Find the story you've been meaning to tell.

Everyone carries one: a memory, a character, a place that won't let go. Over two Saturdays with award-winning novelist Venero Armanno, you'll learn how to get your story onto the page. Leave with the craft, the habits, and the company of fellow writers, inspired to keep going long after the course ends.

In this bootcamp, you'll move between practical craft sessions and time to actually write, with plenty of chances to ask your burning questions. Whether you're starting from a blank page or returning to writing after years away, you'll be in good hands and good company.

Learning outcomes

As part of this course, you will:

Understand how real stories get built — from a small idea to a shape you can work with.
Get hands-on with the essentials: character, voice, setting, dialogue, conflict and theme.
Learn techniques and exercises you can keep using long after the workshop.
Gain insights about how the Australian writing and publishing world actually works, and what a writing life can look like.
Write —with feedback and encouragement.
Meet a new community of writers.

Course dates

10:30am - 4:30pm, Saturday 12 September 2026
10:30am - 4:30pm, Saturday 19 September 2026

Format

This is a two-day course with a focus on craft; it will be held in-person at Queensland Writers Centre. This course is designed for beginner writers of fiction, and equally suited to emerging writers wanting a refresher. Each day blends craft talks, in-class writing and supportive feedback.

Flexible payment plans are available for this course during checkout.

About Venero

Venero Armanno is the author of numerous novels and short-story collections, many published internationally. His novel The Volcano won Best Australian Fiction Book at the Queensland Premier's Literary Awards and was shortlisted for the Courier-Mail Book of the Year; his earlier novel Firehead was also shortlisted in the Premier's Awards. His short fiction has been anthologised in Jumping at the Moon and Travel Under Any Star, and two major new releases are being published in over the next twelve months.

As a screenwriter he has worked with production companies including Tristram Miall Films (Strictly Ballroom, Looking for Alibrandi) and Liberty Films on adaptations of his own novels. He has taught creative writing and screenwriting at the University of Queensland for more than two decades, and has guided countless writers from first page to finished manuscript.

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

Contact the host of Introduction to Creative Writing Bootcamp with Venero Armanno