Category: Alumni/Student success stories

Alumni/Student success stories
Australian Writers' Centre Team

Inda Ahmad Zahri achieves her childhood dream to become a published author

Inda Ahmad Zahri likes to keep busy. As a working surgeon with a young family, she can now add ‘published author’ to her repertoire of achievements with the publication of her debut picture book Salih, out now with Ford Street Publishing.

“I’ve wanted to be a published author since I was a little girl with my nose stuck in a book for most of the day (and night!). Writing was always an outlet for me,” Inda says. 

Inda is a self-confessed course junkie and knew that she would need structure, deadlines, and the best training available to make her publishing dreams come true. That’s why she turned to the Australian Writers’ Centre for its creative writing courses and community.

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Alumni/Student success stories
Australian Writers' Centre Team

From police force to published author

Kerryn Mayne was on maternity leave from her job on the police force when she returned to her high school love of writing. She soon realised that her professional experiences of crime and policing could be useful when penning her own stories, so she fired up her computer and got down to work. With an outline for a new book idea, Kerryn enrolled in Creative Writing Stage 1 online at the Australian Writers’ Centre, so she could learn about the writing process and connect with other aspiring writers.

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Alumni/Student success stories
Australian Writers' Centre Team

How Amy Tan gained confidence to write her first novel

Amy Tan had always been interested in creative writing and, although she works as a copywriter, she wasn’t confident in her fiction skills. So she turned to an Australian Writers’ Centre course. One of the exercises that she worked on during that course eventually evolved into part of her debut novel, Katie Goes to KL. This has now been published in Australia and Singapore by Penguin under her pen name Su-May Tan.

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Alumni/Student success stories
Australian Writers' Centre Team

Astrid Scholte: Now an award-winning author of young adult fiction

Astrid Scholte had always hoped to be published. In fact, she had the lofty goal of being published before she was 18. “I was a little ambitious! While it took me a lot longer I’m so happy to have achieved this dream of mine. I cannot wait to hold my book Four Dead Queens in my hands early next year, I’m sure there will be plenty of tears!” says Astrid.

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Alumni/Student success stories
Australian Writers' Centre Team

Emma Pei Yin’s journey to publishing success

“I rolled up my sleeves, signed up for as many courses as I could with AWC and just went from there,” Emma told us. 

After fine-tuning her skills, Emma perfected her manuscript and her pitch, and received offers from five literary agents before signing with Laurie Robertson at Peters Fraser Dunlop.

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Alumni/Student success stories
Australian Writers' Centre Team

Judy Wollin’s creative collaboration leads to her middle grade novel

When Judy Wollin heard young family members say they didn’t like reading, she decided to write something they would love! As an education professional, she knew that she could benefit from learning the practicalities of how to write a novel, and so she turned to the Australian Writers’ Centre.

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Alumni/Student success stories
Australian Writers' Centre Team

Samantha Valentine fulfils her writing dreams

Samantha Valentine has two degrees in English, but when she decided to try out fiction, she knew she had to work on her creative writing skills. She was drawn to Creative Writing Stage 1 at the Australian Writers’ Centre because she could fit it in around her busy life and the assignments were short and not too onerous.

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Alumni/Student success stories
Australian Writers' Centre Team

AWC alumna Brooke Graham’s picture books helps kids with anxiety

As a mum and a primary school teacher, Brooke Graham knew the value of good children’s books. Reading to kids was one of the most enjoyable parts of her job. Then after completing the Writing Picture Books course at the Australian Writers’ Centre, Brooke became hooked on writing and was determined to write her own. Her debut picture book Go Away, Worry Monster! has now been published by EK Books.

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Crime fiction author and Australian Writers' Centre alumna Dinuka McKenzie smiling in floral shirt
Alumni/Student success stories
Australian Writers' Centre Team

AWC alumna Dinuka McKenzie is an award-winning published author with her crime thrillers

Courses completed at AWC:
Anatomy of a Crime: How to Write About Murder
2 Hours to Scrivener Power
Build Your Author Platform

Dinuka McKenzie was a busy working mum when she decided to start writing as a creative outlet. The more she wrote, the more she loved it, so she decided to complete a few courses at the Australian Writers’ Centre to hone her craft. After finishing her first crime manuscript, she entered it in the Banjo Prize for unpublished fiction – and then came the extraordinary news that she had won!

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Alumni/Student success stories
Australian Writers' Centre Team

Liz Foster on the steps she took to get published

Liz Foster always imagined being a published author one day. She says: “Imagine being the key word there.” But it was while doing courses through the Australian Writers’ Centre that she learned the difference between writing well and writing well for an audience. “I literally would be nowhere without AWC’s

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Alumni/Student success stories
Australian Writers' Centre Team

Vikki Conley’s path to becoming an award-winning children’s author

Courses taken at AWC:
Writing Picture Books

Vikki Conley dreamed of writing for children and, over the years, that little voice telling her to write books got louder until she simply couldn’t ignore it. She threw in her marketing job, enrolled in an Australian Writers’ Centre course and started writing. Within two years, she has already established herself as a prolific author, with the publication of seven picture books and contracts with four publishers. Her most recent book is the CBCA shortlisted Amira’s Suitcase, while Milly and the Mulberry Tree and Where the Lyrebird Lives will be released in 2022. Vikki’s other publications include Tomorrow Girl, Little Puggle’s Song, The Lost Moustache and Ella & Mrs Gooseberry.

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