News
23 May
National Young Writers’ Month is running from June 1-30, 2011. It is a month where you can set yourself a writing goal, and with the support of the National Young Writers’ Month community, reach that goal.
To kick off the month, National Young Writers’ Month will launch Saturday May 28 at 1.45pm-2.45pm at the Melbourne Town Hall as part of the Emerging Writers’ Festival.
Express Media Program Manager Lefa Singleton Norton will lead a panel discussion on ‘why we write’, with a guest panel of freelance journo Benjamin Law; author and former Express Media Artistic Director Bel Schenk; Emerging Writers’ Festival Director and author Lisa Dempster; and Voiceworks Editor Johannes Jakob.
The NYWM launch will also set the scene for the launch of Express Media’s very first eBook, with a new digital life for the 2009 release The Words We Found, a collection of the best pieces of writing published in literary journal Voiceworks over the past 21 years.
Courtesy of our friends at Kobo, we have a Kobo eReader to give away to Voiceworks subscribers, complete with 100 free classic eBooks and The Words We Found. Details for the competition will be announced at the launch event.
WHEN: 28th May, 1:45pm-2:45pm Melbourne time.
WHERE: Melbourne Town Hall and online nationally.
COST: Free, with a free afternoon tea to follow! Places are limited, so please book at www.expressmedia.org.au/nywm
For more information please visit www.expressmedia.org.au/nywm
23 May
Entries are now invited for the Whitmore Press Manuscript Prize 2011. The prize, for publication of a fine, limited edition poetry chapbook of work by the winning entrant, is open to all Australian poets – new, emerging and established.
Deadline is 1 August. Early submissions are encouraged. The entry form and guidelines can be downloaded from www.whitmorepress.com
The ten shortlisted poets and winner will be announced in September.
The winner of the manuscript prize in 2010 was Jamie King-Holden, whose collection Chemistry was launched in February. Jamie has been named guest emerging writer at the 2011 Mildura Writers' Festival, to be held 14–17 July.
18 May
The NSW Premier’s Translation Prize & PEN Medallion ($30,000) was won by Ian Johnston.
Ian’s translations include the collections published by Pardalote Press, Waiting for the Owl: poems and songs from ancient China (2009) and Singing of Scented Grass: verses from the Chinese (2003). Mozi: a complete translation was published by The Chinese University Press in 2009.
14 April
Award winning environmental not-for-profit Green Renters, the only organisation that specialises in helping renters live more sustainably, is on the look out for web writers.
We’re looking for people interested in writing new content for us as well as helping us re-write and collate a lot of our older content in line with a new plan and direction for the organisation.
The work would be voluntary but our site receives a healthy amount of monthly visitors including government and media, you can be based anywhere and it’s a great opportunity to gain some skills in a writing methodology that will stand you in good stead over the coming decades.
Interested? Find out more about the organisation at www.greenrenters.org and contact chris@greenrenters.org if you’re keen to get involved.
07 April
We are currently seeking someone to fill a 6-month internship, one day a week (or 2 x 3 hour sessions), working from our offices at the Wheeler Centre in Melbourne.
The successful applicant will be in charge of coordinating member involvement around the Australian Bookseller’s Conference occurring in July, and will also work with other SPUNC staff in coordinating other activities. Prior experience in publishing isn’t necessary, but experience in running the Adobe Creative Suite (particularly InDesign) is favorable, as this position involves some desktop publishing. Training can be provided.
A passion for literature and books is mandatory.
This is a great chance to gain invaluable experience in the publishing industry, as well as some real hands on skills, and networking opportunities.
Please submit expressions of interest and your CV to the General Manager via info@spunc.com.au by Friday April 22nd.
05 April
Congratulations to Ouyang Yu on The English Class being shortlisted for the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction and the Community Relations Commission Prize in the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards. Vote now for your favourite novel on the shortlist and put the The English Class in the running to also win the People’s Choice Award.
http://www.pla.nsw.gov.au/peoples-choice-award
We are also excited about Ali Alizadeh’s Iran: My Grandfather being shortlisted for the Community Relations Commission Prize.
The winners will be announced at the Sydney Writer’s Festival on the 16 May.
01 April
Position Vacant
Casual: SPUNC is seeking an Administration Manager for its office in Melbourne.
Hours: 8 hrs per week, ideally filled in 2 x 4-hour sessions, at the SPUNC headquarters in the Wheeler Centre in Melbourne.
Duties include:
• Invoicing (including tracking membership dues, advertising dues, book conversion dues as well as monies out relating to ebook sales, etc)
• BAS Reporting to Treasurer
• Managing new members: approving, processing
• Managing new SPUNC Digital Distribution accounts – managing admin of vendor accounts, new metadata, return of completed epubs, tracking of process
The applicant should have a proven track record of high administrative capabilities and a medium knowledge of MYOB, with experience working in accounts preferable. An interest in the Australian publishing industry is also preferred as is some basic knowledge of html. This position would ideally suit someone who wishes to be employed in Australian publishing and/or the small press sector and has an interest in digital publishing. The successful applicant will in turn receive the opportunity to gain invaluable insight into the current workings of the publishing industry in Australia, as well as having the chance to connect with key stakeholders.
Please submit expressions of interest and your CV via email to info@spunc.com.au – closing date Friday April 15th.
15 March
The Institute of Professional Editors Limited (IPEd) will hold its next accreditation exam for editors on Saturday 21 May 2011.
IPEd, the profession’s peak organisation in Australia, introduced the accreditation scheme in 2008. The scheme is intended to assure employers that editors meet industry quality standards. It is the first uniformly applied national editing standard.
After two exams, in 2008 and 2009, 155 editors around Australia are qualified to use the postnominal AE (Accredited Editor). The exam is designed for competent editors with at least three years’ full-time editing experience or equivalent; it is not intended as an entry-level exam.
Rosemary Luke AE, IPEd Council chair, said accreditation made it easier for employers to select editors to work on their publications. “It assures employers that the editor is competent to improve their communication, whether it be a website, report, brochure or book.”
Ms Luke said accreditation also raises professional editing standards in Australia by allowing editors to identify any gaps in their knowledge.
The exam is based on the Australian Standards for Editing Practice, which were published in 2001. “The standards are a guide to the depth and breadth of knowledge that a professional editor requires today,” Ms Luke said. “The role encompasses everything from proofreading to advising on the structure and content of a document for clarity and ease of understanding.”
For more information, see http://www.iped-editors.org. Registration closes on 21 April.
About IPEd
The Institute of Professional Editors Limited (IPEd) exists to advance the profession of editing, by planning and implementing national initiatives—an accreditation scheme, promotion and communication campaigns, training and mentoring—and other activities to support Australian societies of editors and their members, and editors in general. See www.iped-editors.org
Further information: Rosemary Luke AE, chair, IPEd Council
Mobile: 0408 811 731
Email: [rtluke@bigpond.net.au](mailto:rtluke@bigpond.net.au)
17 February
Pantera Press author Sulari Gentill’s A Few Right Thinking Men has been shortlisted for the prestigious Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book. In the lead up to the launch of her latest book, Chasing Odysseus (out 7March), an exciting new adventure series for young adults, Sulari Gentill was announced as one of six shortlisted writers in the South East Asia and Pacific Best First Book category of the 2011 Prize.
“I’m flabbergasted…happily flabbergasted…and deeply grateful to my publishers, Pantera Press, who were willing to take a take chance on a complete unknown with a manuscript about art and fascists,” said Sulari Gentill. “As a writer, having someone read and like yournovel is a wonderful
thing, regardless of who that person is. Of course, it’s a bonus when that reader happens to be a
judge of the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize.”
Says Pantera Press: “Our mission at Pantera Press is to be ‘a great new home for Australia’s next
generation of best-‐loved authors’. So our passion is to publish books that readers will rave about by discovering and nurturing the talented new authors who create them… previously unpublished authors of well-‐written, riveting reads in quality popular fiction or non-‐fiction.”
The Commonwealth Writers’ Prize is internationally recognised for its role in celebrating ground-‐breaking works from both new and established writers. Announced on 21 May at Sydney Writers’ Festival, the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize aims to reward the best of Commonwealth fiction
written in English.
For more info on the book and the author, head here.
17 February
With their 7th edition, Sleepers have announced that this year what they’re really looking for is emerging and unpublished writers.
“One of the initial goals of the Almanac was to find and showcase new writers, so with the seventh Almanac we are specifically on the lookout for new writers: writers who have never been published as well as writers who have hardly been published. That’s our target for submissions. It doesn’t mean that we won’t publish any writers who have been published before, but we are specifically looking to unearth new talent. Teachers (and many of you that we first published way-back-when are the teachers now): tell your students! When we read submissions for The Sleepers Almanac No. 7, this is what we hope to find: fresh newbies, possibly a little green, probably a little bashful, but with a blaze of talent just too bright to ignore.”
For more information see the submissions page.
Submissions close July 1, 2011
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