This could be you | Australian Writers' Centre

“You have a story”: how a former paramedic found her voice again

Former paramedic Kylie Edwards had never written before she enrolled in the Australian Writers’ Centre’s Personal Storytelling for Veterans and First Responders course. By the end of it, she believed she could write a memoir. “This has changed my life and given me back my voice!” she says. “The course has shown me that I […]

AWC graduate Julie Modra lands a publishing deal for her middle-grade novella ‘Oscar Was Here’

Julie Modra’s middle-grade novella Oscar Was Here has been published by Rhiza Press, and the foreign rights have already been acquired by a publisher in Slovenia. Julie is a graduate of our Novel Writing Essentials and Write Your Novel courses, and she credits them with turning a former English teacher’s love of words into writing […]

AWC graduate Kirstie Bedford signs a two-book deal with Bloodhound Books

Kirstie Bedford has signed a two-book deal with Bloodhound Books. Her debut psychological suspense novel, White Lies, will be published in June 2027, followed later that year by her second crime novel, Murder She Heard. Kirstie is a graduate of our Creative Writing Stage 1 and Write Your Novel courses, and she has gone on […]

Tania Blanchard: From physiotherapist to full-time fiction author

Bestselling author Tania Blanchard enjoyed writing ever since she was a child, but it had become more the product of daydreams in adulthood while working as a physio. So she decided to pick it up again when she had her children – writing stories for them at first, before developing one of them into a […]

AWC graduate Whitney Fitzsimmons lands a publishing deal for her thriller ‘The Rising’

Whitney Fitzsimmons’ thriller The Rising has been published by Ventura Press. Whitney is a graduate of our Crime and Thriller Writing course, which she credits with giving her the structure she’d been missing every time she’d tried to finish a novel before. “The course gave me a solid foundation in which to really build a […]

Samera Kamaleddine’s growing book catalogue

Samera Kamaleddine quit her job as editor of Women’s Fitness magazine to finally write the novel that was in her head – but she quickly discovered she had no idea where to start! However, after taking a course at the Australian Writers’ Centre, she found her writing rhythm, and now she has a growing collection […]

Cassy Polimeni achieves her dream of becoming a children’s author

Cassy Polimeni always wanted to become an author and even studied creative writing at university. She followed this with a career in magazines and publishing, while putting her own creative pursuits on the back burner. But while he was on maternity leave, she took the opportunity to enrol in a course at the Australian Writers’ […]

AWC graduate JoJo Leslie publishes her first picture book, ‘Fish Don’t Hop’, with Woodslane Press

JoJo Leslie’s picture book Fish Don’t Hop has been published by Woodslane Press, and she both wrote and illustrated it. JoJo is a graduate of our Writing Picture Books course, and she credits it with changing the way she approaches writing for children. “For me it was a game changer,” she says. “Once I understood […]

Dinuka McKenzie: award-winning crime/thriller author

Dinuka McKenzie was a busy working mum when she decided to start writing as a creative outlet. The more she wrote, the more she loved it, so she decided to complete a few courses at the Australian Writers’ Centre to hone her craft. After finishing her first crime manuscript, she entered it in the Banjo […]

Jenny Marshall adds to her picture book titles

After completing more than 10 courses at the Australian Writers’ Centre, graduate Jenny Marshall is now a copywriter and a self-published picture book author.