Happy Holidays
from Queensland Writers Centre
Queensland Writers Centre is now closing for the Summer break. It has been a fantastic year in writing, and we look forward to welcoming you all back when we reopen 9 January 2022.
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Thank you to everyone who attended our sold out Christmas Party celebrations last Friday night, and a special congratulations to Brisbane author Tess Rowley on being awarded the 2022 Johnno Award, for outstanding service to Queensland writers and writing.
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"Writers must write about injustices in the hope that through our research and truth telling it will never be allowed to happen again. Words have power.
"As writers, we have the opportunity to raise awareness, increase knowledge of wrongs to be righted, to reach out with a touch, soft as a prayer. The arts have always been influencers, and we need art now, more than ever."
- Tess Rowley
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While you enjoy the Summer break, don't forget to submit to Adaptable 2022/23 and the GenreCon Short Story Competition. Bookings also remain open for GenreCon and longform courses The Next Draft with Laurel Cohn, Writing Life with Mary-Rose MacColl, and the Picture Book Masterclass with Zanni Louise plus many more great workshops and events on our 2023 Program at Early Bird prices.
Most of all, make the most of your time to write, write, write! We'll see you all again in the New Year; continuing to support you and your writing life, with a range of new and exciting opportunities.
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Free in-person pop-up event
When: 12:30pm, Saturday 21 January
Find out what Queensland Writers Centre has in store for you and your writing journey in 2023, discover programs, services and more. Plus, hear a reading from author and poet Heather Taylor Johnson.
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Hybrid half-day writing workshop
When: 10:30am, Friday 10 February
Learn how to navigate the world of being a writer with autism, and how to harness the positive aspects of this condition, with award-winning autistic writer and CEO of Spectrum Writing Jason Fischer.
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6-week in-person writing course
When: Six Wednesday evenings, 5:30pm - 7:30pm, beginning 1 March
Discover writing as a way of exploring your experience of the world, especially the natural world, with 2022 Queensland Writers Fellow Mary-Rose MacColl. Explore various forms of life writing and exercises in poetry, reflective essay, personal journal and letters, and more.
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Check out our website for bookings and more workshops and courses.
Queensland Writers Centre now publishes our events on Humanitix - follow us there for instant updates every time we announce something new!
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Upcoming community events
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Words Out West: Western Downs Readers & Writers Fest
When: 1-29 March 2023
Where: Dalby Events Centre, Nicholson St, Dalby
Words Out West takes a novel approach to storytelling, with a host of events for all ages and interests, readers, writers, and word-lovers alike. Catch Queensland Writers Centre CEO Lori-Jay Ellis as part of the 25 March Festival Day program.
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Queensland Poetry Festival
When: 20-23 April 2023
Where: State Library of Queensland, South Brisbane
The dates for the 2023 Queensland Poetry Festival – Story/Verse – has been announced. Join us for a rich feast of poetry, ideas and performance that will explore poetry's connection to story. More information will be released in the next few months in the lead up to the festival.
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Debbie Terranova was shortlisted in Sisters In Crime Australia's 2022 Scarlet Stiletto Awards for her short crime mystery, Death on the Diggings.
Michael Cunliffe's debut collection of poetry, Thirteen, has been released in paperback and ebook.
Rachel Amphlett's new murder mystery collection of dark and twisted short stories, Case Files: Collected Short Crime Stories Vol. 1, has been released this month by Saxon Publishing.
Maryann Hazard's first kids book Thongs, Crocs and Flip Flops, illustrated by Ella Rousseau, will be released by Playtime Books in March 2023.
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Cynthia Terelst has recently published As Busy as a Bee, the newest addition to her Love Down Under series.
Siang Lu's The Whitewash (UQP) has been listed as one of Booktopia's Top Books of 2022. The audiobook for The Whitewash (Wavesound) was also released in December.
Suzanne Hermanoczki has been announced as the winner of the inaugural AAWP/Westerly Life Writing Prize for the piece Doors.
Rhonda Valentine Dixon has received an Honorable Mention in the 2022 Literary Taxidermy Writing Competition for Going Down.
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Share your achievements with our community! Submit your Member Milestone using the submissions form. |
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Featuring cover design by Bronte Mark inspired by Dusan Bojic's Infinite Matrix Poetry, this issue developed in collaboration with Queensland Poetry includes interviews, writings and poetry from Huda The Goddess, Bethany Stapleton, Benjamin Dodds, Kris Kneen, Shane Strange and many more.
WQ 279 is out now - become a member to receive WQ magazine quarterly - writing inspiration delivered to your door or inbox.
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Competitions & opportunities
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Australian Crime Writers Association (ACWA) - The Louie Award
Closes: 30 December
Award for fast fiction crime writing, up to 500 words. The competition theme is 'Locked'; the theme or word must be referenced. Entry open to members of the ACWA. Winner receives cash prize of $750, and publication on the ACWA website.
Romance Writers of Australia - The Ruby Award
Closes: 16 January
Romance Writers of Australia's annual Romantic Book of the Year (Ruby) award is open for entries of books published in digital or print between 1 January - 31 December 2022.
The Kat Muscat Fellowship
Closes: 22 January
Offers professional development up to the value of $5,000 for an editorial project or work of writing by a young person of an underrepresented gender. Submit a 1-page writer/editor CV, project statement, brief budget, and excerpt/writing sample up to 1,000 words.
FAWWA - Tom Collins Poetry Prize
Closes: 30 January
Open theme poetry prize for poems up to 60 lines. Entries will be judged by Rose Van Son. First prize $1,000, second $300, and third $100.
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Australian Society of Authors (ASA) Award Mentorship Program for Writers and Illustrators
Closes: 31 January
12 recipients each receive 20 hours of mentoring with an ASA mentor, Paths to Publishing program, ASA membership, and entry to Literary Speed dating.
Completed draft manuscripts of fiction, narrative non-fiction & memoir, journalism, poetry, lifestyle, YA & children’s writing accepted.
National Biography Award
Closes: 3 February
State Library of NSW's National Biography Award is the nation’s richest prize for biographical writing and memoir. Books first published between 1 October 2021 - 30 September 2022 eligible.
Stringybark Open Short Story Awards
Closes: 12 February
Stringybark Publishing's Open Short Story Award accepts entries of short stories referencing Australia up to 1,500 words. Prize pool of $1,300 in cash and books, with winners receiving publication opportunities in print anthologies.
Magabala Books - Daisy Utemorrah Award
Closes: 30 March
Award for an unpublished manuscript of junior or YA fiction by a First Nations author. Winner receives $15,000 and a publishing contract with Magabala Books.
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Looking for support developing your work or submissions package for these competitions and opportunities? Check out Queensland Writers Centre's various Writer's Services on our website. Bookings are now open for Services to take place in early 2023. |
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Thanks to Allen & Unwin, we have copies to giveaway of Shmutz by Felicia Berliner.
'Transgressive and hilarious, Raizl's story questions everything we think we know about women, desire and religious faith.' - LA Times
In this witty, provocative, and unputdownable debut novel a young Hasidic woman on a quest to get married fears she will never find a groom because of her secret addiction.
Fill in the entry form for your chance to win.
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Queensland Writers Centre membership
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