Thank you for your interest in the Australasian Association of Writing Programs. Our organisation enables writers and those teaching writing the opportunity to connect with other practitioners, both online and in person. Members gain access to a network of passionate academics and writers, fostering links both in Australia and abroad.

The AAWP maintains an online presence with an organisational website and encourages interaction amongst members via our Facebook page and Twitter feed. Postgraduate members can exchange support and discussion by joining our Postgraduate Facebook group.

Our annual conference provides an opportunity for debate and discussion, with attendees from across the Australasian region. Membership with the AAWP creates a wealth of opportunity for writers and teachers of writing alike.

If you encounter any issues while trying to sign-up or renew your membership, please email us at info@aawp.org.au.

 

The Benefits of AAWP

The AAWP provides a range of potential benefits to everyone in the Australasian tertiary writing community, irrespective of whether they are paying members of the organisation. AAWP is the peak body that cultivates and supports writing programs, their teachers and students, at a tertiary level. It lobbies on behalf of its community, and plays a crucial role in the sustainability and vitality of that community. AAWP is known for being welcoming and inclusive, and for nurturing opportunities for post-graduate students and early-career researchers of the writing disciplines. AAWP is also home to the world-renowned and highly-ranked scholarly journal, TEXT, and more recently to its sibling literary journal, Meniscus.

The AAWP website (financially sustained by our members) is the hub for accessing the proceedings of each annual conference — a widely cited source for the most current, innovative and rigorous research in creative writing. To teachers, scholars and practitioners in writing, at every stage in their careers, the AAWP offers a professional and creative home, a base from which to build collegial research and collaborative networks, to find support and seek advice in relation to nearly all aspects of professional and creative life within creative writing programs.

AAWP membership is an affordable way to actively support the organisation and its activities. Current members enjoy a swathe of benefits, and have the satisfaction of knowing that their fees go towards keeping the AAWP – through its website, conference hosting and other endeavours – sustainable and vibrant.

Membership Benefits exclusive to current AAWP members

• Current members are eligible to present at the annual conference, and consequently to have their papers considered for inclusion in the annual Special Issue of TEXT emerging from the conference. HDR & early ECR members who present are eligible for mentoring and inclusion in the associated peer-reviewed publication, exposing their work to a global audience of writers and researchers;
• Current members can apply for book launch slots at the annual conference, targeting the perfect niche market for both creative and scholarly titles;
• Post-graduate members can attend the Professionalism Workshop Series, run cyclically at each conference. Themes include: Preparing for Examination; Managing Sessional Work; Publishing Your Work; Managing the Supervisory Relationship. The program is designed to span the length of candidature;
• Exclusive to AAWP members is the ‘Chapter One’ prize. It includes a $500 cash prize, together with fully-subsidised conference fees for that year, an invitation to read from the winning manuscript, and a letter of appraisal from an established writer within the AAWP. This appraisal is presented to the University of Western Australia Publishing (UWAP), together with the winner’s full manuscript (in any genre – prose, poetry, short-fiction and so on), for priority assessment.
• Membership signals a commitment to and involvement with the peak body in your field, sending a clear message of professionalism to employers, managers, supervisors and the student body;
• Current Members are welcome to contribute to AAWP’s Executive Committee of Management. For Postgraduates and Early Career Researchers, this pathway constitutes a valuable supplement to a growing CV and toolkit of expertise. AAWP encourages interested parties to contact a current member of the executive. We warmly encourage freshly interested parties to join our team via the pathway of co-opting for 12-24 months. As a co-opted member of the Executive Committee of Management you will be mentored. You will have the opportunity to contribute to a portfolio and otherwise familiarise yourself with AAWP operations and governance, before taking on an official role. Anyone with enthusiasm and a willingness to contribute is warmly encouraged to get involved.
• Membership and conference involvement are almost always accompanied by networking opportunities that are inspiring, supportive and career-friendly.
• Members join a community of potential collaborators, creative peers and scholarly and professional mentors.

Various levels of membership are available, with rates kept as low as possible for student members.

Concession Membership (1 Year) $40.00 Join now

Concession Membership (3 Years) $110.00 Join now

Individual (salaried) Membership (1 Year) $115.00 Join now

Individual (salaried) Membership (3 Years) $315.00 Join now

For HDR programs with numerous students and staff seeking group membership benefits, see our Institutional Memberships option:

Institutional Memberships

Institutional Memberships are a way for schools to support their writing programs as a whole — providing membership benefits in various combinations to suit a mix of HDR students/Post-Docs/Staff. It is a dedicated way to support students in early career presenting and publishing and to strengthen the HDR community as a whole. At the same time, an Institutional Membership will facilitate networking and publication opportunities for on-going staff, and can be a pathway for supporting the professional development of sessional staff and recent post-docs.

Institutional Memberships are available for 1 or 3 years duration and fees cover the following:

10 Postgraduate Students / Sessional Staff

OR

Two Salaried Staff + 5 Postgraduate Students / Sessional Staff

OR

One Salaried Staff + 7 Postgraduate Students / Sessional Staff

Institutional Membership (1 Year) $300.00 Join now

Institutional Membership (3 Years) $790.00 Join now

For those living outside of Australia,  see our International Affiliate Membership option.

International Affiliate Membership

The International Affiliate Membership option caters for international colleagues who may, only rarely, be able to attend our annual conference, but would otherwise like to be part of our engagement activities: Special Issues, Prizes and Partnerships, as well as other outreach activities.

International Affiliate Membership (1 Year) $40.00 Join now

If you encounter any issues while trying to sign-up or renew your membership, please email us at info@aawp.org.au.