”I think all essays are ‘personal’ to the extent that an essay is, among other things, a reflection of the writer’s mode of thinking and an enquiry into their interests. ‘

Ahead of her two courses at the centre, we spoke to Aleesah Darlison about writing children’s books and promoting your work as an author.

You’ve got your first draft finished, but what next? We spoke to editor Pamela Hewitt about the best things to bear in mind when revising your work.

Ahead of his one-day workshop, we sat down with Mark O’Flynn, author of The Last Days of Ava Langdon and The Forgotten World, to chat about how he finds inspiration when writing.

‘Know yourself and your podcast- if you can’t define it, then how are others supposed to?’

‘Whether you are writing a memoir or fiction grounded in real events, the reader needs to trust that you are dealing with the nonfiction elements as honestly as you can.’

Mark Dapin is an author, historian and journalist. His most recent book is The Nashos’ War, a highly acclaimed history of the Vietnam-era national service scheme in Australia. We spoke to him about the best way to approach history writing.

Would you like to make 2018 the year you finally write that book?

‘The short story has an intensity that cannot be replicated all the way through a longer text like a novel – that’s when you know it is a successful story.’