Category: Alumni/Student success stories

Shannon Kelly-White had a secret dream – she wanted to write fiction. That dream is now a reality and you’ll see it in bookstores: Billie King, her debut novel has now been published by HarperCollins Australia. It all started with a course at the Australian Writers’ Centre. Creative Writing Stage

When Bethany Loveridge set out to write a junior-fiction series, she was convinced there was an “art and science” to writing for children – and that if she cracked it, she’d finally be signing those author agreements. She was right. Her debut, Josie Mack and the MEGA Division, is the

When Emma Warrender started writing her debut novel, she knew she wanted to do everything possible to give it the best chance of being published. So she enrolled in the Australian Writers’ Centre’s Creative Writing Stage 1 course to build her craft – and to find her people. That investment

It started as a comic strip drawn on a scrap of paper at the kitchen table for two daughters who wanted bedtime stories. Two decades later, John Stanton’s middle-grade novel The Adventures of Squidape is being published by Riveted Press, with more than 20 of John’s own watercolour illustrations woven

Melissa Garside always dreamed of becoming a published author, and her children’s novel, Lexie Moon & The Word Burgling Bungle, is out now with Riveted Press!

Nicole Kelly was working as a teacher in Ballarat, Victoria, and had just become a mum when she first enrolled in the Australian Writers’ Centre’s Creative Writing Stage 1 course. She wanted to stay on track with her writing and invest in building her craft. Since then, Nicole has gone

When Inessa Jackson left her career as PR Manager at eBay to be a stay-at-home mum, she was looking for a creative outlet – something to keep her brain active. She wondered if she had it in her to write a story. Starting with Creative Writing Stage 1 at the

Northern Beaches author Seetha Dodd’s debut junior-fiction novel Myra in the Middle is on bookshop shelves now with UQP – a warm, funny story about a seven-year-old soccer enthusiast and Maths buff whose world tilts sideways when her baby brother arrives. Illustrated by Peter Cheong, the book is Seetha’s love

Andrea Innocent has spent years bringing other people’s stories to life on the page – but the story that wouldn’t leave her alone was her own. Her debut middle-grade graphic novel, Lamington Left Behind, has been published by Hardie Grant. Its journey from haunting idea to 304 illustrated pages was

When Sydney-based Judith Stewart – writing as Judith Katherine – first signed up to Creative Writing Stage 1 at the Australian Writers’ Centre, she was a mum with three kids, no writing practice to speak of, and a growing suspicion that “I would get round to writing one day” was

Camille Booker had never allowed herself to imagine being a ‘real’ author one day – but faced with new motherhood and a demanding teaching job, she started to dream of the possibility. “I’d always loved reading, language, words, poetry,” she says. “Writing was my creative outlet: a way to avoid

Wendy Rudge used to stand in the children’s section of her local library, running her hand along the spines of picture books, imagining what her own might look like shelved beside them. Now Ruby’s Perfect Fire Safety Plan, her debut picture book published by Wild Dog Books, is right there

When Sydney writer Katie Hoskins took Creative Writing Stage 1 with the Australian Writers’ Centre, she discovered the confidence and structure she needed to write her debut novel. Her commercial fiction When the Party’s Over will be published by Pan Macmillan in March 2026.