Peter Cowan

During Perth Festival Writers Week a special episode of the Fremantle Press podcast for authors and writers was recorded during the Business of Being a Writer event.

Fremantle Press CEO Jane Fraser was joined by award-winning screen director Alison James, Black Swan State Theatre Company Literary Director Polly Low and Red Room Poetry Director Tamryn Bennett. The panel covered such topics as adapting books for the stage, creating scripts, using dialogue to advance story and many other tips useful for both established and emerging writers.

The podcast is part of the Four Centres Emerging Writers Program, which Peter Cowan Writers Centre is proudly a part of, and which is supported by the State Government through the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries. The other centres involved in this initiative are the Fellowship of Australian Writers WA, Katherine Susannah Prichard Writers’ Centre, WA Poets Inc. with support from Fremantle Press.

The podcast can be listened to below.

The Publication Event we held on 18th November was a massive success with over 90 people attending. We’d like to thank our guest speakers, all the volunteers that helped make the event happen, Centre members and all the people who attended.

Josephine Taylor and Hannah van Didden were our writer’s in residence and two of the guests at the event. Josephine Taylor had this to say about the Publication Event:

“With Cate Blake (Penguin Random House) and Haylee Nash (The Nash Agency) speaking to publishing from a valuable Eastern States perspective, and Terri-ann White (UWA Publishing), Georgia Richter (Fremantle Press) and Natasha Lester (award-winning author) providing locally honed knowledge that stretches well beyond state or national boundaries, attendees were treated to a range of voices and experience. More importantly, these generous professionals shared personal insights into the publishing industry, honest appraisals of the state of writing and publishing in Australia, and realistic and helpful advice for emerging writers.”

The Panel (left to right, Haylee Nash – The Nash Agency, Natasha Lester – Bestselling Author, Georgia Richter – Fremantle Press, Nicole Waddilove – PCWC Committee Member, Cate Blake – Penguin Random House , Terri-Ann White – UWA Publishing).

Haylee Nash (The Nash Agency) during her first speech.

Terri-Ann White (UWA Publishing) talking to the crowd.

Natasha Lester (Bestselling Author) during her second speech of the afternoon.

Haylee Nash (The Nash Agency) answering questions from an attendee.

Cate Blake (Penguin Random House) listening intently to a question from an attendee.

Some of the eager crowd at the Publishing Event.

We hope we’re able to host more events like the Publishing Event in the future, the enthusiasm of the guest speakers and attendees was the best outcome we at Peter Cowan Writers Centre could have hoped for. If you attended the Publication Event and have any feedback we’d love to hear from you.

The Peter Cowan Writers Centre Publication Event was proudly supported by the City of Joondalup.

Our two Writers-in-Residence for 2018 is Josephine Taylor and Hannah van Didden. The Writers-in-Residence will commence on Monday 29th October to Sunday 18th of November. There will be four different workshops to participate in. The workshops are:

“So You Want to Write: an Introduction to Creative Writing” with Josephine Taylor on the 3rd November. Concluded

“Twist Your Own Adventure” with Hannah van Didden on the 4th November (suitable for young writers from 10 to 15 years of age).

“Self-editing and Submitting for Publication” with Josephine Taylor and Hannah van Didden on the 10th November.

“Pathways to Publication” with Josephine Taylor and Hannah van Didden on the 17th November.

Josephine Taylor
Josephine Taylor is a writer and freelance editor, an Adjunct Senior Lecturer at Edith Cowan University, and an Editorial Board member of Margaret River Press. She is also Associate Editor at Westerly Magazine, where she reviews and edits creative and scholarly writing. Her work has been anthologised and has appeared in diverse publications, including Australian Book Review, Axon and Southerly. Josephine regularly presents and facilitates in the areas of creative writing and Australian fiction. She is passionate about literature and creativity – and she loves teaching!

Hannah van Didden

Hannah van Didden is a Perth-based writer and book designer. Pieces of her have appeared in publications such as Southerly (Aust.), Breach (Aust.), Hippocampus Magazine (US), Atticus Review (US), and Southword Journal (Ire). While trying to stay faithful to writing novels and helping others get their writing ready for publication, she entertains a love affair with short forms. In another life, she helps others to run their projects with discipline and creativity. This balance feeds her writing—and potentially yours—when you seek her advice or come to her workshops.

WritingWA is curating the annual WA Writing and Publishing Sector Forum, providing opportunities to network and discuss current trends, issues and opportunities in the industry.  Our very own Vice-President, Holden Sheppard will be speaking on the 11th at 11.45 am, talking about all the new exciting opportunities and events happening at the Peter Cowan Writer’s Centre in the coming months.

This forum is held over two days, the 10th and 11th of July from 9am to 5pm on both days.  Tickets cost $26.09 per day.

For more information click here.

The Awards Day for the 2018 Peter Cowan 600 Word Short Story Competition was held on Saturday the 19th of May.

The results are now available online, along with Dr Josephine Taylor’s Judges Report for this years entries.

Click here to see the results. Congratulations to the finalists and thank you to everyone who entered the competition.

This Anzac Day Wednesday the 25th of April we commemorate our fallen heroes.

Charles Page, Peter Cowan Writer Centre member, does this through his book Wings of Valour. 

To learn more about the stories of the AAFC  7 Wing WA click here

Congratulations to PCWC member Susan Braghieri. Susan has been awarded a two-week KSP Fellowship in 2018 to continue developing her first novel. The Fellowships are awarded via an application and merit selection process. To find out more about KSP Fellowships, go to:   http://www.kspwriterscentre.com/fellowship-program (applications for 2019 will open later in the year).

KSP Residency applications are, however, open NOW for Established, Emerging and Next Gen Residencies. Details are on the KSP website at: http://www.kspwriterscentre.com/residency-program

Hannah van Didden will be Writer-in-Residence at Mattie Furphy House from 30 Oct to 10 Nov.
Hannah’s short fiction is published in:
Southerly journal, Breach zine, the Grieve Anthology 2016, MoTHER zine, Paper Crown Magazine, The Ham (UK), Atticus Review (US), A Quiet Courage (US), Gravel Magazine (US), Southword Literary Journal (Ireland) and Quail Bell Magazine (US)

Josephine has recently been appointed as the new Associate Editor at Westerly magazine, and will work alongside Editor Catherine Noske and the Westerly team to continue to develop the magazine as a platform for lively and intelligent fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry and scholarly offerings. Josephine is also a member of the editorial board at Margaret River Press, and reviews regularly for Australian Book Review.

Congratulations, Josephine.

Congratulations to Morgane Johnson for achieving a Highly commended in the Tim Winton Young Writer’s Awards for her story, “New Beginnings”  Morgane is a home educated student under the tutelage of Brooke Dunnell, the facilitator of the weekly homeschool writing group held at the Peter Cowan Writers Centre.