Australian Writers' Centre blog

Q&A: Tortuous vs torturous

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 has been torturous... read more

What inspires children’s writer and AWC presenter Sue Whiting

AWC presenter of How to Write for Children and Young Adults, Sue Whiting has had two books published this year, Beware the Deep Dark Forest for 3-6-year-olds and Missing, a middle-grade contemporary mystery novel, both published by Walker Books Australia. Sue is author of more than... read more

Q&A: Flaunt vs flout

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 proudly... read more

10 out of 10 – meet the Furious Fiction superfans!

Back in February 2018, the Australian Writers’ Centre introduced Furious Fiction – a brand new short story writing competition where your 500-word story could win $500AU cash every month – with no entry fee whatsoever! Needless to say, the competition (open to anyone 17 years and over, anywhere on the planet... read more

Indie Book Awards for 2019

Australian Independent Booksellers are thrilled to announce their Longlist for the Indie Book Awards 2019! From the Indie Book Awards media release: “Established in 2008, what makes the Indie Book Awards unique is that it’s the Australian independent booksellers themselves who nominate their best titles for the year; select... read more

Win our 12-book summer reading pack!

It’s the 12th month of the year, so what better way to celebrate summer than with a 12-book pack giveaway! That’s right folks – one lucky winner will be starting 2019 with a big enough stack of bookish delights that they could easily turn it into a bedside... read more

Penelope Janu’s trifecta – published three times in one year

A huge congratulations to AWC’s creative writing graduate Penelope Janu on the publication of three books this year, including On the Same Page, which also won the prestigious 2017 XO Romance Prize. On the Same Page tells the story of Miles Franklin (named after the famous author), who is... read more

COMP CLOSED: Win a 2019 Australian Literary Diary

We’re excited to be giving away three copies of the inaugural Australian Literary Diary – the ideal organisation tool for readers, writers and book lovers. It is a week to a page planner packed with the good stuff – the major and regional Australian literary festivals, the cute book town festivals... read more

10 unique gifts for hard-to-please grown-ups

There’s no disputing we all love gifts. We love to buy them, we love to give them and we love to get them! But the conundrum always is finding something different. Unusual. Unique. Especially for those who are hard to please. They either have everything or are ridiculously picky... read more

2019 Newcastle Short Story Award now open

Entries for the 2019 Newcastle Short Story Award are now open! This award boasts over $6000 in prizes with the winner taking away a sweet $3000. So, what do you have to do? Well, the award is open to people 18 years and over and all you have to do... read more

Q&A: Like chalk and cheese

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 adding... read more

Furious Fiction November 2018 winner and shortlist

Attention shoppers – it’s time to announce the winning story and shortlist for November’s Furious Fiction! This month’s criteria were: The story had to take place at a supermarket. The story's first sentence had to contain just two words. The story had to include something breaking. When... read more

COMP CLOSED: Win a backstage pass to new book ‘Roadies’

This week, we have three copies to be won of Roadies: The Secret History of Australian Rock 'n' Roll by Stuart Coupe – an author, music commentator, publicist and radio broadcaster who has been involved with music all his life. Amongst the books Coupe has written, edited or collaborated on are... read more

Congratulations to Frances Chapman winner of the 2018 Ampersand Prize

We are delighted to announce that AWC graduate Frances Chapman has won the prestigious Hardie Grant Egmont 2018 Ampersand Prize for her ‘vibrant’ debut YA novel, What it Takes. From the Hardie Grant website: Selected from nearly two hundred submissions, What It Takes is a beautifully written own-voices LGBTQ... read more