Category: Alumni/Student success stories

Alumni/Student success stories
Australian Writers' Centre Team

Jane Sullivan discovers her inner crime writer at the Australian Writers’ Centre

Jane Sullivan was already a published author and journalist when she discovered the Australian Writers’ Centre. But when she wrote the manuscript for her crime novel, she realised she needed specialist skills in order to master the suspense and pacing of the genre. So she enrolled in Crime and Thriller Writing at the Australian Writers’ Centre and rewrote her manuscript with her new knowledge.

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Alumni/Student success stories
Australian Writers' Centre Team

AWC graduate Deborah Frenkel is now a successful picture book author

Deborah Frenkel reignited her long-held dream of becoming an author when she became immersed in the world of picture books after the birth of her daughter. Throw in frequent long walks and she soon started to simmer with stories of her own.

Knowing she needed some direction to get her stories on to the page, Deborah jumped into Writing Picture Books at the Australian Writers’ Centre.

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Alumni/Student success stories
Australian Writers' Centre Team

Petronella McGovern’s dream of becoming a fiction author comes true

Petronella McGovern came to the Australian Writers’ Centre hoping to prioritise her fiction writing. She had always wanted to publish a novel but was struggling to find the time and motivation to keep writing. Now, her debut novel Six Minutes has just been published by Allen & Unwin, and she spends her mornings writing fiction, working on her next novel.
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Alumni/Student success stories
Australian Writers' Centre Team

Bec Nanayakkara is a published picture book author

Congratulations to Australian Writers’ Centre(AWC) graduate Bec Nanayakkara whose debut picture book Grow Big, Little Seed has been published by Hardie Grant. Her second picture book The Book Star is out in June published by Affirm Press. It’s based on an idea she workshopped in our Writing Picture Books course with tutor Zanni Louise just a year ago!

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Alumni/Student success stories
Australian Writers' Centre Team

AWC graduate Anna Johnston scores a two-book deal

​​Anna Johnston started telling stories at a young age, writing plays and short films for her parents as a child. But she left her storytelling passion behind when she went into healthcare and started her family. A course at the Australian Writers’ Centre changed that, reigniting her love of creative writing, and Anna is now celebrating the publication of her debut novel The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife, in a two-book deal with Penguin Random House.

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Alumni/Student success stories
Australian Writers' Centre Team

Amy Hutton scores two book deals

When television producer Amy Hutton decided she wanted to switch careers and become a writer, she went all in. After making such a decisive move, Amy knew she had to learn the craft of writing if she were to succeed. She liked the variety of courses on offer at the Australian Writers’ Centre and she jumped in, learning the essentials of Fiction and Grammar, Plotting and Planning and how to Pitch Your Novel.

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Alumni/Student success stories
Australian Writers' Centre Team

Joanna Nell: From GP to bestselling author

An unexpected incident led Joanna Nell to the Australian Writers’ Centre and the subsequent publishing of her feel-good debut novel The Single Ladies of Jacaranda Retirement Village (Hachette Australia).

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Alumni/Student success stories
Australian Writers' Centre Team

Seth Haddon scores his dream book deal

Seth took all the skills and tips that he learned in that class and has gone on to forge a career as a writer in the gaming industry. He has also published three books with Blind Eye Books and his latest novel, Volatile Memory, is being published by Tor Books. “I absolutely believe I wouldn’t be where I am without having attended the Write Your Novel course,” Seth says.

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Alumni/Student success stories
Australian Writers' Centre Team

AWC courses helped Kyra Geddes become a published author

Kyra had built a successful ten-year career in marketing and was also raising her children. When the family moved to Melbourne for her husband’s work, Kyra took the opportunity to return to university and study English. She also began taking creative writing courses to continue learning her craft, including Reinvent Yourself and 2 Hours to Scrivener Power at the Australian Writers’ Centre.

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Alumni/Student success stories
Australian Writers' Centre Team

Inda Ahmad Zahri achieves her childhood dream to become a published author

Inda Ahmad Zahri likes to keep busy. As a working surgeon with a young family, she can now add ‘published author’ to her repertoire of achievements with the publication of her debut picture book Salih, out now with Ford Street Publishing.

“I’ve wanted to be a published author since I was a little girl with my nose stuck in a book for most of the day (and night!). Writing was always an outlet for me,” Inda says. 

Inda is a self-confessed course junkie and knew that she would need structure, deadlines, and the best training available to make her publishing dreams come true. That’s why she turned to the Australian Writers’ Centre for its creative writing courses and community.

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Alumni/Student success stories
Australian Writers' Centre Team

From police force to published author

Kerryn Mayne was on maternity leave from her job on the police force when she returned to her high school love of writing. She soon realised that her professional experiences of crime and policing could be useful when penning her own stories, so she fired up her computer and got down to work. With an outline for a new book idea, Kerryn enrolled in Creative Writing Stage 1 online at the Australian Writers’ Centre, so she could learn about the writing process and connect with other aspiring writers.

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Alumni/Student success stories
Australian Writers' Centre Team

How Amy Tan gained confidence to write her first novel

Amy Tan had always been interested in creative writing and, although she works as a copywriter, she wasn’t confident in her fiction skills. So she turned to an Australian Writers’ Centre course. One of the exercises that she worked on during that course eventually evolved into part of her debut novel, Katie Goes to KL. This has now been published in Australia and Singapore by Penguin under her pen name Su-May Tan.

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Alumni/Student success stories
Australian Writers' Centre Team

Astrid Scholte: Now an award-winning author of young adult fiction

Astrid Scholte had always hoped to be published. In fact, she had the lofty goal of being published before she was 18. “I was a little ambitious! While it took me a lot longer I’m so happy to have achieved this dream of mine. I cannot wait to hold my book Four Dead Queens in my hands early next year, I’m sure there will be plenty of tears!” says Astrid.

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