Australian Writers' Centre blog

Q&A: Close but no cigar

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 learn the... read more

Q&A: Fiancé vs fiancée

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 in... read more

COMP CLOSED: Describe this image in ONE word

This week we’re showcasing THREE BOOKS – all featuring writing from three of our world-class AWC presenters, Natasha Lester, Kate Forsyth and Patti Miller. You can win all three.             The Paris Seamstress by Natasha Lester crosses two timelines to tell the story of Parisian seamstress Estella Bissette, who is... read more

Q&A: Rail against vs rally against

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 reeling... read more

Attend the 2018 Romance Writers of Australia Conference

The hottest date in a romance writer’s calendar is fast approaching - the Romance Writers of Australia Conference from 17-19 August 2018. This year the conference is in Sydney’s Sofitel Wentworth Hotel and registrations are open to the public. With workshops from bestselling author Rachel Bailey on The... read more

The 2018 Venie Holmgren Environmental Poetry Prize is OPEN

Do you love writing poetry with environmental themes? Then The 2018 Venie Holmgren Environmental Poetry Prize is a must for you! This prize is in honour of environmentalist and poet Venie Holmgren. Venie began writing poetry in her late 50’s and published her first anthology, The Sun Collection for... read more

COMP CLOSED: Caption this scene and WIN

This week, we’re giving away THREE copies of Penelope Janu’s brand new rural romance, On the Right Track from HarperCollins Publishers. Penelope is an award-winning AWC alumnus, and you can find out more about her path to getting published right here on our blog. Here’s a... read more

Q&A: Bequest vs behest

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, at our behest... read more

The short long list of YOUR 21-word stories

To celebrate the recent Shortest Day of the Year (21 June 2018), we asked you to write us a story in 21 words or fewer. It simply had to contain the words “short” and “day” in it. On the day, we received nearly one thousand stories! What follows is a... read more

From illustrator to author: Giuseppe Poli

Giuseppe Poli began his career in the picture book industry as an illustrator. However, with a keen interest in writing the words as well as creating the images, he’s now released his first book Young MacDonald as an author. Tell us what Young MacDonald is about If Old MacDonald... read more

Inaugural Shoalhaven Readers’ & Writers’ Festival coming in August

NSW South Coast’s Shoalhaven region, about two hours south of Sydney, is popular all year round with holidaymakers and anyone wanting to escape to the beach, bush and beautiful scenery. But now it’s also home to Australia’s newest literary festival – the Shoalhaven Readers’ & Writers’ Festival, set... read more