Australian Writers' Centre blog

Your invitation to a romantic rendezvous!

The Australian Romance Readers Association (ARRA) is hosting a series of national events in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth to enable readers and writers of romance fiction to get together. The guest speakers at the Romantic Rendezvous will be international bestselling authors Celeste Bradley and Keri Arthur, who will attend... read more

ABIA 2019 Longlist announcement

Earlier this month The Australian Publishers Association announced the 2019 ABIA longlist. This announcement marks the lead up to the premier event on the Australian book industry calendar. The ABIA Awards night will be held on Thursday 2 May 2019, right in the middle of the Sydney Writers' Festival. The... read more

12 Australian literary festivals for your 2019 diary

It's the time of the year where you look at that ambitious list of resolutions from January and wonder – where on earth have the days gone? Why haven't I achieved anything? The good news is, there are still plenty of opportunities to get started on your writing and... read more

WIN this fabulous mixed genre 3-book pack!

This week we have a page-turning 3-BOOK PACK TO WIN. Books guaranteed to keep you reading until late into the night. Close to Home by Alice Pung [non-fiction] Close to Home brings together Alice Pung's most loved writing, on topics such as migration, family, art, belonging... read more

Q&A: Naked vs nude

Each week here at the Australian Writers’ Centre, we dissect and discuss, contort and retort, ask and gasp at the English language and all its rules, regulations and ridiculousness. It’s a celebration of language, masquerading as a passive-aggressive whinge about words and weirdness. This week, we're learning... read more

“How I fell in love with writing” part 3

Last month for Valentine’s Day, we asked our community about their relationship with writing. In particular, “How did you first meet?” We received hundreds of replies, and in the spirit of creative curiosity, we’ve been publishing a new heart-warming selection of them every Thursday. Thanks to those... read more

COMP CLOSED: Win our 3-book reading pack!

This week we have a 3–book pack to win featuring some awesome Aussie authors. Greenlight by Benjamin Stevenson A nail-biting thriller that turns popular true-crime such as Serial and Making A Murderer on its head, Greenlight will shock with twists and turns you’ll never see coming... read more

Q&A: Slight vs sleight of hand

Each week here at the Australian Writers’ Centre, we dissect and discuss, contort and retort, ask and gasp at the English language and all its rules, regulations and ridiculousness. It’s a celebration of language, masquerading as a passive-aggressive whinge about words and weirdness. This week we are slightly... read more

“How I fell in love with writing” part 2

Recently we asked our community about their relationship with writing. In particular, “How did you first meet?” We received hundreds of replies, and in the spirit of creative curiosity, we are publishing a new heart-warming selection of them every Thursday. We hope it inspires and reminds you of why... read more

2019 Grieve Writing Competition now open

In honour of Grieve Awareness Month in August, the Grieve Writing Competition is now open to all Australians. With over $7000 in prizes to be won and more than 100 works published in the Grieve anthology, this is a wonderful opportunity for writers 18 years and over. From the Hunter... read more

My top 10 interviews… out of one million downloads!

By Valerie Khoo Our podcast, So You Want to be a Writer, has now hit over one million downloads! When my co-host Allison Tait and I started out on this journey we never even considered this magic number. We were too busy loving the fact that we got to... read more

Q&A: Amount vs number

Each week here at the Australian Writers’ Centre, we dissect and discuss, contort and retort, ask and gasp at the English language and all its rules, regulations and ridiculousness. It’s a celebration of language, masquerading as a passive-aggressive whinge about words and weirdness. This week we have a... read more

‘How I fell in love with writing’ part 1

Let’s face it – our relationship with writing can be just like one with another human being. Most of the time you’re madly in love with each other, but there are also other occasions where you and writing go weeks without saying a word. Ultimately, it’s worth it... read more

Walkley grants for freelance journalism now open

The Walkley Foundation is proud to announce $50,000 in grants for freelance journalism, from the Walkley Public Fund for Journalism. Applications are now open for Australian freelance journalists (as individuals or small groups) to request funding to support the production of public interest journalism, either a single story or... read more

Furious Fiction February 2019 winner and shortlist

It was a bumper birthday bonanza this month – as a record number of more than 1100 writers submitted a story in Furious Fiction. Wow! Well done to all who entered. A reminder of the criteria that we asked for this month: Each story’s first sentence had to contain EXACTLY... read more