This could be you

Student Success Stories: Gluten, ceviche, kitty cats and MORE!

Wow, winter sure brings out the writers! Here’s the latest selection of successes from our graduates. Prepare to be inspired! It could be you next time…

First up, Gabriel McGrath has been a man on a mission of late – proving that parent posts can indeed come from dads too! Heeding the mantra of matching a story to something topical, Gabriel latched onto Coeliac Week, and his piece about his own son’s experience with gluten issues was snapped up by the Essential Kids editor and its readers too – generating plenty of great comments.

"I got published!": Jo Hartley

We spotted Jo in Sunday Life recently! Then I flip the page and there is Australian Writers' Centre grad Jo Hartley's article in today's Sunday Life mag! A photo posted by Valerie Khoo (@valeriekhoo) on Sep 6, 2014 at 5:08pm PDT Congratulations Jo! If you have a success story to share with us, you can do so […]

"I got published!": Cassy Small

We spotted Cassy in Sunday Life recently! So fab to see Australian Writers' Centre grad Cassy Small @csmall80 ‘s article in today's Sunday Life mag! A photo posted by Valerie Khoo (@valeriekhoo) on Sep 6, 2014 at 5:06pm PDT Congratulations Cassy! If you have a success story to share with us, you can do so right here. […]

"I got published!": Cassy Small

We spotted Cassy in Feast Magazine recently! Sitting at the hair salon and first article I flip to in Feast mag is by @writerscentreau grad @csmall80 Cassy Small! Go Cassy :) A photo posted by Valerie Khoo (@valeriekhoo) on Aug 24, 2014 at 11:34pm PDT Congratulations Cassy! If you have a success story to share with us, […]

Debut novelist Jennifer Smart on deadlines, drafts and a dash of Dom Perignon

Jennifer Smart’s debut novel, The Wardrobe Girl, was published earlier this year through Random House – exploring the behind the scenes world of a fictional soap opera.

Having worked behind the scenes herself in film and television (including five years with soap, Home and Away), Jennifer admits she had a truckload of material to draw on for her book. And while she'd dabbled with writing fiction in the past, even penning a couple of episodes of Australia’s favourite beachside soap, she was completely in the dark about getting a book published.

We interviewed Jennifer in Episode 9 of our top-rating podcast, So you want to be a writer. And she gave us 3 lessons she had learned from her own writing and publishing experience…

My 2nd ever finished story won me $1000.

Every year across Australia, there are thousands of dollars on offer in the form of writing prizes. Some of these are awarded to existing works or published pieces, but there are still plenty open to aspiring unpublished authors to enter.

Sharon Elisara completed our Creative Writing Stage 1 course earlier this year with Pamela Freeman and it was while she was on the course that she noticed the Hunter Valley Writers Group writing competition. The theme was ‘grief’ or ‘grieving’ and the top story would win $1000. Bolstered with the confidence from her course, she edited and submitted a story (in the first week of her next course with us!).

It was only the second story that Sharon had ever written. And it won. Originally from Perth, but currently living in New Zealand, Sharon was thrilled with the win – awarded in Newcastle at the end of August.

"I got published!": Bexy McFly

We love hearing from our students no matter what they have to say, but when we hear of a student being published, we just want to shout it from the rooftops! We’re a little scared of heights, so we’ll go with a blog post instead. Bexy says: I have finally published my very first book, […]

Sara Donovan: Published life begins at 50

Many people might get to the age of 50 and look at their successful career, grown-up kids, stable life – and happily put their feet up. But not Sara Donovan. In fact it was this rather domestic alignment of the planets that saw her come to revisit a lifelong feeling. A feeling that she had […]

"I got published!": Jo Hartley

We spotted Jo in Sunday Life recently! Thrilled to see Australian Writers' Centre grad Jo Hartley's article in today's Sunday Life :) A photo posted by Valerie Khoo (@valeriekhoo) on Aug 3, 2014 at 3:32am PDT Congratulations Jo! If you have a success story to share with us, you can do so right here. We’ll share it […]

Student Successes: Essential Kids, Sydney Morning Herald and foodie famils.

Our recent rubbish winter weather makes this week's glow of student successes so much warmer! And where better to start than Hawaii, where Brooke Lumsden managed to fit in a stay with her family and a story for Essential Kids. Nice work Brooke – another example of finding opportunities wherever you are. (In fact a […]