So, you’ve written a great short story, poem or even an autobiographical piece, and are now wondering where to send it. As one of my earlier posts about writing competitions for young writers suggests, there are plenty of places to submit your creative work if you know where to look. But. Many writers submitting to […]
Music is a powerful force, evoking strong emotions and reviving half-forgotten memories. I recall how, as teenagers, a friend and I walked along a road in our town, singing ‘Manic Monday’ by the Bangles. And I remember sitting on the edge of the town pool, feet dangling in the water, as the cast of the school musical […]
[NB: These are writing competitions for November and December 2016. Head to 19 Writing Competitions for Young Writers: July to December 2017 for the most recent list of opportunties.] If you’re a young writer (or know one) heading into the final weeks of the school year and wondering what to do as those warm […]
I have a social media rule: don’t friend someone on Facebook unless you know them in real life. I made an exception for poet and artist, S. Nagaveeran – or Ravi to those who know him. I ‘met’ Ravi after his poetry was shared online, and while he was still in immigration detention awaiting the […]
My previous post described seven dystopian worlds as imagined by Australian writers. Each story involves characters whose everyday, familiar world becomes fraught with danger, risk and loss. In some, the characters stay to fight; others decide that leaving home offers the greatest chance of survival. I invite you to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) […]
My writing journey has involved traversing a long, winding path with numerous detours and roadblocks, sometimes entire landslides, but I’m slowly learning that nothing we do or experience is wasted – even discarded words and manuscripts. I really do believe that without the countless writing exercises I’ve attempted, hundreds of thousands of words scribbled in […]