2016 black&write! round up

Before we leave for the year, we'd love to share some of the highlights from the last couple of months!

Just recently, editing interns Yasmin and Grace travelled to Sydney to take part in a one-week placement with publishing house Hachette Australia.

READ sign Hachette lobby with Yasmin and Grace

Yasmin and Grace met staff from all levels in the organisation, attended publishing meetings and worked on editing projects. It was a fun and valuable learning experience, mostly because everyone at Hachette Aus was so generous with their time and so open to all of our questions! Huge thanks from black&write! to Robert Watkins who facilitated a fantastic week for the girls as editors-in-training!

We are also pleased to share the news that Brisbane Aboriginal author/lecturer Graham Akhurst had his debut novel bought!

Borderlands is an eco-thriller for young adults, and we can’t wait to read it once it’s released! Congratulations Graham!

The growing community of black&write! Fellows has also been very busy this year:

• We are so proud of author Jane Harrison, who was shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Young Adult Fiction for her novel Becoming Kirrali Lewis, published by Magabala Books, and produced with the black&write! Indigenous Writing and Editing Project.

• Alison Whittaker’s poetry collection was included in the Readings Top 50 books by Women (https://www.readings.com.au/news/50-great-reads-by-australian-women-in-2016). Lemons in the Chicken Wire is published by Magabala books and produced with the black&write! Indigenous Writing and Editing Project.

•  Jared Thomas  recently published and released a new YA novel, Songs that sound like blood, and he has also been talking with a film company about adapting his black&write! book Calypso Summer for screen!

• Alison and Jared are both appearing at Perth International Arts Festival in February 2017, along with Bruce Pascoe and a number of Australian and international artists.

Black&write! also wishes to thank our amazing Senior Editor, Ellen van Neerven, who left the project after six years. We will miss her very much and we wish her the very best for the future!