The Society of Women Writers NSW Inc

10/04/2026

Literary Event - Wednesday 13 May 2026

(in person and via Zoom)
Time: 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm
Place: Michael Crouch Room, State Library of NSW
Cost: Members $25, non-members $40

Member Spotlight
Jude Chapman: The Waratah Club Mysteries: a marketing strategy
The Waratah Club Mysteries is set in an elegant club for ladies in the Sydney CBD. It is a warm and witty cosy crime story, with themes of loyalty, enduring friendships and the unexpected possibilities of later life.

Guest Speaker
Catherine Cole: A French House: On the Love of Place
In her talk, Catherine will discuss the house and her creative choices when writing about it, especially the manner in which she used personal memoir and non-fiction to create a story that is personal and actively researched. She will share anecdotes and writing approaches about a small village and how she resisted the urge to just write a house renovation story and instead explored the wider lure of France.

For more information and to book, please visit our website: https://womenwritersnsw.org/literary-luncheons/workshop-literary-event-wednesday-13-may-2026

10/04/2026

Workshop - Wednesday 13 May 2026

(in person only)

Time: 10:15 am to 12:00 pm
Place: Michael Crouch Room, State Library of NSW
Cost: Members $40, non-members $55

Catherine Cole: Writing Dialogue
In this workshop, Catherine will discuss the struggles writers have with creating believable characters and dialogue.

Using exercises and activities, participants will practise ways in which to research, create, animate and give voice to characters who engage a reader and create meaningful narratives.

For more information and to book, please visit our website: https://womenwritersnsw.org/literary-luncheons/workshop-literary-event-wednesday-13-may-2026

10/04/2026

Gwen Wilson, in conversation with Suzanne Leal, is launching her historical novel, Louisa, on 29 May. Congratulations Gwen, it looks amazing!

https://gwenwilson.com.au/2026/04/09/join-me-for-the-book-launch-of-louisa-on-may-29-2026-in-wollongong-nsw/?fbclid=IwY2xjawRFQO9leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeFUx-ShB9s0-uWGnoGU1OEDtWglh3n1BgwF_lrDS_zPd97YSnaOzLefU7Aok_aem_FdiP6ZWQ_D-5Bkkx5sk5yw

Mark your calendars for the launch of Louisa on May 29, 2026, at The Links Seaside in Wollongong! It kicks off at 2pm, and attendance is free, so don’t forget to book your spot. Plus, author Suzann…

01/04/2026

Come along and learn some special writing tips from Carmel ...

Workshop - Wednesday 8 April 2026

Carmel Bendon: Writing Beginnings that Matter

You may not be a Charles Dickens with his killer opening to A Tale of Two Cities of 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times …' or a Daphne Du Maurier with the 'Last night, I dreamt I went to Manderley again' start to Rebecca but the good quality of the first sentence, first paragraph and first page of a novel, non-fiction book, short story or article is vital in capturing a reader's (or publisher's) interest for what is to follow. In this workshop, we look at some 'great beginnings' and the ways in which they set the mood and tone of the whole work. And we consider how we might apply these insights to our own writing.

Carmel Bendon is an author, academic and presenter on 'all things medieval'. She has a PhD in Medieval Literature and a 1st Class Honours in Early English. Her publications include the influential academic book Mysticism and Space, the prize-winning novel Grasping at Water and the award-winning creative non-fiction The Mystics Who Came to Dinner as well as articles, book chapters and encyclopedia entries on subjects that include Julian of Norwich, Hildegard of Bingen, Geoffrey Chaucer, Oscar Wilde and poet Bruce Dawe. Her non-fiction Birds of a Feather was the winner of the 2022 Society of Women Writers National Writing competition. She is a regular speaker at libraries, museums and interest groups throughout Australia, has been an international enrichment lecturer on the Princess Cruise line, and has regular chat spots on ABC radio nationally.

For more information and to book, please visit our website: https://womenwritersnsw.org/literary-luncheons/workshop-literary-event-wednesday-8-april-2026

01/04/2026

Don't miss out! This should be a fun event! Book now ...

12/03/2026

Literary Event - Wednesday 8 April 2026

Member Spotlight - Gwen Wilson: Louisa

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Encouraged by her dying father's words, Louisa is determined to seek a new life in Australia, free from the constraints of Victorian England.

Ignoring advice that single women go to Australia to be wives or servants, Louisa strikes out as a governess in a remote country town and discovers that in 'the bush', women struggle under social norms designed by men – often with disastrous consequences. Even returning to Sydney shakes her hopes and dreams but she presses on, hopeful of a brighter future.

Set in Sydney between 1882 and 1895, Louisa takes us into a world where a woman’s reputation hangs by a thread, requiring every ounce of 'strength and courage'.

Gwen Wilson is a Wollongong-based author and blogger who launched her writing career following her retirement from international trade and supply chain management. Her memoir, I Belong to No One, was published by Hachette Australia and Orion UK in 2015. Louisa, partly inspired by research into her great-grandmother, and its forthcoming sequel, Florence & Lucy, are her first historical novels. Gwen has received recognition for her fiction and non-fiction short stories, including awards and publications in anthologies.

Gwen is a member of the Society of Women Writers NSW, Australian Society of Authors and the South Coast Writers Centre, who awarded her an Artist in Residence retreat at Arthur Boyd’s property, Bundanon, in April 2022. In November 2022, Gwen was a founding member of, and participant in, the inaugural Adoption Literary Festival.

Find more on her website www.gwenwilson.com.au, where you will also find her blog, The Reluctant Retiree, Stories from a Baby Boomer Surviving Retirement, by Garrulous Gwendoline.

Guest Speaker - Nell Jones: Forgery, Exile and Inspiration - Finding Joseph Lycett

The power of writing in place, at the SWW Barnstaple Residency - this talk traces the journey of writer Nell Jones, recipient of the 2025 Di Yerbury Residency, as she travels to England to retrace the life of transported convict artist Joseph Lycett while researching her historical novel. A residency in Devon and archival research across the Midlands turned history into a powerful encounter with place, story and memory. Walking in Lycett’s footsteps revealed the paradox of a brilliant artist shaped by crime, punishment and reinvention. The talk explores how immersion in landscape and archives can transform both narrative and writer.

For more information and to book, please visit our website: https://womenwritersnsw.org/literary-luncheons/workshop-literary-event-wednesday-8-april-2026

12/03/2026

Workshop - Wednesday 8 April 2026

Carmel Bendon: Writing Beginnings that Matter

You may not be a Charles Dickens with his killer opening to A Tale of Two Cities of 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times …' or a Daphne Du Maurier with the 'Last night, I dreamt I went to Manderley again' start to Rebecca but the good quality of the first sentence, first paragraph and first page of a novel, non-fiction book, short story or article is vital in capturing a reader's (or publisher's) interest for what is to follow. In this workshop, we look at some 'great beginnings' and the ways in which they set the mood and tone of the whole work. And we consider how we might apply these insights to our own writing.

Carmel Bendon is an author, academic and presenter on 'all things medieval'. She has a PhD in Medieval Literature and a 1st Class Honours in Early English. Her publications include the influential academic book Mysticism and Space, the prize-winning novel Grasping at Water and the award-winning creative non-fiction The Mystics Who Came to Dinner as well as articles, book chapters and encyclopedia entries on subjects that include Julian of Norwich, Hildegard of Bingen, Geoffrey Chaucer, Oscar Wilde and poet Bruce Dawe. Her non-fiction Birds of a Feather was the winner of the 2022 Society of Women Writers National Writing competition. She is a regular speaker at libraries, museums and interest groups throughout Australia, has been an international enrichment lecturer on the Princess Cruise line, and has regular chat spots on ABC radio nationally.

For more information and to book, please visit our website: https://womenwritersnsw.org/literary-luncheons/workshop-literary-event-wednesday-8-april-2026

04/03/2026

This might be of some interest! Our own Susanne Gervay is offering personal mentorship to the winner. If you create children's books, check it out ...

12/02/2026

Literary Event - Wednesday 11 March 2026

Colleen Keating: Ring the Bells - Book Launch

Libby Hathorn
in conversation with
Colleen Keating
will launch Colleen's poetry book Ring the Bells

In Ring the Bells, award-winning poet Colleen Keating invites readers to listen closely – to the chimes of joy, the tolls of grief and the quiet notes of love that echo through our shared human experience.

Moving through four sections – Embracing Light, Embracing Dark, Embracing Life, Embracing Love – her poems ring with an acute awareness of the world’s beauty and its brokenness.

From intimate moments in nature to the great sweep of history and current events, Keating’s lyrical voice finds hope, tenderness and resilience in the spaces where light filters through the cracks.

Colleen Keating has published eight books of poetry, including the best-selling Hildegard of Bingen: A Poetic journey (Ginninderra Press 2019).

She has won numerous awards and her poems have been published nationally and internationally. Her writing explores the paradox and wonder of nature, the realities of life, equality, justice and the increasing threat to our natural environment.

For more details and to book, please go to our website: https://womenwritersnsw.org/literary-luncheons/workshop-literary-event-wednesday-11-march-2026

12/02/2026

Literary Event - Wednesday 11 March 2026

Time: 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm
Place: Michael Crouch Room, State Library of NSW
Cost: Members $25, non-members $40

Member Spotlight - Robyn McWilliam: Against the Breeze

Robyn will cover many aspects of life writing. She joined the Society of Women Writers in 1996 after being published in No Thanks or Regrets following their biography competition. In 1998 she attended her first Patti Miller course in this genre and continued writing life stories. Whilst completing Patti Miller’s Life Writing in Paris in 2015, she was encouraged to gather all her stories into a memoir which became Against the Breeze.

Robyn began writing for sailing magazines in the 1980s. She attended Creative Writing courses and in 1990 completed a Diploma in Book Editing and Publishing. This led to 28 years of teaching Creative Writing to adults. Against the Breeze, a memoir, is her fifth book after two anthologies and two novels.

For more details and to book, please go to our website: https://womenwritersnsw.org/literary-luncheons/workshop-literary-event-wednesday-11-march-2026

12/02/2026

Workshop - Wednesday 11 March 2026

Time: 10:15 am to 12:00 pm
Place: Michael Crouch Room, State Library of NSW
Cost: Members $40, non-members $55

Patti Miller: Travel Memoir - Wish You Were Here

Travel writing is a wide and rich genre, encompassing memoir, history, geography, politics, cultural knowledge and the inner journey of the self. This short course will introduce you to the varieties of travel and sojourn memoir, and show you how to 'pack your travel-writing suitcase' so that you include unique perception and intriguing knowledge, and leave out worn clichés and formulaic responses. We will read some travel writing extracts, discuss ideas and try a short travel writing exercise. Whether you have travelled the world, or are planning to, this course will equip you to bring your inner and outer travels to life on the page. It will be based on Patti’s extensive travel writing experience and notes on travel writing in Patti’s text Writing True Stories, Routledge 2024.

For more details and to book, please go to our website: https://womenwritersnsw.org/literary-luncheons/workshop-literary-event-wednesday-11-march-2026

28/01/2026