Success: Road No Good – Finch Publishing, January 2017 (Runner up, Finch Memoir prize 2016) AWC courses taken: Start Your Novel: Introduction to Novel Writing Advanced Fiction Writing Techniques Background After living for two years in remote Vanuatu where she had helped develop the preschools in an isolated town called
Courses taken at AWC:
Creative Writing Stage 1
It’s one thing for us to witness the continuous improvement of our AWC students during their course. And quite another when their talents are finally recognised by the world. Sorry, we can’t help it, we love to brag! Check out some of the recent accomplishments from our exceptional graduates. Above:
We’re so thrilled that AWC alumna Anna Spargo-Ryan has recently been announced as the winner of The Horne Prize. This year, Anna’s debut novel The Paper House was also released to critical acclaim. Australian Writers’ Centre CEO Valerie Khoo says: “When I first started reading Anna’s blog, I knew that
It wasn’t so long ago that Sydney mum Penny Morrison would have laughed off suggestions that she could be a published picture book author. She never thought of herself ever writing books. However, now with half a dozen books to her name, including an industry recognition, she has no plans to stop anytime soon.
And it all started when she enrolled in a writing course that would change her life. “On the second day of the course I remember that’s when I came up with the idea for my first book!” said Tamsin.
Congratulations to Jill Keyte on the release of The Happy Hormone Cookbook, published by New Holland. Jill has done a few courses at the Australian Writers’ Centre and we’re thrilled for her! Meet Jill … Why did you want to write this book? I’m passionate about health, eating locally grown,
Primary school teacher, illustrator and mother of three Sally Fawcett is immersed in the world of young children on a daily basis (you could almost call it an occupational hazard). So this provided the perfect foundation to getting her first picture book published. Post-baby creativity The journey began soon after
When Melanie Dower (pictured) relocated from Auckland, New Zealand to Helsinki, Finland to join her husband in his dream job, it turned her whole world upside down. Here, on the other side of the globe, she struggled to find a job on par with her previous field as she wasn’t
Our AWC graduates continue to amaze us with their publishing success. So many are turning their freelance writing dreams into reality with their articles regularly featuring in major publications. And we love the variety of subject matters that they explore. Check out some of the recent accomplishments from our superstar
Emily McAuliffe can’t remember what first prompted her to do a writing course – possibly just for “something to do”. However, many words later, she now lives in Portugal and works as a full-time writer – with work published here and overseas! Getting started “I had no real expectations and
C.S. (Carmel) Sealey’s lifelong dream of completing and publishing her first novel, Equilibrium, finally came true.
Not long ago, Carmel was stuck in a non-creative role at work. “I had no time to work on my book and not much motivation to make time,” she recalls. “It was stagnating in a folder on my computer with a long to-do list and in much need of some TLC!”
We’re like proud parents when we hear that our graduates have been published. Our hearts swell, we get a little teary and we want to sticky tape their feature article to our fridge door. But alas, we can’t find a fridge large enough for all of the success stories we
When we hear that our students have been published, it absolutely makes our day. And it seems like we’ve had plenty of reasons to smile lately. So many of our graduates are achieving great things in the world of freelance writing. We like to celebrate by popping champagne, dancing on a table
As a blogger, Michaela Fox was already loving being able to write while at home, but it was almost too comfortable. The idea of working as a freelance writer and earning a living really appealed.
“Being able to freelance from home is just the ideal situation for me,” she says. “I get to still be at home with my kids, which is really important for me. I want to be involved in their lives – they’re only young.”
Writing a memoir can certainly be a soul searching endeavour – a fact that Rebecca Poulson knows only too well. Rebecca did the Life Writing course at the Australian Writers’ Centre and has since been published. In her book Killing Love, published by Simon & Schuster last year, she recounts
When Lisa Schofield worked in the banking industry, she never imagined that she would one day become a freelance journalist and corporate writer. But she’s now been successfully published in countless magazines and newspapers – and is in demand as a writer contracting to the corporate world she was once a part of.
Libby Hakim had a simple goal: to see her byline in a magazine or newspaper. After completing a course at the Australian Writers’ Centre, she not only achieved that – she’s now been published in many top publications.
Working as a part-time lawyer, Libby first completed a five-week online course in Magazine and Newspaper Writing Stage 1. That changed the course of Libby’s life. “Before I started the course I actually had the goal of getting published, I wanted to see my byline in a magazine or a newspaper,” says Libby, who was working part-time as a lawyer.
Catherine Rodie never thought she would become a writer. This limiting belief, coupled with her experience with dyslexia, meant that she hadn’t considered that writing could be a real career for her. But after completing a course at the Australian Writers’ Centre, that all changed. And now, she’s not only become one of the most prolific freelance writers in Australia, she’s laid the foundations to pursue a career in publishing, recently scoring a coveted part-time role at Bauer Magazines.
Rob Grant loves travelling. But it can be hard to satisfy your wanderlust when you’re consumed by a nine-to-five corporate career. That’s exactly the position Rob was in until he discovered the Travel Writing course at the Australian Writers’ Centre. Now he’s swapped his corporate job for his new path in life – working part-time as a travel writer and part-time as a marketing consultant.
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