Vogel winning author to teach creative writing at Southern Cross Uni

“I'm thrilled to be joining the creative writing program at Southern Cross University,’ said the 2018 recipient of Australia's most prestigious and richest award for young writers with an unpublished manuscript.

The Vogel Literary Award has launched the careers of some of Australia’s most successful writers like Tim Winton, Kate Grenville and Andrew McGahan.

“Having studied creative writing myself, I valued being taught by writers and teachers who could provide personal insight into the writing and publishing industry,” said Ms O’Grady.

“As a teacher, I am excited to bring my background as a published novelist to the virtual classroom, and use my experiences to help Southern Cross students develop their own writing practice.”

Her fiction and poetry have appeared in Review of Australian Fiction, Westerly, Australian Poetry Journal, The Lifted Brow, Kill Your Darlings, The Big Issue Fiction Edition and Award Winning Australian Writing.

Ms O’Grady headlines a group of four writers who will be teaching units in the creative writing associate degree and the creative writing graduate diploma. The other writers are Jesse Blackadder (In the Blink of an Eye/Sixty Seconds, Chasing the Light, The Raven’s Heart), Sarah Armstrong (Promise, Salt Rain, His Other House) and Anneli Knight (Flirting with Finance, Holiday Goddess Handbag Guide).

“We look forward to the opportunity for our student writers to learn from the considerable knowledge and experience of our newest staff members,” said Dr Lynda Hawryluk, course coordinator of the creative writing programs at Southern Cross.

“We’re excited to have this calibre of practising writers join our team. The relationship we have with writers is strengthened through our partnership with annual upcoming Byron Writers Festival, which will feature sessions by Jesse Blackadder and Sarah Armstrong and our own academic staff members.”

Creative writing courses at Southern Cross University

The Associate Degree of Creative Writing offers a rich mix of creative writing and literary studies across a range of genres in fiction and non-fiction. It is taught by writers from the Northern Rivers and beyond. You can study on campus at Lismore or online. Visit scu.edu.au/writing for more information.

The postgraduate Graduate Diploma of Creative Writing is ideal if you have discovered your passion for writing but you need focus and feedback to progress your career as a writer. Develop your writing across a range of genres with specific feedback from professional writers and the opportunity to undertake an extended writing project. Available to study online only. Visit scu.edu.au/writing for more information.

Start your studies this year. You can enrol now for Session 2 2019: Orientation is July 1 to 5 and classes start on July 8.

Byron Writers Festival

Southern Cross University has been a major sponsor of the Byron Writers Festival for more than two decades. We are thrilled to host around 20 thought-provoking sessions in the Southern Cross University Marquee across the Festival weekend, 2 to 4 August 2019.

The Festival is also a hands-on, real-life work experience opportunity for our writing, media and communications students who produce content for the Byron Writers Festival Blog. Visit https://byronwritersfestival.com/blog/