There are still some places left in Susan Midalia’s short story workshop on Friday 3 November from 2pm – 5pm.

We are thrilled to have Perth’s Susan Midalia as a very special guest of the 2017 Australian Short Story Festival. She is a much loved and highly regarded member of the Western Australian literary community, having judged several literary awards, including the Western Australian Premiers Book Award, the T.A.G. Hungerford Award, the Margaret River Press Short Story Competition and the Katharine Susannah Prichard Award.

She has edited fiction by highly respected writers, including Gail Jones, Kathleen Fallon and Marcella Polain.

Her own short fiction, including her most recent collection, Feet to the Stars, has been highly acclaimed.

‘She is at her best in the kind of semi-domestic realism associated with Katherine Mansfield, where fleeting moments of realisation or transcendence take place among the teacups and gardens of people’s ordinary lives.’   Kerryn Goldsworthy, Sydney Morning Herald

‘Susan Midalia is a gifted architectural engineer of the short story, building structures of daily life, crafted with care and measured experience.’ West Australian

Susan has a PhD in contemporary Australian fiction and is a talented teacher of creative writing. Her workshop participants universally give her glowing reviews and we are certain that you will too!

In this workshop, Susan will use a range of writing exercises and examples from published writers to equip you with the strategies to create memorable, layered stories.

Susan says, ‘Having fun is also mandatory!.’

For more information, please check out the programme, and to book tickets, click here.

Places are filling fast for our short story workshops, being held on Friday November 3 as a part of the 2017 Australian Short Story Festival. There are still a small number of tickets available for each workshop, so if you are thinking about booking a place, we encourage you to get in soon! Tickets are available to purchase here, or click on the links below for further information about each workshop.

Susan Midalia – 2pm-5pm

Tony Birch – 10am-1pm

Lucy Durneen – 2pm-5pm

Carmel Bird – 10am-1pm

All workshops will be held in the Hawke Building at UniSA City West Campus.

If you’re travelling from interstate to Adelaide for this year’s Australian Short Story Festival, or if you’re just wanting to make a special occasion of the weekend by staying in the city, our hotel event partner, Holiday Inn Express Adelaide City Centre, is just a short walk to the festival HQ at UniSA City West Campus. You can check availability and book a room here or click on the image below.

The program for the second annual Australian Short Story Festival has been launched and it’s full of exciting and enriching sessions where writers talk about the wonderful short story craft, inspiration for their stories, use of humour and death. Check it out here. Come along to Adelaide in November and be part of the excitement.

2017 Australian Short Story Festival Media Release

good things come in short packages

On November 3-5 at the University of South Australia’s City West Campus, writers, storytellers and audiences will congregate to celebrate the short story. The Australian Short Story Festival is one of very few dedicated short story festivals in the world, and after a successful inaugural event in Perth in 2016, the organising committee is delighted to bring this unique and timely celebration to Adelaide, adding even more variety to the state’s annual suite of festivals.

One of the very few dedicated short story festivals in the world, the event will bring a wide range of diverse voices and stories to Adelaide, including award-winning UK writer Lucy Durneen and Tony Birch, who will deliver the festival’s opening address. Other featured writers include Chinese-Australian Melanie Cheng, Indian-Australian Roanna Gonsalves, Vietnamese-Australian writer Stephen Pham, and writer, comedian and creative director of the Melbourne Jewish Comedy Festival Justine Sless.

Interwoven with these voices are some of the best established short story names such as 2016 Patrick White Literary Award winner Carmel Bird, New York Times bestselling author Sean Williams, Aurealis Award winner Lisa L. Hannett, alongside debut authors Lynette Washington and Rebekah Clarkson, who will deliver the festival’s closing address on the pleasures of the short story.

The 2017 Australian Short Story Conference is supported by Adelaide City Council, the University of South Australia, MidnightSun Publishing, Margaret River Press, and the SA Writers Centre.

Like a great short story, the 2017 Australian Short Story Festival will be bursting with life, passion and ideas. As for the question of what can come in short packages, ‘good things’ may just be an understatement.

 

Lynette Washington is a short story writer, editor and teacher of creative and professional writing. She holds a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Adelaide and her stories have been published widely. In 2014 she edited the short story collection, Breaking Beauty and in 2017 she was a co-editor for an anthology of love stories called Crush. Her debut collection, Plane Tree Drive, will be published in 2017.

Facebook: Lynette Washington – Author.

Twitter: @LynneTashi