This could be you | Australian Writers' Centre

Writing Picture Books in Perth

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 mum had left her three-month […]

AWC alumna Petronella McGovern longlisted for the Australian Indie Book Awards

Congratulations to AWC alumna Petronella McGovern for being longlisted for the Australian Indie Book Awards in the debut fiction category with her novel, Six Minutes. You can read more about Petronella’s journey to publication here. According to the media release: Established in 2008, what makes the Indie Book Awards unique is that it’s the Australian […]

Stef Gemmill’s debut picture book finds a home

Stef Gemmill used the few minutes she had each morning before her family woke up to work on her creative writing. With a background in music journalism, Stef was no slouch at writing, but knew that she needed guidance to really hone her picture book manuscripts. After signing up for the Australian Writers’ Centre’s Writing Picture Books course, Stef got the valuable feedback she was looking for. Her first picture book, A Home for Luna, has now been published by New Frontier Publishing and it won the 2020 International Rubery Book Award (children's category).

Your path to publication at the Australian Writers’ Centre

Remember that feeling of staying up late past your bedtime curled under the covers with your favourite book? Have you been dreaming since then of writing your own novel? Would you love to one day see your name on a book cover at your local bookstore? Many people long to be authors. They talk about […]

Therese Spruhan makes a splash with debut book ‘The Memory Pool'

Therese Spruhan loves swimming pools. After writing for her blog Swimming Pool Stories, she knew she wanted to create a book based on this theme. The result is The Memory Pool, a collection of 28 stories from a diverse range of Australians including Bryan Brown, Leah Purcell, Merrick Watts, Shane Gould and Trent Dalton – as […]

Leah Mether supercharged her business after publishing her first book

In just 12 months, Leah Mether took her business book idea and turned it into a reality. After completing the Australian Writers’ Centre Write a Business Book course, Leah published Soft is the New Hard: How to Communicate Effectively Under Pressure, which has been featured alongside the likes of The Barefoot Investor and Brene Brown.

Laura Waters’ trek into travel writing success

Laura Waters walked over 3000 kilometres across New Zealand to conquer her anxieties and find her true passion: writing. After finishing the Australian Writers’ Centre Travel Writing course, Laura turned her hobby into a profession and now writes travel articles fulltime. She is also a published author with Bewildered, the incredible story of her extraordinary hike, out now with Affirm Press.

Richell Prize for Emerging Writers 2019 Longlist Announcement

We’re thrilled that five Australian Writers’ Centre alumnae have been announced on the Richell Prize Longlist for 2019. Congratulations to Jennifer Carlisle, Lauren Draper, Kylie Orr, January Gilchrist, and Sarah Fiddelaers. All super talented writers! Over 700 entries were received and 21 writers have been announced on this year’s longlist. The 2019 longlisted writers are: […]

Petronella McGovern's book launch for ‘Six Minutes'

Congratulations to AWC alumna Petronella McGovern who launched her debut novel Six Minutes at Berkelouw Books in Mona Vale in Sydney last week. With over 160 people attending, it was so popular, the event had to relocate across the road to the Memorial Hall. Launched by bestselling author Liane Moriarty, it was a wonderful event […]

Sandy Barker: How her dedication and online presence led to published novels

Sandy Barker’s goal for her novels was always to get a publishing deal. Two self-published novels and years of determination later, her debut novel, One Summer in Santorini, has just been published by HarperCollins.