Workshops

The event for May will be held on Thursday, 16 May (normally last Thursday of the month) because we're having a very special visiting interstate guest. Join popular author, Kylie Ladd, for an informal Q&A session about what it takes to be an author. This is a FREE event but you MUST be a current individual financial member of SA Writers Centre.

Thursday 16th May
12.30pm – 1.30pm
SA Writers Centre, Level 2, 187 Rundle Street
Tea/coffee will be provided
RSVPs are essential: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 8223 7662

Details in our fortnightly enews.

We are no longer accepting registration for this event

Workshop Classification [F]

Have you always wanted to learn the art of perfecting picture book texts? Now is your chance! This fluid and relaxed workshop, with bestselling author, Katrina Germein, will consider timing, tone, and emotional impact, as well as editing and market trends – all the vital things in creating an engaging and successful picture book. Participants will learn about identifying the essential elements of a story and crafting a story within a limited word count, plus this will be a great opportunity to meet like-minded writers in a comfortable environment. There will be an opportunity for manuscript feedback and peer review.

You'll find our Workshop Classifications and our Full Program at these links.

MEMBERS! Please ensure you've logged in before clicking the registration button below.

Robin Hemley will be presenting a full day nonfiction masterclass. This masterclass will accept a limited number of participants by application only.

Join Robin Hemley for an interactive workshop that will use participants' own writing and areas of interest as the basis for discussion. This is an opportunity to illuminate your story and the story you're telling. You will examine the blurred line between fiction and memoir and delve into the fraught area of telling other people's secrets. The workshop will open up and develop your thinking on your project.

Creative nonfiction has developed into an exciting new genre over the past ten years. Now dominant in the US, creative nonfiction is a growing area in Australian literature. This workshop will examine the experiences of Australian writers working in a new genre.

Please note: this masterclass is not suitable for beginners.

Robin Hemley is the newly appointed Director of Writing at Yale-NUS College and the former Director of the Nonfiction Writing Program at the University of Iowa, one of the world's most prestigious writing programs. Robin has published seven books of nonfiction and fiction. His popular craft book Turning Life Into Fiction, which was a Book-of-the-Month Club selection as well as a Quality Paperback Book Club Selection has sold over 40,000 copies and will soon be reissued by Graywolf Press.

Join SAWC for our special "An Evening In" event, being launched on Sunday 2 June with our visiting international author Robin Hemley. Robin will be reading from his memoir Nola: A Memoir of Faith, Art, and Madness, to be followed by an informal discussion of his work, his life and the fascinating genre of creative nonfiction.

The author of 10 highly critically acclaimed works, and a warm and engaging reader, Robin comes to us as the newly appointed Director of Writing at Yale's National University of Singapore College. He perhaps best known has the former Director of the Nonfiction Writing Program at the University of Iowa - one most world's most prestigious university writing programs. Robin is one of America's foremost practitioners of the craft of creative nonfiction and is founder and organiser of the NonfictionNow biennial conference, held most recently last November in Melbourne.

This is a rare opportunity to enjoy an intimate evening with other writers over a glass of wine, and to hear from one of the foremost international practitioners of the craft of creative nonfiction.

Cost: $15 non members/ $10 members (Attendees of Robin's nonfiction masterclass that day may join us for no cost)

RSVPS: are essential. Please do so This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or by phoning the Centre on 8223 7662 during office hours.

Workshop Classification [F]

In today's rapidly changing world, the importance of social media and a presence on the web is vital. People are connecting more than ever through Facebook, Twitter and various other online Social networks, and we as authors must embrace this way of interacting. At the end of this intensive workshop, participants will be able to establish and maintain a viable website and blog and understand and utilise a Facebook and Twitter presence as well as other social networking sites. They will have both the understanding and confidence to negotiate emerging online marketing techniques. Finally, participants will understand the necessity and benefits of social interaction with fellow authors.

Cassandra Dean is a multi-published author in both ebook and print. She has previously presented at South Australian Romance Writers Conference.

You'll find our Workshop Classifications and our Full Program at these links.

MEMBERS! Please ensure you've logged in before clicking the registration button below.

Workshop Classification [F] & [D]

Charles Dickens's London, Ian Rankin's Edinburgh, Alexander McCall Smith's Botswana: these places are so powerfully present that they almost have the status of characters in themselves. This workshop will show you how to write about a place in such a way as to bring it vividly before your readers' eyes, and how to weave your plot and setting together to improve and enrich both. Whether you write fiction or nonfiction, the art of writing about place is one of the quickest and surest ways to bring your writing to life in the mind of the reader.

You'll find our Workshop Classifications and our Full Program at these links.

MEMBERS! Please ensure you've logged in before clicking the registration button below.

Workshop Classification [F] & [P]

DISCOUNT: Book for both the 'Writing for the Web' and 'Cooking the Books' workshops on 29th June and pay just $100 (members only).

In 2013 we're all savvy consumers of online content. When we arrive at a website or page we have ideas about what we can expect and what we want to get out of the experience – we all have goals. This half-day workshop provides an introduction to a set of principles for creating readable, effective web content that meets readers' expectations and provides pathways to their goals. The workshop will explore the ways audiences read on-screen text, how to structure your content so that it can navigated intuitively and how to refine it for maximum results.

You'll find our Workshop Classifications and our Full Program at these links.

MEMBERS! Please ensure you've logged in before clicking the registration button below.

Workshop Classification [F]

DISCOUNT: Book for both the 'Writing for the Web' and 'Cooking the Books' workshops on 29th June and pay just $100 (members only).

Cookbooks are still selling in high volumes, despite the rapid changes in the publishing industry. Always wanted to capture for posterity those much treasured recipes handed down from one generation to the next in your family, or create your own recipe book? Join the author of the best-selling Blue Ribbon Cookbook in this workshop, which will reveal how to write to draw in the reader in whether it's for publication or simply to record precious family memories. This session will provide you with the steps you need to write recipes that are easy to follow, and help the people who use them to achieve a successful result, leaving them confident to try all your recipes.

You'll find our Workshop Classifications and our Full Program at these links.

MEMBERS! Please ensure you've logged in before clicking the registration button below.

Workshop Classification [F]

Always wanted to see your article in your favourite magazine? Learn how with international award-winning journalist and author Renata Provenzano. Renata will show you how to develop a story idea, research, interview and pitch to magazines and online publications for a winning result.

This is your chance to learn the tips and tricks from a journalist who has been published in dozens of newspapers and magazines around the world.

You'll find our Workshop Classifications and our  Full Program at these links.

MEMBERS! Please ensure you've logged in before clicking the registration button

Workshop Classification [F] & [D]

 
This workshop explores practical strategies involved in self-editing: the art of being ruthlessly honest with yourself. Sometimes fine details, even key phrases or words, can make or break a story; sometimes the architecture needs attention; often, it's both the nitty-gritty and the big picture. This workshop will focus exclusively on participants' own works-in-progress. Come prepared to expose yourself.

You'll find our Workshop Classifications and our Full Program at these links.

MEMBERS! Please ensure you've logged in before clicking the registration button

Recommended for 14-17 year olds

This shorter version of our very popular teen bootcamp will be an opportunity to build on the skills you learnt last time and an exciting adventure for those who are attending for the first time and are ready to give writing a go! This two-day mini bootcamp follow-up will be all about fun, creativity and inspiration.

In October, we will run the full bootcamp program again. Please check our website for details.

Recommended for 14-17 year olds

Cost: $180 for both days

Workshop Classification [F] & [P]

Look at me! Published and want to gain attention? Unpublished and want to drum up interest? Let’s talk about what we can realistically achieve (within our limited superpowers) to promote ourselves and our writing. Tips, tricks and practical advice you can apply.  All you need is an open mind, a give-it-a-go attitude and an undeniable urge to ask shameless questions. Be ready for a frank and honest group discussion about networking, promotion, social media and thinking outside the square.

You'll find our Workshop Classifications and our Full Program at these links.

MEMBERS! Please ensure you've logged in before clicking the registration button