We’re excited to open applications for Toolkits, two rigorous 12-week programs in fiction and poetry for young writers to develop their craft in a unique and exciting online environment.

In 2017, Express Media is presenting two streams of the program for young writers aged 30 and under – Toolkits: Fiction, and Toolkits: Poetry, presented in partnership with Australian Poetry.

Each program provides feedback from an established writer, specialised presentations from guest artists and the opportunity to network with other young people working in the same literary form.

In 2017, Toolkits: Fiction will be facilitated by Jennifer Down, author of Our Magic Hour and Pulse Points (released August 2017). Jennifer will guide participants through the art of storytelling and ethics, how to craft characters, plots and plans and how to polish work for publication. You’ll learn the nuts and bolts of editing, how to make your story sing and how best to approach your favourite publications for submissions.

 Toolkits: Poetry will be facilitated by Melody Paloma, an established writer and poet from Melbourne, and the 2014 winner of the Overland Judith Wright Poetry Prize. Participants will explore the histories, language and changing face of poetry, and be challenged to engage with the art form in unique and different ways. The program also covers writing poetry in the digital age, Aboriginal histories in Australian literature, the intersections of writing and visual art, and how to edit your work for publication.

Toolkits is first and foremost a practical initiative and young writers will be encouraged to write, workshop and edit their writing throughout the course.

Express Media will also be hosting Toolkits Live, an open to the public live-streamed event series with some of the best working writers in the country, including Omar Musa, Tony Birch, Elena Gomez, Bella Li and Evelyn Araluen. Best of all, these sessions are live and free, for all young writers to learn from and enjoy.

Toolkits is also open to all young writers including high school and university students, regardless of level of written experience. Young people living in outer-metropolitan, regional and remote areas of Australia are encouraged to apply— participants just need motivation and an internet connection.

Applications are open now and close Wednesday May 31.