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Participants in face to face courses must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and must comply with any other precautionary measures Writing NSW puts in place.

It takes more than just Google! Mark Dapin interviewed 160 people and spent two and a half years reading press clippings and searching government archives to produce his prize-winning history of Australia’s Vietnam-era national service scheme, The Nashos’ War.

In this workshop, Mark will focus on developing interviewing skills, checking facts, and working with archived documents. He will teach how to separate facts from folklore and, perhaps most importantly, how to turn cold dead facts into living, vibrant prose. He will also discuss researching and writing family histories and personal memoirs.

Is this course right for you? Read our FAQ >

Expected learning outcomes

Participants will improve their:

• research skills, including fact-checking
• interviewing skills
• writing skills, particularly in terms of bringing historical facts to life

Participant requirements

Pen and paper.

If you are feeling unwell and experiencing any COVID-related symptoms on the day of the course, you must stay at home and contact us to let us know. As a participant in this course, you will be required to follow all COVID safety measures in place by Writing NSW to ensure the health and wellbeing of our community.

If you have questions about this course and/or COVID-safe guidelines, please contact us.

Please read our FAQ before enrolling.

More from Writing NSW

Check out our full range of in-person writing courses in Sydney, our online writing courses and our feedback programs to see how we can help you on your writing journey. Find out about our grants and prizes, as well as writing groups across NSW, and sign up to our weekly newsletter for writing events, opportunities and giveaways.