Monday! Day three of National Young Writers’ Month. Do Mondays motivate you to start fresh? Yesterday was the final day of the Emerging Writers’ Festival in Melbourne, so we expect it will be a somewhat subdued day for a lot of Victorian writers as they take a deep breath and adjust to post-festival life.

Today we’re going to revisit the first year of NYWM, when some authors were kind enough to join us here at The Wheeler Centre to discuss why they write. These videos are short and sweet, giving a lovely insight into what motivates authors to put pen to paper.

First up, current director of the Melbourne Writers’ Festival, Lisa Dempster:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDwH7wG3UZQ]

 

And here is YA author Penni Russon talking about why she writes:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UthlBFVB_eM]

 

And finally, Andrew McDonald discusses what keeps him writing YA fiction:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osC9uascnm8]

 

Opportunities and Events

If you’re in Darwin you might be interested in the True Life Stories workshop at Frog Hollow Centre for the Arts on memoir writing. Check out the NT Writers’ Centre website for more details.

Are you a student in Victoria in years 7, 8 or 9? If so, the Write Across Victoria competition run by Express Media and the Melbourne Writers’ Festival is just the competition for you. Visit the website to see this year’s story starters and get your entries in by Friday July 5. There are over $3,000 in prizes to be won.

For primary and secondary school students in West Australia entries to The West Australian Young Writers’ Contest are open now, and close on June 25. Check the website for details on how to enter.

Do you write teen, YA or new adult readers? Check out Bloomsbury Spark, a new imprint from Bloomsbury searching for authors to publish new work. If you’ve got a book between 25-60k words long this is the opportunity for you. Check the website for more details.

For those in or near Mackay, Whitsunday Voices Youth Literature Festival is well worth checking out. It takes place from July 17 to 20. Loads of exciting authors are in town, as well as zine workshops and an online festival available to remote and regional communities throughout QLD. The full program is online now.

Our quote today is an emphatic answer to the question “Why do you write?”

“I write for the same reason I breathe … because if I didn’t, I would die” – Isaac Asimov

Today’s poll is a chance for you to tell us what kind of support you’re looking for during NYWM…

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