Curses, crowns and crows: add a little magic to your writing toolbox.

Fairy tales are one of the most enduringly popular forms of storytelling. In this workshop, you will learn how to draw on various techniques used in traditional fairy tales to create dynamic and engaging works of contemporary fiction and poetry. We’ll look at some of the key features of fairy tales, from their use of ‘flat’ characters and abstract imagery to their use of intuitive logic. We'll also consider the ways in which fairy tales were used to critique and subvert cultural norms. Explore how you can use these techniques to write contemporary works that are vivid, concise, relevant, and impactful.

Format

This is an in-person workshop with a focus on writing craft; it will be held at Queensland Writers Centre inside State Library of Queensland. This workshop is suitable for writers of all levels and writing backgrounds.

About Nike

Nike Sulway is an award-winning writer of books for adults and children, including Dying in the First Person, Rupetta, The True Green of Hope, The Bone Flute, and Winter’s Tale. Her works have won, and been shortlisted for, a number of Australian and international literary awards, including the Queensland Premier’s Literary Award, The Children’s Book Council of Australia Awards, the Aurealis Awards, the Norma K Hemming Award, the Commonwealth Writers Prize (Best First Book/Asia Pacific Region), and the IAFA Crawford Memorial Award. Rupetta was the first work by an Australian author to win the Otherwise Award (formerly the Tiptree Award).

She is the Managing Editor of The Orange & Bee, an online magazine that publishes contemporary fairy-tale inspired or inflected fiction, poetry, and non-fiction.

For more information about Queensland Writers Centre’s Program of Events and answers to FAQs, please visit: www.queenslandwriters.org.au/program-info