Up to two creative writing/literature PhD positions are now open for application at Curtin University for an innovative collaborative PhD program with the University of Aberdeen commencing early 2017.

PhD candidates will be enrolled at both Curtin University and University of Aberdeen and will, on completion, receive a joint award. The first and third years will be spent based at Curtin (Bentley campus, Western Australia) with the second year based in Aberdeen, Scotland. Candidates will receive world-class supervision from staff at both universities. The positions will be fee-waived (ie no fees payable) and with an APA scholarship for three years.

High calibre honours or Masters students or graduates are invited to contact Dr Rachel Robertson, Senior Lecturer at Curtin University on R.Robertson@curtin.edu.au or 08 9266 2615 to discuss this opportunity.

Proposed projects, which are open to negotiation, are:

Negotiating Cultural Identity in Contemporary Australian and Scottish Literature

Aberdeen Supervisor: Curtin Supervisor: Dr Deborah Hunn; Aberdeen Supervisor: Dr Helen Lynch

This project will focus on cultural identity in contemporary literature and may be suitable for a fiction writer. Aspects to explore may include literary work concerned with travel and unfamiliarity, stories of migration and expatriation, and issues of deportation, identity and belonging. Possible areas of exploration might include historical fiction, on the principle that the past is also ‘another country’ where things are done differently; fiction influenced by or generically derived from/related to folktale or oral narratives; work which reflects on the relation of a city to its surrounding areas, on place, landscape, language, gender and identity and on the relation of local and/or indigenous populations to new developments such as oil and mineral discovery or further migration.

Haunted by Use: Theories and Aesthetic Uses of Post-industrial Space and Place

Curtin Supervisor: Dr Christina Lee; Aberdeen Supervisor: Dr Wayne Price

The project will focus on specifically writerly uses of the past, setting and memory in post-industrial (and more broadly post-purpose) contexts and could include creative as well as scholarly work. This area of exploration is particularly well-suited both to the North East of Scotland and Western Australia, regions strikingly similar in terms of the cultural dislocations arising from industrial and post-industrial heritages and transitions. Some possible topics to explore in terms of both aesthetics and theoretical understandings of broader constructions of personal and cultural identity might be the phenomenology of uselessness/redundancy; nostalgia and voice; industrial gothic/hauntedness and urban spectral spaces; the aesthetic uses of ‘edgelands’; or psychogeographical approaches to urban space.

We have become aware of fraudulent emails advertising a scam competition that mimics our Emerging Writers’ Prize. The competition targets young, school-aged children. The fraudulent was sent from the following email address: Aawp-prize@outlook.co.uk

As many of you will know, we were recently partnered with UWRF for our Emerging Writers’ Prize. The winner was announced September 1.

We have been in touch with UWRF; they had no prior knowledge of the fraudulent emails.

We have been in contact with Creative Writing Ink (the organisation identified in the email). Creative Writing Ink have never alleged a connection with AAWP and had no prior knowledge of the fraudulent emails.

If you have any questions about AAWP initiatives please visit our Opportunities page.

The Australasian Association of Writing Programs (AAWP) together with the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival (UWRF) takes great pleasure in announcing the winner of the inaugural AAWP/UWRF Emerging Writers’ Prize.

Heartfelt congratulations to Annabel Wilson for ‘Quire’.

The 2016 theme was ‘Tat Tvam Asi’ which is a Hindu concept meaning ‘I am you, you are me’. The nuanced and innovative responses to the theme made the judges’ task extremely difficult. The overall quality of submissions was overwhelming.

We encourage all writers to submit again next year.

Annabel’s entry is forthcoming in Meniscus Literary Journal. Interestingly ‘Quire’ was composed from journal entries based on Annabel’s time in Ubud.

Warm wishes to all writers for diverse and original contributions.

Annabel wins— a ticket to the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival (UWRF), accommodation for the duration of the festival and $500 towards economy airfares. In addition, Annabel will receive a one-year annual membership to the AAWP and fully subsidised conference fees to attend the annual conference of the AAWP, where she is invited to read from her work.

The AAWP and UWRF are thrilled to support emerging writers through this initiative.

Early bird registration is now open for the 21st Annual AAWP conference hosted by the University of Canberra. Early bird rates allow attendees to get a discounted rate on all three days of the conference – whether you’re presenting, or just interested in watching panels and soaking in the vibrant ideas being exchanged throughout the event.

Until the 30th of September, early registration will cost $150 for students (postgrads and others), while academic staff pay $300. Visit the website for more details on how to register.

Abstracts are invited for a special issue of TEXT Journal. The special scholarly issue co-edited by Dr Bridget Haylock and Dr Suzanne Hermanoczki, aims to bring together papers by researchers and writers, as well as writing that contributes to the trauma narrative. The editors invite abstracts of 250 words for papers and a brief biography (50 words) and email. They also welcome other forms of writing, including reviews, if significant insight into the area of trauma is demonstrated.

For more information and the complete call for papers, click here.

Massey University is advertising for a full-time lecturer position in Creative Writing on its Palmerston North campus to start employment 1 February, 2017.

The School wishes to appoint an applicant who is able to contribute to a range of offerings in the Bachelor of Arts major in Creative Writing and to creative writing papers in the Bachelor of Communication major in Expressive Arts. Immediate responsibilities will include lectures and workshops for an established introductory creative writing course (poetry, fiction), as well as more advanced undergraduate courses in one or more of the following areas: creative non-fiction, fiction, and/or poetry. The position also includes teaching creative writing at postgraduate level and supervision of students engaging in creative/critical research.

For more details, visit the website

The AAWP is delighted to announce that it will be joining the Australian Council of Deans and Directors of Creative Arts (DDCA) as an organisational member. AAWP President Lynda Hawryluk has contributed a short piece to the DDCA’s inaugural interactive component, NiTRO.

The Australian Council of Deans and Directors of Creative Arts was established to represent creative arts issues at a national and international level.  The organisation shares knowledge and learning across the creative arts disciplines and seeks to enhance scholarship and practice within this rapidly developing academic domain. During the past year, on behalf of the membership, DDCA, submitted responses to the following Australian Government consultations:

– Combining Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) and the Higher Education Research Data Collection (HERDC) Consultation Paper
– Review of the Research Training System, conducted by ACOLA
– Consultation on Research Policy and Funding Arrangements
– in addition to the annual conference held last September and hosted by Flinders University, Adelaide.

The other major achievement of the year is the total revamp of the DDCA website, including the creation of an interactive component NiTRO which will accept material from members. NiTRO will allow creative artists to: share their research and  teaching and learning expertise; find out about news events and opportunities in tertiary creative arts; and contribute views and articles on changes happening in university creative arts. If you would like to submit to NiTRO, or for more information on DDCA, visit their website

The Australasian Children’s Literature Association for Research (ACLAR) invites applications for the editorship of Papers: Explorations into Children’s Literature to run for a period of four years from July 2016. Current editors, Professor Clare Bradford and Professor Kerry Mallan, intend to step down from this role at that point, but will work with the incoming editor(s) during a transition period.

Expressions of Interest are invited from individuals or editorial teams. Please consider the above Duties and selection criteria in making the decision to submit a formal application.

Formal applications (which will be invited following the receipt of EOI’s) will be due by August 31, 2016 and will require the submission of:

– A full curriculum vitae for each individual in a primary editorial position
– A detailed response to each of the selection criteria above
– Statements of support as appropriate from institutions / faculties / research
centres named in the application
– A brief outline of how you see the journal developing over the course of your
editorship, should you be awarded the position

Please forward your EOI by email to: ACLAR President, Dr Anthony Eaton (Tony.Eaton@canberra.edu.au) no later than 30 July 2016. If you require further information about the role, see the complete EOI information sheet or contact: Professor Clare Bradford (clare.bradford@deakin.edu.au) or Professor Kerry Mallan (k.mallan@qut.edu.au)

The Australasian Children’s Literature Association for Research (ACLAR) is calling for submissions for the second biennial Kate McInally Postgraduate Essay Prize.

The Prize is in honour of Dr Kate McInally, a previous Vice-President  of the ACLAR and passionate scholar and teacher of children’s literature. Kate inspired numerous students to undertake research at the masters and doctoral levels. As such, this award follows Kate’s example by continuing to foster future scholars in the discipline of children’s literature studies.

The prize, worth $500, is awarded to the best essay by a postgraduate student in children’s literature studies, as judged by ACLAR board members. It will be announced and awarded at the biennial ACLAR conference, which will be held at the Wagga Wagga campus of Charles Sturt University, July 13-15, 2016.

For more information and how to submit, see the complete call for papers

Expressions of interest are sought from scholars for a new special issue of TEXT journal titled: Beyond the Line: Contemporary Prose Poetry

Just a couple of decades ago, prose poetry occupied a very minor corner of the poetry
spectrum, although in fact many major poets have published works in that form. As early
as the mid 1970s, anthologies of prose poems were emerging in the USA, but they were
preceded by work produced in Europe: the Romantic Fragment of the 19th century
German scene (which was quickly adopted by British Romantics), and then the early 20th
century experiments, and particularly the poetic avant garde in France.

Scholarly writings on the prose poem trace its history, and discuss its difficult relationship
to genre: is it a fragment; or a very short story; or an imagistic moment; or just a poem
without linebreaks?

See the full call for papers for details on how to submit