In December 2016 the Curtin University Centre of Human Rights Education, School of Media, Culture and Creative Arts and the Australia-Asia-Pacific Institute will host the International Australian Studies Association’s be-ennial conference at the Fremantle Maritime Museum. The conference theme is: “Re-Imagining Australia: Encounter, Recognition, Responsibility.”

The conference venue is on the water situated in the midst of the living as well as historic port of Fremantle, a cosmopolitan, vibrant and enchanted city (one of the top 10 cities in the world to visit in 2016 – Lonely Planet), with superb beaches, excellent coffee and sunsets and markets as well as wonderful bookshops (New Edition) art galleries and restaurants.

Keynotes so far include:

Randa Abdel-Fattah, Macquarie University

Ariel Heryanto, Australian National University

Suvendrini Perera, Curtin University

Kim Scott, Curtin University

Tony Birch, Victoria University

Vinay Lal, University of California, Los Angeles

Anna Haebich, Curtin University

Feature Panels so far include:

‘Indonesia-Australia’ and ‘Reimagining the Kimberley, After the Boom’.

Special panel by Researchers Against Pacific Black Sites

For details and call for papers, see the conference website

To reward Postgraduate excellence in research and creative writing, the AAWP Executive will be awarding prizes for the best scholarly Postgraduate papers from the latest conference.

Due to a high level of submissions, the prize organisers have decided to extend the due date to December 16. Please check the Opportunities tab for more information.

Just when you think it’s all over, here is a gentle reminder that refereed conference papers for the proceedings are due at the end of the week (10 December). Please don’t panic if you are behind, but make sure your paper is formatted as per these guidelines. You can also refer to previous refereed proceedings here. Remember to send your paper in MS Word.

If you have already submitted your piece, don’t worry! We can fix up any formatting issues on our end. Send all completed papers to Dominique Hecq at dhecq@swin.edu.au

A recent decision by the UK government has led to a decision to axe the A level and AS level (secondary/high school majors) in Creative Writing. The DfE justified this decision by arguing that there is too much overlap with English and English Language A levels and that the subject is too skills based rather than knowledge based.

NAWE is the Subject Association for Creative Writing in the UK, and was delighted to see the new A level rolled out over the last few years across the country and flourish since its introduction in 2013, and argues that likening studying creative writing to studying English is misguided. Although there is some ‘writing’ as part of the assessment of English Language this is from the perspective of the creation of texts as product for specific audience and purpose. There is no requirement for reflection or understanding of the writing process. At a time when students with good communication skills, flexibility and creativity are in high demand in the workplace, this decision does not seem to make any sense at all.

NAWE has started a petition to bring international attention to this issue. For more information and to lend your voice and signature to the debate, visit the NAWE website.

Conference dinner ticket sales close at midnight tonight! Remember that all dietary requirements must be received at the time of booking. See the conference website for more information

The upcoming AAWP Annual General Meeting, to be held during the conference in Melbourne.

Venue: Room AMDC 301, Swinburne University, Melbourne, Australia
Date/time: Tuesday, 1 December, 2015, 12–1pm.
During this time nominations and elections for the Executive Committee of Management will be conducted. If you wish to nominate a member of the AAWP for a place on the Committee, please email jvicars@une.edu.au ASAP.

The draft agenda can be found here. We look forward to seeing you at the conference.
AAWP Executive Committee of Management

The Australasian Association of Writing Programs wishes to acknowledge those who have generously supported our annual conference ‘Writing the Ghost Train | Rewriting, Remaking, Rediscovering’.

The following literary publications provided generous donations of books, literary magazines and annual subscriptions:

Griffith Review, Island, The Lifted Brow, Meanjin, Overland, Review of Australian Fiction, Southerly, Westerly.

The AAWP is extremely grateful for this support.