Nicole Hayes, Presenter

Nicole Hayes is an award-winning author whose recent book, A Shadow’s Breath (Penguin Random House 2017) is currently garnering acclaim. She is also a writing instructor who has taught writing for more than six years at universities, TAFEs and schools around Australia, including four years teaching Creative Writing at University of Melbourne. She has been a popular presenter at the Australian Writers’ Centre since 2012.

Her books include Young Adult novels, The Whole of My World (Random House, 2013), One True Thing (Penguin Random House, 2015) — winner of the Children’s Peace Literature Award, CBCA Notable Book, and shortlisted for the WA Premier’s Literary Award, WA Young Readers Book Awards and YABBA Awards — and her recent release, A Shadow’s Breath (Penguin Random House, 2017), which is currently garnering acclaim.

Last year she published an anthology of writing from writers and thinkers from the margins who love AFL, called, From the Outer: Footy Like You’ve Never Heard It (Black Inc 2016) co-edited with Alicia Sometimes. On the back of this release, Alicia and Nicole joined with four friends to form the groundbreaking all-female Australian football podcast, The Outer Sanctum. Alicia and Nicole also collaborated on a book for kids about women’s AFL – A Footy Girl’s Guide to the Stars of 2017 (Nero Books, 2017) published at the start of the inaugural AFLW competition.

Nicole regularly speaks about writing, sport, politics and gender at festivals and literary events around the country, including appearances at Melbourne Writers Festival, Rock and Roll Writers Festival, Somerset Schools Festival, Willy Lit, Bendigo Writers Festival, and Trinity Bay in Cairns, among others, and internationally at the inaugural ANZ Festival of Literature and Arts, London.

She is a frequent guest speaker in the media, in particular on ABC Melbourne Radio, Radio National, and the ABC network, as well as making TV and commercial appearances on Fox Footy and SEN radio. She has a Master of Arts in Communications (Creative Writing), a BA in Politics and Media Studies, and is a Stella Prize Schools Ambassador.

Nicole teaches Creative Writing Stage 1.

Some of Nicole's books include:

Nicole-Hayes-One-True-Thing
The-Whole-of-My-World
Chicken-Soup-from-the-Soul-of-Hawaii
WritersNet-Anthology-of-Prose
from-the-outer

Testimonials about this presenter

“Having taught adult students myself, I understand the difficulties in teaching but Nicole could not have been better suited to this course. It is little wonder she is a published author. She was nothing short of fantastic. I really appreciated her honesty and insights and found the course outline incredibly helpful for an aspiring fiction writer.”

- Kirstie Bedford

“Nicole was an absolute darl and her enthusiasm for good writing was infectious.”

- Elise Maki

"Nicole was excellent, she was very approachable and imparted real information in a down-to-earth way. The small class size and extensive notes made the course content rich. I learnt a great deal in two days!"

- Saveria Dimasi

"Nicole is a down to earth and very likeable person. She oozes knowledge and is great sharing it. I enjoy an unbiased presenter who gives all sides to the subject matter and leaves you with all the facts/options to make up your own mind. She had a response for every question and encouraged debate. I doubt you could find a better presenter!"

- Ruth Yates


"Nicole was great; knowledgeable, encouraging and generous with her insider information on how to become a published writer. It was great to be among like-minded book lovers and hopeful writers."

- Tamara Blackmore

Presenter for:

Creative Writing Stage 1
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