Category: Alumni news

Author Madeline Te Whiu working at her desk, surrounded by editorial notes and bookcases.
Alumni news
Australian Writers' Centre Team

How Madeline Te Whiu became a debut fantasy author

Her perseverance paid off with the completion of her first draft for The Assassin Thief. But over 50 rejections later, she knew she needed to try a new approach. Madeline enrolled in Creative Writing Stage 1 at the Australian Writers’ Centre to nail the basics of her story, then went on to edit her manuscript with Cut, Shape, Polish. After taking Pitch Your Novel: How to Attract Agents and Publishers, she was ready to send out her novel again – and this time she was snapped up by New Dawn Publishing.

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17 October 2022
Alumni news
Australian Writers' Centre Team

Samera Kamaleddine fulfils her publishing dreams

Samera Kamaleddine quit her job as editor of Women’s Fitness magazine to finally write the novel that was in her head – but she quickly discovered she had no idea where to start! After taking a course at the Australian Writers’ Centre, she found her writing rhythm and has now gone on to publish her debut young adult (YA) novel, Half My Luck.

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28 September 2022
Author and Australian Writers' Centre alumni Gabriella Margo
Alumni news
Australian Writers' Centre Team

How Gabriella Margo became a published romance writer

“I have always been a big reader, and I thought it might be interesting to learn some new skills. I didn’t really intend to do anything with them, but that’s not how things panned out!” Gabriella told us.

Her latest romance novel All’s Fair in Love and Tequila is set to be released by Harlequin/HarperCollins in December, while her previous manuscript Tulips from Mal was a finalist in the Romance Writers of Australia Emerald Award and is available now independently.

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17 August 2022
Author and Australian Writers' Centre graduate Bronwyn Hall with cover artwork for her novel ‘Gone to Ground’.
Alumni news
Australian Writers' Centre Team

How workshopping helped Bronwyn Hall achieve publishing success

When community health worker Bronwyn Hall found out she was going to be published she was delighted – and terrified!

“Firstly, I felt a profound shock,” Bronwyn recalls. “It was a case of, ‘Really? I mean, have they thought it through?’ Thankfully, my anxiety faded and the happy came back when the editing started.”

Bronwyn’s edge-of-the-seat debut thriller Gone to Ground is out now with HarperCollins and it’s already getting rave reviews.

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10 August 2022
Young adult fiction author and ​​Australian Writers' Centre graduate Miranda Luby with a pile of books.
Alumni news
Australian Writers' Centre Team

How Miranda Luby achieved her dreams of becoming a YA fiction author

Miranda Luby was a confident copywriter in her professional career – but her dream of writing a novel remained elusive until she plunged into our writing courses. We were thrilled to hear that Miranda’s debut novel Sadie Starr’s Guide to Starting Over has now been published by Text Publishing, so we chatted with the newly minted author of this wonderful young adult book to get all the juicy details about her writing life and success.

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21 July 2022
Alumni news
Australian Writers' Centre Team

How Rashida Tayabali became a freelance writer and author

Rashida Tayabali had always wanted to write, but had been discouraged from studying journalism at university. While working as a marketing coordinator, she decided her maternity leave would be the perfect opportunity to rediscover her old passion. Inspired by a colleague who had done courses at the Australian Writers’ Centre, Rashida enrolled in Freelance Writing Stage 1 – and immediately her life changed.

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1 July 2022
Crime fiction author and Australian Writers' Centre alumna Dinuka McKenzie smiling in floral shirt
Alumni news
Australian Writers' Centre Team

AWC alumna Dinuka McKenzie becomes an award-winning published author with her book ‘The Torrent’

Courses completed at AWC:
Anatomy of a Crime: How to Write About Murder
2 Hours to Scrivener Power
Build Your Author Platform

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!

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18 May 2022
Alumni news
Australian Writers' Centre Team

Carla Fitzgerald becomes a published children’s author with two books

Courses completed at AWC:
Short Story Essentials
Creative Writing Stage 1
Writing Chapter Books for 6-9 year olds
How to Write for Children and Young Adults

Carla Fitzgerald had three kids under five when she decided to start writing short stories. They helped to keep her entertained while she was caught in a whirlwind of nappies and breastfeeding. After entering an Australian Writers’ Centre short story competition and making the longlist, Carla was hooked and immediately enrolled in Short Story Essentials.

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4 May 2022
Picture book author Millie Lewis with baby
Alumni news
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 news
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
Alumni news
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
Alumni news
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
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