A 5-month program for writers working towards completing their first full length manuscript

February–June 2018

Are you looking for structured support and a strong peer network to help you finish your book? Writers SA's First Draft program provides fortnightly writing group meetings, a tailored workshop series, professional feedback and consultations, and peer-group support to keep you on track to complete your first draft by halfway through the year.

This program is suitable for anyone working on a long-form writing project, including fiction and narrative nonfiction in any genre, including poetry.

Term 1 dates: Saturdays February 9 - March 30, 10:30 am – 12 pm

The Teen Writers Club is a place for young writers to make new connections, be inspired, and develop their writing. We provide a safe, fun and engaging program for passionate high school writers of all interests, ages and abilities.

with Sohaila Abdulali

Presented in association with Adelaide Writers' Week

Sohaila Abdulali’s deeply personal book, What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape, is a shocking and powerful exploration of rape, informed by her experience as a survivor of sexual violence. In this intimate masterclass, she will talk with us about how the book came about, and the complications and joys of dealing with such incendiary—and personal—subject matter.

We'll discuss what writers need to consider when drawing on personal experience and the goals of creative non-fiction, how to write about trauma in a safe and considered way, the magic that can happen with writing, and do a little writing ourselves.

Sohaila Abdulali was born in Mumbai and moved to the United States with her family when she was a teenager. She has a BA from Brandeis University in economics and sociology and an MA from Stanford University in communication. Her undergraduate thesis dealt with the socio-economics of rape in India. She is the author of two novels as well as children’s books and short stories. She lives in New York with her family.

Full Price $135 (non-member bookings open Feb 6, 5pm) / Writers SA Members Price $95

Venue: Bronwyn-Halliday Learning Studio, State Library of South Australia, Corner of Kintore Avenue and North Terrace, Adelaide 5000

with Mads Peder Nordbo

Presented in association with Adelaide Writers' Week

Join Danish crime writer Mads Peder Nordbo, author of five novels including The Girl Without Skin, for a special fiction-writing masterclass and discover why he is called the ‘Master of Arctic Crime’. Nordbo, now living in fjord-lined Greenland under the Northern Lights, considers the Arctic environment itself a character when writing his grisly Nordic thrillers.

In this dynamic session you’ll learn how to craft gritty characters, build gripping suspense, wrangle complex plot, and create a signature, evocative atmosphere. Nordbo will also share his personal approach to plotting, which he calls the hearth of the story.

Mads Peder Nordbo is Danish but has lived in Greenland for several years. Born in 1970, he hold degrees in Literature, Communications and Philosophy from The University of Southern Denmark and the University of Stockholm. Mads has lived in Denmark, Sweden, Germany and Greenland. He works in communications at the Town Hall in Nuuk, where he amongst other things, writes for the mayor of the municipality, Kommuneqarfik Sermersooq, which stretches across the Greenland ice sheet. Mads Peder Nordbo is the author of five novels and his two latest books are being published in 19 languages - in more than 30 countries.

Full Price $135 (non-member bookings open Feb 6, 5pm) / Writers SA Members Price $95

Venue: The Hetzel Lecture Theatre, The Institute Building, State Library of South Australia, Adelaide 5000

with Rebecca Makkai

Presented in association with Adelaide Writers' Week

Acclaimed American novelist Rebecca Makkai says that every story is a mystery, whether or not Aunt Agnes has keeled over in her porridge. What are we reading to find out, and how can the slow reveal of information entice, rather than infuriate, a reader? What clues can we plant early in a story and harvest at the end?

In this expert masterclass with the celebrated author of The Great Believers, Rebecca Makkai discusses the architecture and planning—what she calls the mystery building—of crafting great stories.

Rebecca Makkai is the Chicago-based author of the novel The Great Believers, one of the New York Times' top ten books for 2018, a finalist for the National Book Award and the ALA Carnegie Medal, winner of the Chicago Review of Books Award, and a pick for the New York Public Library’s 2018 Best Books. Her other books are the novels The Borrower and The Hundred-Year House, and the collection Music for Wartime -- four stories from which appeared in The Best American Short Stories. The recipient of a 2014 NEA Fellowship, Rebecca has taught at the Tin House Writers' Conference and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and is on the MFA faculties of Sierra Nevada College and Northwestern University. She is Artistic Director of StoryStudio Chicago. Visit her at RebeccaMakkai.com or on twitter@rebeccamakkai

Full Price $135 (non-member bookings open Feb 6, 5pm) / Writers SA Members Price $95

Venue: The Hetzel Lecture Theatre, The Institute Building, State Library of South Australia, Adelaide 5000

with Sandy Vaile

Where did your character come from and what made them the person they are in your book? What events led to the situation they're in right now? Compelling backstories are important to create three-dimensional characters and worlds, yet often it's easy to fall into the trap of information dumps or boring exposition.

This workshop will give you the tools to develop a rich backstory, determine which parts are relevant to the reader, and how to release it in a way that drives a compelling main story.

with Jennifer Mills

Do you have an idea for a novel, but don’t know where to begin? Started to write, and stalled because you can’t see how to proceed?

This full day workshop with one of Australia’s finest fiction writers will help you learn the practical skills you need in the early stages of a book: approaching that daunting first draft, developing voice and character, understanding structure and planning, and making your writing practice sustainable.

with Joelle Taylor

Presented in association with Adelaide Writers' Week

UK Performance Poetry Slam Champion, Joelle Taylor, is in Adelaide for an electrifying masterclass on writing and performing poetry, giving you the style, technique and confidence to read work to an audience.

Joelle will explore her speciality—poetry as reportage—drawing on her latest collection Songs My Enemy Taught Me. She asks the question: How do we create original and arresting poetry for performance out of news articles, interviews, archive images and our own stories?

Joelle Taylor is an award-winning poet, playwright, author and editor who has recently completed touring Europe, Australia and South East Asia with her latest collection Songs My Enemy Taught Me. She is widely anthologised, the author of 3 full poetry collections and 3 plays, and is currently completing her debut book of short stories The Night Alphabet. She has featured widely on radio and television, and founded the UK’s national youth slam championships in 2001, remaining its Artistic Director until 2018. Her work is taught as part of the English GCSE syllabus, and she has received a Change Maker Award and a Fellowship of the RSA.

Full Price $135 (non-member bookings open Feb 6, 5pm) / Writers SA Members Price $95

Venue: The Jervois Room, The Mortlock Wing, State Library of South Australia, Adelaide 5000

with Trish Morey and Clare Connelly

Category romance novels are a form of commercial fiction that includes many sub-genres of romance, and they're usually about 200 pages long. They're an immensely popular type of book, and they're certainly not going anywhere.

Telling a love story that packs an emotional punch in only 50,000 words is an art form, and can be a financially successful one. What are the rules/tools of writing really great category romances, and how do you go about getting published, traditionally or indie? What are the different lines, and their requirements, and how should you start working out which you’re best suited to write?

For anyone who’s flirted with the idea of writing for this satisfying form of storytelling, this one-day course will answer all your questions and arm you with the tools you’ll need to give it a go! With insights into publishing trends and the realities of this kind of career, come along and meet two authors who are passionate about category romance!

Do you struggle to find time to write? Are you too distracted by the Book of Face or binge-watching TV series? Do you ever think to yourself, ‘If only I just had a solid day to write, I’d get so much done’? Then TWELVE, the literary lock-in, is for you. 

"TWELVE" means no excuses, no limits, no distractions. Crank your writing projects up to boiling point with twelve hours of uninterrupted writing. You’ll be surprised how much you can get done.

Whether you’re starting a novel, finishing a work-in-progress, or just looking for time to focus, TWELVE is the way to do it.

with Victoria Purman

More than simply a conversation between characters, dialogue is a powerful tool that reveals story, character, and history, and sets the tone for your book. But how do you translate spoken dialogue to the page? And how do you make characters sound like real people, and not cardboard cut-outs?