Writing NSW senior program officer Ashley Kalagian Blunt reflects on the process of providing quality courses to writers during the pandemic.

‘When I write about a place, I make sure to observe it as closely as possible: spending time there, observing, talking to people, taking notice of the environment visually and sonically, considering its topography, and generally paying deep attention to it. This gives me clues for what I can research further, in archives, to build a portrait of a place through time.’

Luke Ryan is a Melbourne-based writer, comedian and man about town. We spoke with Luke about his comic memoir, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Chemo, and the pathways from pathos to punchline when writing comedy.

Pamela Cook is a city girl with a country lifestyle and too many horses. Her rural fiction novels feature feisty women, tangled family relationships and a healthy dose of romance. She has published four novels and has taught writing workshops around Australia. What role does tension play across your novels? Many people think tension is […]

‘The best memoirs are not ‘lessons’, but rather quests.’

‘Entertain yourself first. Never write what you think a kid or teen might like if it doesn’t genuinely humour or entertain or thrill or sadden you.’