April Newsletter 2022

Hello everyone,

So far 2022 has been a blur of extra poetry events which we have hosted in collaboration with WAPI and Voicebox. We've had Poetry Under the Stars for Valentine's Day; The Tom Collins Poetry Award ceremony; and the launch of Colin Young's Between Stations on March 20 (Colin Young pictured left at the launch. For more photos click here).

Thank you to all who masked up and made these events a success and congratulations in particular to Colin Young, FAWWA volunteer and poet of the moment. Colin was selected for the first round of WAPI's version of The Fremantle Press Four Centres Emerging Writers' Program funded by DLGSCI 2018-2020 and we are absolutely delighted to see him begin his publishing journey!

During April and May, in addition to our usual classes which can be viewed by clicking here, FAWWA will be hosting new workshops aimed at prose writers.

Write Your Novel

On Thursday 28 April, 6.30 to 8pm Holly Craig (Stubbs) will begin teaching a six week course, 'Write Your Novel' which will run fortnightly until 7 July. Tickets are $25 per session. Holly is a journalist and debut novelist, her first thriller, The Shallows will be released in the UK in June 2023 and her second novel, The Rip will be published the following year. Both books will be simultaneously released via Amazon and Audible. For more information and to book for her course please email Holly at holly.stubbs@hotmail.com.

Manuscript Development

Andrew Levett, ( The Story Mentor) returns to FAWWA at the beginning of May to provide a manuscript development class. Andrew has been a regular morning tutor with FAWWA and is currently participating in the The Four Centres Emerging Writers Program 2020-2023 through the Peter Cowan Writers' Centre. Andrew's classes are valued for their friendly and relaxed atmosphere. I urge you to take this opportunity to test the manuscript you are working on in a supportive feedback session. For more information and to book please contact Andrew at andrew@thestorymentor.com.au.

The Stuart and Hadow Short Story Award 2022

If you are not in a position to come to class while Omicron is still on the loose, there are a number of competitions to enter over the next few weeks. First up is FAWWA's Stuart and Hadow Short Story Award 2022.

Open until June 1 and offering a first prize of $1,000 the Stuart and Hadow has been running since 1977 and will be judged by a writer with specialist knowledge of the short story genre. Terms and conditions and the entry form are available by clicking here.

Other Opportunities

The David Unaipon Award nominations close on 30 April. This is an important opportunity for First Nations writers and we encourage you to contact anyone you know who may be interested. For more information go to https://www.uqp.com.au/blog/david-unaipon-award-now-open-for-entries.

The Society of Women Writers WA have two new prose courses running:

Write Your Novel (four weeks from 27

April) and Creative Nonfiction (four weeks from 1 June). Book at swwwabookingoffice@gmail.com. $80 members / $100 non-members.

Entries for Sisters in Crime 22nd Davitt Awards for women's crime books are open and close 7 May. For more information go to www.sistersincrime.org.au

Looking forward...Book your tickets now for the Margaret River Readers and Writers Festival, May 13 to 15.

Love to Read Local Week 2022 is coming up. Mark your diaries now for June 3 to 12. The Love to Read Local Flash Fiction competition is now open, there will be Book Club Author events and a #LookWhoLovestoReadLocal social media campaign. For more information go to www.writingwa.org

Study Creative Non-Fiction, Poetry or Fiction with The American University of Paris. Available for the first time, three week courses in July. For more information go to www.aup.edu

I hope there is something here that appeals to you.

Karen Whittle-Herbert

FAWWA President.

P.S: Just thinking of the ordeals that writers and journalists face in bringing us the news, I see that Perth PEN and the State Library of Western Australia are hosting Middle Eastern studies scholar, Kylie Moore-Gilbert this week.

Kylie Moore-Gilbert book launch and in conversation with Vicky Mason. Thursday 7 April, 6pm to 7pm. The Uncaged Sky, Kylie's account of her imprisonment in Iran from September 2018 to November 2020, will be available for sale. Click here to book via eventbrite.