Step up from "foodie" to "food writer" as you learn how to craft compelling culinary prose - whether for your own audience or to pique the interest of editors.

Are you keen to shape your family recipes and food stories into a book, start a food blog or maybe just polish the one you have? Perhaps you dream of being a professional food writer and seeing your byline in a publication?

Under the guidance of seasoned food writer, Natascha Mirosch, this short course will give you the tools and confidence to step-up from foodie to food writer.

You’ll discover the most common mistakes in food writing and how to avoid them, how to hook readers with a strong introduction and keep them reading. We’ll discuss the opportunities in the food writing world and how to find your niche. We’ll learn about food critiquing, what it really involves and the responsibilities that accompany it. We’ll discover together the satisfaction of “trimming the fat” - editing your own work to fit a brief.

This hands-on class will feature lively discussion, writing exercises and plenty of constructive feedback. At the conclusion of the course, participants are able to submit some of their work-in-progress to Natascha for personalised feedback.

Learning outcomes

As part of this course, participants will:

Create more engaging food prose in a multitude of forms, minus the cliches
Know how to research and interview subjects
Understand what makes a good restaurant review
Know how to recognise sellable ideas and pitch to an editor
Able to self-edit and write to brief

Format

This is an in-person, 1-day course with a focus on writing craft and industry information; it will be held at State Library of Queensland. This event is suitable for writers of all levels and writing backgrounds.

About Natascha

Natascha Mirosch has been writing about food for more than two decades, both in the UK and Australia. She was food writer on the Courier Mail's "Good Life" magazine; food and nutrition writer for general news and editor of the original QLD "Taste" section.

She went on to produce four editions of Fairfax' Good Food Guide, was Australian editor of Phaidon's book: "Where Chef's Eat" and has contributed to other restaurant guides. Natascha has interviewed everyone from Jamie Oliver to Heston Blumenthal and hosted food events with chefs such as Ferran Adria, Nigella Lawson and Yottam Ottolenghi. Today, as a freelancer, Natascha contributes features to a myriad of publications from Delicious Magazine to The Guardian.

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