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Emerging Writers' Festival

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#EWF26 10-18 Sept 2026

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Today, our 2026 festival begins!

Join us tonight for Opening Night: .RETRIBUTION., an evening of Indigenous self-determination from Blak writers from across the continent.

You can also check out this year's digital exhibitions 'Nostalgic Debris' in partnership with Junkee Media, and 'EWF X Hate Mail', an exclusive digital zine available now on our website.

Check out what's on offer: https://emergingwritersfestival.org.au/festival/

We are so excited to share these next ten days with you! by @emergingwriters

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24 days ago

Our community litfair is back!

Gather with other writers for an evening of wandering stalls offering zines, homemade wares, independent books, magazines, and more! Mingle with writers, artists, small press publishers, and grassroots collectives.

CLOSING NIGHT LITFAIR
📍 Abbotsford Convent
📅 Friday, 18 Sept, 5.30PM
🎫 Tix from $10 via the link in our bio

We can't wait to share the evening with you!

Photos by Grace Auld by @emergingwriters

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a month ago

Join us for the opening night of EWF26: .RETRIBUTION. led by EWF Guest Curator moirra at Victorian Trades Hall, 10 September from 6:30PM. Experience a night of terror, rage, and retribution, featuring readings from Blak writers from across the continent. Horror will be appropriated and re-imagined as Indigenous self-determination is projected back onto the settler gaze.

The festival has much to offer between our opening night and our Closing Night Litfair at Abbotsford Convent on 18 September, 5:30PM. If you're a maker, indie author, zinester, or other kind of creative and you'd like to table at our litfair, you can apply via the event on our website!

We can't wait to experience these events alongside you all. You can book your tickets to these and more here: https://emergingwritersfestival.org.au/festival/ by @emergingwriters

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2 months ago

LIVE at the Emerging Writers Festival! Listen in to this very special ep of The Book Deal, recorded LIVE at the Wheeler Centre as part of the National Writers Conference. We were joined by the ever-incredible, @toni_jordan_writer who played the role of Agony Aunt perfectly!

Toni very generously and honestly answered listener questions, as well as on-the-spot audience questions. And the sesh was closed out by a chaos round, where Madeleine kept a tight time limit and threw curly questions at Toni, Natasha and Tina. Some topics covered included:
- rejections! Is it time to stop writing?
- do I tell people I’m writing about them?
- are publishers giving enough support to their authors?
- my work is unique - why do I have to use comp titles?
- how do I tackle self promotion?
- how to I change agents?
- when can I quit my day job?
- do I need an agent?
- do I need social media?
- should I publish short stories before a full novel?
- should friends give writing feedback?
- is it ok to use AI in writing?
- should I pitch my work to a publisher if I run in to them?
- should I read Goodreads reviews?
- what is your writing highlight so far?
And more!!!

It was a lot of fun, there were a lot of laughs and it’s an ep not to be missed!

Thank you @emergingwriters for inviting us and @wheelercentre for accommodating us and providing this recording and to the audience that turned up to support us! And of course, @toni_jordan_writer for being an incredible agony aunt. What a blast!

And our Debut Spotlight this week is Erica Lee and her memoir, ‘The Bond Between Us’, published by @hawkeyepublishing

@madeleineclearywrites @raiwriting @td_strachan @ericalee_writes _writes by @emergingwriters

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3 days ago

Last week I attended an amazing masterclass run by the brilliant team at @simonschusterau incl. @affirmpress and @atriabooksaus. Lifecycle of a Book delved into the various stages of acquiring a book, all the way through to publicising it. It even covered best practice when pitching a manuscript to either an agent or directly to a publisher. Soo many takeaways. I literally wrote pages of notes 📝🤪

What made it extra sweet was spending it with my lovely author friend @hannahhellyer who flew down from sunny Sydney for the day. This event like many others was a part of the 2026 @emergingwriters’ festival 📚 Last year I had a virtual festival tix, so it was lovely attending in-person this time.

Extra special shout out to @michaelamcguire from @a4literary and authors @fionathehardy, Penny Tangey and @whichlaurenwilliams who all kindly shared their candid and super informative insights too. THANK YOU 🫶

Thought to share some of my fave learnings, of which there were many. I proudly managed to cut them down to 5. Enjoy!

#writersofinstagram #bookstagram #writingjourney #authorsofinstagram #publishing taken in Naarm by @emergingwriters

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10 days ago

Busy busy week! So much love to @abbotsfordconvent @wheelercentre @emergingwriters for giving me these recent opportunities to take the stage and present unpublished material from my novel x photos by @faz.io by @emergingwriters

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11 days ago

what a fantastic way to spend a friday night! another excellent year of the Emerging Writers Festival, and it was so incredible to be a part of this year’s closing night at the @abbotsfordconvent

it’s nerve wracking to share these stories before they’re finished, but what absolute fun xx taken in Wurundjeri Country by @emergingwriters

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12 days ago

Thanks to everyone who came to our first-ever Voiceworkshop, with Saanjana and Eve!! Not to mention @emergingwriters and @melbartlibrary for having us. It was such a beautiful day <3

We hope to have many more workshops like this in the future! Stay tuned... by @emergingwriters

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12 days ago

It was such a joy hosting After Hours at The Convent for @emergingwriters on Thursday night - @mindygill @ernest.again @words.by.nalini and @miafrancescajones were just brilliant. @abbotsfordconvent by @emergingwriters

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15 days ago

A quick photo of me at @joltarts performing for the @emergingwriters festival. Thanks for the invite! Cheers to @mistermomann for the pics 😎
#pricelessadvice #emergingwritersfestival #joltarts #joltartsspace #melbournespokenword #melbournepoetry #octopus #orange #melbournecomedy #melbournelive #highstreetnorthcote taken in JOLT Sonic Arts by @emergingwriters

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16 days ago

Come to say hello at the @emergingwriters closing night in St Kilda and grab a slice of my banned zine! The fun continues in Geelong tomorrow at Geelong Library for Geelong Zine Swap! Hope to see you there 💕💖💕 taken in Abbotsford Convent by @emergingwriters

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16 days ago

We are delighted, along with Hannah Richell and the Richell family, and in partnership with Hachette Australia, to announce the longlist for the 2026 Richell Prize for Emerging Writers.

For insight into the judging, see the full announcement on our website!

✍ The Richell Prize longlisted writers for 2026 are:
Chloe Anne, The House Where Mercy Died
Lazio Akbar, Resonance: The Archive of Silences
Noor Ahmed, Dhaka, Written in Skin
Kirsty Anantharajah, Ila
Arden Baker, On Winds Fair and Fast
Rhea Cai, Decoherence
Rachel Coutinho, Rani’s Choice
Tracey-Lee Daranjo, A Long Forgetting
Travis Englefield, August Kennedy
Farrin Foster, The Same House
Euri Glenn, Harvest
Lucas Grainger-Brown, Ursong
Mike Boynes, Moola Bulla
Nalini Jacob-Roussety, Old Arts
KT Major, Peril
Carielyn Tunion, Aswang
Gillian Worrall, Exhibit A for Althea
Magz Morgan, Ethel’s War
Meagan Neil, In the Keeping of Women
Anthony Nicola, Pousti
Hattie Salmon, Webs
Harriet Radford, Blue Moon 3
Jonno Revanche, The Sky Looks Bigger in Other Places
Madeleine Speed, Excellent Behaviour

Congratulations to all the listed writers! We can't wait to share the shortlist with you all! by @emergingwriters

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16 days ago