A writer (you’ve probably never heard of) once said, “all the world’s a stage” and in this round’s Furious Fiction challenge, all of the entrants were indeed merely players. Here were the criteria: Each story had to begin with a sentence containing exactly SIX words. Each story had to include
With face-to-face events now back on the calendar, we’ve recently seen successful Writers’ Festivals staged in Adelaide, Brisbane and Sydney, as well as many of the other lockdown-displaced festivals that were moved to earlier this year. But there are still plenty more to come. So, if you’re motivated to seek
If you love to write narrative non-fiction and have an idea for a publishable book, then get excited because Hardie Grant Publishing has announced that The Spark Prize has returned for 2022. Submissions are open from 27 May 2022 until 27 June 2022. What is The Spark Prize? According to
Is 2022 the year you share your short stories with the world? There are plenty of competitions and writing opportunities for you to challenge your creativity and get your work out there – with the chance to win some great prizes. Don’t know where to find these great opportunities? Well,
Congratulations, you’ve completed your manuscript and polished it till it sparkles. Are you ready to set it free out into the world? There are a few avenues you can take – no, no, don’t put it away in that bottom drawer again! Why not enter your manuscript for an award?
The first Furious Fiction challenge for the year landed in March, and it was the talk of the town – to miss it would surely be a crime. Here were the criteria: Each story had to include a character that commits a crime. Each story had to include some kind
Excuse us while we stand over here and toot our own horns – BUT we are so proud to announce that two of our creative writing presenters have been named as finalists for the 2021 Aurealis Awards! J.S. Breukelaar’s novel The Bridge, published by Meerkat Press, is in the running
The Banjo Prize 2022 is currently open for submissions for novel-length manuscripts. Run by major publisher HarperCollins, and now in its fifth year, the prestigious prize is looking for Australia’s next great storyteller. “We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into,” the publisher says on its website about
Courses taken at AWC:
Writing Picture Books
Reinvent Yourself
“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.”
Courses taken at AWC:
Writing Picture Books
Presenting to Kids
“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.
The Australian Society of Authors (ASA) and HQ (a publishing division of HarperCollins) have recently revealed the shortlist for the 2022 ASA/HQ Commercial Fiction Prize for unpublished manuscripts. And we are happy-dancing our hearts out for the two talented writers and alumnae of the Australian Writers’ Centre that we spotted
Penguin Random House Australia has just revealed the shortlist for the 2022 Penguin Literary Prize. We were excited to spot some members of our AWC community on the list – with Annette Higgs, Katelin Farnsworth and Darcy-Lee Tindale among the shortlisted authors. Big congrats! Previous winners of this prestigious prize
From the media release: For the first time since it started in 2012, representation of women authors in Australian book reviews is on par with that of their male counterparts, the latest reports from Stella reveal. This is a huge milestone for the trailblazing Stella Count, crashing through the gender
Exciting news – one of Australia’s richest and most prestigious awards for an unpublished manuscript is now open! That’s right, The Australian/Vogel’s Literary Award for 2023 is welcoming submissions from writers under the age of 35. There’s publication with Allen & Unwin and $20,000 against royalties on offer for the
The Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) has released its list of Notable books for 2022 and we’re giving a standing ovation to our talented presenters and graduates who have been recognised – as well as the wonderful authors we’ve had on our So you want to be a writer
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
Do you love writing for children or young adults? Seeking a publisher for your manuscript? Why not enter of the most renowned prizes for young adult and children’s writing in Australia and New Zealand! The 2022 Text Prize for Young Adult and Children’s Writing is now open, with a $10,000
It’s a new year and a new format for your beloved Furious Fiction – with competition weekends now taking place each quarter. But first, we still need to crown the final winner of 2021. Here were the challenge criteria: Each story had to include a tree. Each story had to
Word of mouth – it remains one of the most powerful ways to find out about something new. And so, with our AWC community being filled with avid readers, we decided to ask “what were some of your favourite books that you read this year?”. The books didn’t have to
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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