Submitting work to literary prizes, residencies and journals can be daunting, but it doesn’t need to be. Hear practical tips and insights from a panel of prize and fellowships judges, as well as anthology and journal editors, on the behind the scenes o reading and considering submissions, and how you can make an unforgettable impression.



Professional Development & National Writers' Conference
Insider Information
Accessibility
Wheelchair, Service Animal, Quiet Room (Reception/Level 3 Library), Hearing Loop, Accessible toilets
Sunday 8 September, 12PM
The Wheeler Centre
Performance Space Level 2, 176 Lt Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, 3000, VIC
Seth Malacari
Seth Malacari is an LGBTQIA+ author and editor. His first book, An Unexpected Party (Fremantle Press, 2023), was shortlisted for the 2023 Aurealis Award for best anthology. Their work has appeared in Emergence: SBS Emerging Writers Anthology, Ourselves: 100 Micro Memoirs, and Underdog: LoveOzYA Short Stories. He is one of the judges for the 2024 City of Fremantle Hungerford Award.
Astrid Edwards
Astrid Edwards is a bibliophile and literary critic. She hosts The Garret: Writing and Publishing and has interviewed more than 250 of Australia’s most prominent writers and publishers. She regularly moderates literary events and judges literary prizes, and is the Chair of Judges for the 2025 Stella Prize.
As a PhD Candidate at the University of Melbourne she explores environmental responsibility in publishing during the climate crisis. In 2023 she was one of Creative Australia’s inaugural Creative Climate Fellows.
Rijn Collins
Rijn Collins is an award-winning Melbourne writer with over one hundred short stories published in anthologies and journals, performed at literary festivals, and broadcast on Australian and American radio. Her collection of memoir, ‘Voice’ (Somekind Press, 2021) is based on her love of linguistics and languages, with a focus on Icelandic, Irish and Flemish. Her debut novel, ‘Fed to Red Birds’ (Simon and Schuster, 2023) and was inspired by her writing residency in a tiny Icelandic fishing village near the Arctic Circle. She currently lives in Melbourne with her novelist husband, in a house full of snakeskins and bird bones.
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