 3 copies of Booth by Karen Joy Fowler to giveaway!

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

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.”

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 – whose books are on the […]

Jeanette Stampone, author of picture book Shadow and the Girl

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

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.

Writing Podcast Episode 474: Shankari Chandran on her novel ‘Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens'.

What is a ‘comp title' and why you need to know this. Meet Shankari Chandran, author of Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens. And we have 3 copies of Impossible by Sarah Lotz to give away.