The Emerging Writers’ Festival work, learn and play largely on the land of the Kulin nation, and pay our respects to their Elders, past and present.
EWF celebrates the history and creativity of the world’s oldest living culture.
In reality, most writing is really editing – and few can do it alone! Hear from book and journal editors, publishers, and literary industry experts about the editor-writer relationship, the purpose and ethics of editing, and everything that goes into revising your writing with rigour.
This event is part of the 2024 NATIONAL WRITERS’ CONFERENCE. Buy a ticket to just one session or get access to the full weekend to advance your skills and get insider industry info.
Wheelchair, Service Animal, Quiet Room (Reception/Level 3 Library), Hearing Loop, Accessible toilets
Sunday 8 September, 2:15PM
The Wheeler Centre
Performance Space Level 2, 176 Lt Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, 3000, VIC
Michael Earp is a non-binary writer and bookseller living in Naarm (Melbourne, Australia), the editor of Everything Under the Moon, Kindred, Out-Side and co-edited Avast! Pirate Stories From Transgender Authors with Alison Evans. They have a teaching degree and a Masters in children’s literature and have worked between bookselling and publishing for over twenty years as a children’s literature specialist. Their role managing The Little Bookroom saw them named ABA Bookseller of the year. Their writing has also appeared in Archer, The Age, PopMatters, The Victorian Writer, Aurealis as well as the anthologies Borderlands and Underdog.
Renée Otmar (Distinguished Editor – IPEd, PhD) is a professional editor living on Wadawarrung country. Her experiences spans fiction and creative non-fiction genres, including biography and life writing. Renée writes and produces life stories, teaches, coaches and mentors writers and editors.
Renée’s publications include a family memoir, In Cold Blood: The murder of baby Jordan (New Africa Books, 2007), Editing for Sensitivity, Diversity and Inclusion: A guide for professional editors (Cambridge University Press, 2023) and 2 forthcoming guides on writing/editing trauma narratives (August 2024). Her paper, “Trauma in Publishing” was released in June 2024 in Publishing Research Quarterly.
Melanie Saward is a proud Bigambul and Wakka Wakka woman. She is a writer, editor, and academic based in Tulmur (Ipswich), Queensland. Her debut novel Burn was published by Affirm Press in 2023 and her first romantic comedy novel, Love Unleashed, will be published by Penguin Random House in August 2024.
Irma Gold is an award-winning author and editor. Her debut novel, The Breaking, won the Writing NSW Varuna Fellowship and the Canberra Critics Circle Award, and was shortlisted for the ACT Notable Award for Fiction. Her short fiction has been widely published in literary journals, and her acclaimed collection is Two Steps Forward. Her next novel is forthcoming in 2025. Irma is also the author of five children’s books, and is the founder and co-host of the writing podcast, Secrets from the Green Room. She works full time as a freelance editor for individual authors and a range of publishers.
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