This could be you | Australian Writers' Centre

Victoria Mackinlay achieves her childhood dream to become a published author

When she was a child, Victoria Mackinlay assumed she would grow up to be an author. And now, with the release of her picture book Ribbit Rabbit Robot and more on the way, Victoria’s dream has come true. To top it off, Victoria has won the State Library of NSW Award for Emerging Children's Author.

Lesley Gibbes and Astrid Scholte shortlisted for the CBCA Book of the Year Awards 2020

Not one but two people in the AWC family have made the shortlist for the CBCA Book of the Year Awards 2020 with both Lesley Gibbes and Astrid Scholte making it on the list. AWC presenter Lesley Gibbes has been shortlisted for her gorgeous picture book Searching for Cicadas. Featuring beautiful illustrations by Judy Watson, […]

Children’s Book Council of Australia announces Book of the Year Notables 2020

It’s a celebration of children’s books this week as the Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) announced their list of Notable Books for the 2020 CBCA Book of the Year Awards. We’ll find out which books are selected for the shortlist later this year. But for now, we’re jumping for joy as several of the […]

Write Your Novel. And again. And again…

There are few things more satisfying than completing a manuscript. And there are few things more challenging and isolating than the process of writing that manuscript! The act of writing a book is usually a lonely experience, immersing yourself deep in your story and your own mind. But you don't have to battle your book […]

An amazing year of published books by AWC alumni and presenters

Nothing makes us prouder here at the Australian Writers’ Centre than seeing writers reach their publishing dreams. Over the years, our students have published hundreds of books, and 2019 has been another amazing year of success. From short stories to novels, picture books to picturesque romances, non-fiction, historical fiction, contemporary fiction, memoir, mystery and marvellous […]

Writing Picture Books in Perth

It was a hot weekend in November when we held our Writing Picture Books course in Perth, the last for 2019. Five students from across the city got together to spend two days learning about the craft of picture books with award-winning author Judith Rossell. In fact, one particularly eager mum had left her three-month […]

AWC alumna Petronella McGovern longlisted for the Australian Indie Book Awards

Congratulations to AWC alumna Petronella McGovern for being longlisted for the Australian Indie Book Awards in the debut fiction category with her novel, Six Minutes. You can read more about Petronella’s journey to publication here. According to the media release: Established in 2008, what makes the Indie Book Awards unique is that it’s the Australian […]

Stef Gemmill’s debut picture book finds a home

Stef Gemmill used the few minutes she had each morning before her family woke up to work on her creative writing. With a background in music journalism, Stef was no slouch at writing, but knew that she needed guidance to really hone her picture book manuscripts. After signing up for the Australian Writers’ Centre’s Writing Picture Books course, Stef got the valuable feedback she was looking for. Her first picture book, A Home for Luna, has now been published by New Frontier Publishing and it won the 2020 International Rubery Book Award (children's category).

Your path to publication at the Australian Writers’ Centre

Remember that feeling of staying up late past your bedtime curled under the covers with your favourite book? Have you been dreaming since then of writing your own novel? Would you love to one day see your name on a book cover at your local bookstore? Many people long to be authors. They talk about […]

Therese Spruhan makes a splash with debut book ‘The Memory Pool'

Therese Spruhan loves swimming pools. After writing for her blog Swimming Pool Stories, she knew she wanted to create a book based on this theme. The result is The Memory Pool, a collection of 28 stories from a diverse range of Australians including Bryan Brown, Leah Purcell, Merrick Watts, Shane Gould and Trent Dalton – as […]