We were beyond excited to hear that Australian Writers’ Centre alumna Deborah Mackie has won the Wild Atlantic Writing Award for her short story “A Letter to Her Husband’s Girlfriend”. As an active member of the AWC, Deborah shared details about the competition in our So you want to be
It was a descriptive June this month at Furious Fiction. These were the story criteria: Each story had to include (word for word) the following SEVEN descriptions at any point in the story body: THICK AS HONEY SILENT AND STILL GOLDEN GLOW HEART-SHAPED DELICATE PERFUME SOFT AND DOUGHY RAZOR-SHARP And
Pamela Freeman (also known as Pamela Hart) never ceases to amaze me. I’ve known her for the past 16 years, first as a brilliant author, then she became a presenter of our creative writing courses at the Australian Writers Centre. And then she took on the role of Director of
It was a dark and stormy night at Furious Fiction HQ. The judges gathered around the glow of the Apple laptop and rubbed their hands with glee (a brand of hand sanitiser). Yesterday, the identity of the competition winner was unclear – many sitting on the fence in their decision.
Every month a long queue of writers from all over the map throw their narrative hats into this three-ringed circus we call Furious Fiction, crossing their fingers, dropping their heads in prayer and hoping to get lucky. These were the April criteria: Your story must begin in some kind of
Entries have now opened for the 2021 Richell Prize for Emerging Writers. This competition is in its seventh year and invites submissions from unpublished writers in adult narrative non-fiction and adult fiction. The prize is in memory of Hachette Australia’s CEO, Matt Richell, who died suddenly in 2014.
Is this your chance to be published by HarperCollins Publishers Australia? The Banjo Prize was launched in 2018 and its mission is to find “Australia’s next great storyteller”. The prize is named after Australia’s first bestselling author Banjo Patterson. According to the press release: “The Banjo Prize is offered annually
They say a picture is worth a thousand words – but this month we were fine with just 500 as we introduced only the fourth picture prompt in Furious Fiction history. These were the complete criteria for March: Each story had to include the pictured setting (above) at some point.
We’re thrilled to hear that Shankari Chandran has had her latest novel Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens snapped up by Ultimo Press. Shankari is one of our superstar alumnae who found publishing success with her debut novel The Barrier after the Crime and Thriller Writing course at the Australian Writers’
Do you write history? Good news. The NSW Premier’s History Awards for 2021 are now open! According to the media release, there is a total of $75,000 in prize money in the following five categories: Australian History Prize ($15,000) General History Prize ($15,000) New South Wales Community and Regional History
Are you a writer of children or young adult fiction? The Text Prize for Young Adult and Children’s Writing is now open, and there’s $10,000 up for grabs for an outstanding unpublished manuscript. According to the press release: “Since its inception in 2008, the Text Prize has become one of
The Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) longlist for 2021 has been released, ahead of the shortlist announcement in April. Regular listeners of the So you want to be a writer podcast will recognise many of the names on the list, as the authors have featured as our Writers in Residence,
In the world of publishing, new houses occasionally pop up to fill a niche. One such new publisher is Larrikin House, created by James Layton after he identified a need for more Aussie picture books. Like any traditional publishing house, Larrikin’s focus is on high-quality stories that resonate with readers.
The Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) has released its list of Notable books for 2021 and we are quite chuffed to see the names of so many of our presenters and graduates. No fewer than 10 members of the AWC family have been recognised for their books – as
It was a happy third birthday to Furious Fiction this month (be sure to check out our “stories behind the stories” collection) and to celebrate turning three, every story had to begin with the word THREE. That wasn’t all though: Each story had to be set in a SCHOOL. Each
Do you want to escape to the Central Coast, NSW for a writers’ festival? Maybe you already call the Central Coast home and are looking for something to do in June. The Words on the Waves Writers’ Festival is a brand new writers’ festival taking place over the June long
“The ‘Black Mirror’ Australian politics has been waiting for.” – Zan Rowe This week’s giveaway book is the fiction debut of erstwhile speechwriter and Saturday Paper journalist Martin McKenzie-Murray. In The Speechwriter, he takes us on a frantic, funny, and surreal journey through the corridors of power. Here’s a quick
She will discover the best of herself in the worst of times… This week’s giveaway book is The Four Winds – a deeply moving, powerful story about the strength and resilience of women and the bond between mother and daughter, by the multi-million copy number one bestselling author Kristin Hannah.
Do you want to enter the same literary award that launched many famous Australian author’s careers? The Australian/Vogel’s Literary Award 2022 is now open for submissions. The Vogel Award is a prestigious literary award that has launched the careers of many famous Australian authors including Tim Winton, Kate Grenville, Mandy
This week’s giveaway is The Paris Affair by bestselling author of The Sunday Girl and The Strangers We Know, Pip Drysdale. It’s hot off the press this month, so if you love psychological thrillers, you might want to add this to your collection. Here’s a summary: Meet Harper Brown …
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