About us

Who are we?

The ACT Writers Centre is a non-profit organisation, promoting writing-based culture and supporting the professional rights and interests of writers in the ACT and region. The Writers Centre has one full-time Director and two part-time staff members. We are governed by a Board of 7-12 members.

Staff

• Acting Director: Kelli-anne Moore
• Office manager: Lizzie Howie
• Communications officer / magazine editor: Kimberley Gaal

Board

• Chair: Dr Sylvia Alston
• Deputy Chair: Ross Hamilton (currently on leave)
• Acting Deputy Chair: Peter Hadley
• Treasurer: Dane McCormack
• Secretary: Bob Phillips
• Mark Blumer
• Charlotte Harper
• Peter Papathanasiou
• John Stokes
• Giulio Zambon

Where are we?

The ACT Writers Centre is located in the Doonkuna Wing of Gorman House Arts Centre, Ainslie Ave, Braddon, ACT 2612.

When are we open?

Tuesday - Friday: 10am-1pm & 2pm-5pm
Saturday 10am to 4pm (except long weekends).

How can you contact us?

Phone: (02) 6262 9191
Fax: (02) 6262 9192
Email: admin@actwriters.org.au

How long have we been around?

The ACT Writers Centre became an incorporated association on 21 December 1994. A Steering Committee of ACT Writers, representing several organisations, worked toward establishing the Centre.

What exactly do we do?

Our mission

• To assist ACT region writers to achieve their full potential by providing targeted services and opportunities and strengthening the Centre's position as the peak literature organisation in the ACT.

Our workshops and events

The ACT Writers Centre offers a wide variety of writing workshops and seminars with local and visiting professionals, as well as collaborating with other organisations to run events. We host meet-the-author sessions and master-classes with some of Australia's best-known writers and most experienced editors, publishers and agents. We also run social events and fundraisers, and facilitate writing groups to help local writers meet their peers and have some fun.

Since its inception the Centre has run a wide variety of programs including programs for young writers, writers with disabilities and writers from non-English speaking or Indigenous backgrounds. Our workshops span all levels of writing skill and interest, from beginner classes to advanced. The Centre has also held regional workshops as far away as Bega, Yass, Goulburn, Booroowa, Batemans Bay and Cooma. We have published two anthologies and collaborated on a third with the Trades and Labour Council.

Upcoming events and workshops are featured in our monthly magazine, ACTWrite, our weekly E-news, and on our website.

Our advice

We produce a monthly magazine, ACTWrite, which contains articles, tips and information about literary competitions, events and opportunities, locally and Australia-wide. We also offer a range of writers' resources for purchase, loan or simply to take away.  For more information about our monthly magazine, visit our Benefits of Membership page.

The Writers Centre provides advice on all things literary - from negotiating contracts to self-publishing. We also refer writers and editors for employment, and have launched the Invite-a-Writer program to help freelance writers, editors, speakers and teachers advertise their services.

Who can join the Writers Centre?

Anyone with an interest in writing and literature can become a member of the Writers Centre. We currently have over 1000 members, including editors, authors, poets, children's writers, journalists, English teachers, academics, and literary groups and organisations. Our more well known members include novelists Marion Halligan and John Clanchy and poets Geoff Page, Rosemary Dobson, Alan Gould and John Foulcher.

...and what about that apostrophe?

Over the years, many people have pointed out the lack of apostrophe in or after the word 'writers' in Writers Centre. As much as we appreciate this, we stand by our claim that we are a Centre for writers and of writers. While an apostrophe could have been added, it isn't essential, and we are ok with that.