‘A critic should set out without too many preconceived notions about what they might find before they’ve begun.’

‘The best picture books often have a beautiful seamlessness between the text and the illustrations, so that a reader can barely distinguish how the story finally comes to them.’

Kate J Armstrong writes and edits books about travel, nature, and adventures of all kinds. As editor, she’s helped adventurers tell their stories in books like National Geographic’s Everest: Mountain Without Mercy and special editions like The World’s Most Beautiful Places. As writer, she’s explored the wonder of national parks in National Geographic’s Greatest Parks […]

‘Accuracy is vital but so are style and elegance.’

Dianne Blacklock is the author of nine novels of commercial women’s fiction, published both in Australia and overseas. She is also a busy freelance editor, with a focus on debut authors of women’s fiction and romance titles. Contemporary women’s fiction – is it just romance? It’s definitely more than romance – not that there’s anything […]

Bianca Nogrady is a freelance science journalist and author with more than a decade of experience as a full-time freelance writer for outlets such as ABC and BBC, Nature, Australian Geographic, the Australian, Scientific American, and Ecos. Bianca works from home in the Blue Mountains and wouldn’t give it up for any office job in […]

Jan Cornall has written 15 plays and musicals, a feature film, a novel (Take Me To Paradise) and a collection of poems and stories (Archipelagogo). She has received multiple awards and grants, and has taught writing in Australian universities and internationally. There’s a general impression that we become less creative as we age, but in […]

Do you want to self-publish your book, but you’re not sure where to start? This extended program isn’t just about covering the specifics of how to take your edited manuscript through the process of self-publishing – when you complete the program you will be able to have your book for sale in print and digital […]

Born in Melbourne, Mark O’Flynn now lives in the Blue Mountains. He began writing for the stage before turning to fiction and poetry.  He has published five collections of poetry, most recently The Soup’s Song. His novels include The Last Days of Ava Langdon, Grassdogs and The Forgotten World. In 2013 he also published the comic memoir, False Start, and a collection of […]