South Coast Readers & Writers Festival Workshops
Description
The 2026 South Coast Readers & Writers Festival includes a vibrant workshop program, featuring four of our festival authors:
Tuesday 14 July, Coledale
UNLOCKING YOUR CREATIVE PROCESS with Claire Zorn
Friday 17 July, Coledale
THE STORYTELLER'S VOICE with Erin O'Dwyer
Friday 24 July, Thirroul
WRITING POETRY IN ORDER TO SEE with Judith Nangala Crispin
Friday 24 July, Thirroul
HARNESSING WONDER with Kathryn Heyman
Limited tickets available. Book now!
Discover the full South Coast Readers & Writers Festival program for 2026.
Workshop Program
- 5:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Tuesday 14 July: Unlocking Your Creative Process with Claire Zorn
There's no one right way to write a novel. Often what holds writers back isn't lack of skill or motivation, it's misconceptions about process. Whether you've finished your first draft, or yet to write your first sentence, join multi award-winning author Claire Zorn for a workshop designed to demystify the novel-writing process and help writers find their creative path.
- 5:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Friday 17 July: The Storyteller's Voice with Erin O'Dwyer
Whether you're writing memoir, biography, family history, research, journalism or lived experience, telling someone else's story requires a unique set of skills. In this short and practical workshop, award-winning journalist Dr Erin O'Dwyer will explore how to find, shape and honour another person's voice while creating a compelling narrative in any genre of storytelling. Through discussion, examples and guided exercises, participants will learn interviewing, listening and storytelling techniques that help transform real lives into powerful stories. Suitable for writers of all levels. Please bring an example of your work or project to share in class.
- 12:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Friday 24 July: Writing Poetry in Order to See with Judith Nangala Crispin
Writing poetry allows us to see what we think, or what we know. Poetry can be a kind of self revelation, and not just an exercise in saying things. Join poet Judith Nangala Crispin to write poetry and then see what has been revealed by that poem, before finally editing it into a finished piece.
- 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Friday 24 July: Harnessing Wonder with Kathryn Heyman
The act of writing is an act of attention; at its best it’s an enactment of wonder. In writing, we learn to steady the gaze and direct our attention on the page and off. Rich, luscious writing is writing which has wonder in it - wonder on the page, and the life in the writing of it. In this workshop for writers and those wishing for more creativity in their lives, Kathryn Heyman will explore ways of making your words sing with wonder. Using carefully curated exercises we will focus on sharpening our attention, bringing you keep the sense of life and joy into your creativity. This inspiring session will help you awaken your curiosity and wonder.
Meet the Authors
Claire Zorn
Claire Zorn is the author of five novels and author/illustrator of two picture books. Her writing for young adults has won the Prime Minister's Literary Award, Victorian Premier's Literary Award and Western Australian Premier's Book Award, and Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Award (twice). Her first novel for adults Better Days was published by Atlantic Books in 2025.
Erin O'Dwyer
Erin O'Dwyer is an award-winning journalist, author, editor and writing coach whose work spans print, digital, broadcast, and publishing. She has been a regular contributor to The Sydney Morning Herald for more than two decades, including its flagship Good Weekend magazine. Erin is the winner of an Australian UN Media Peace Award, and a Walkley Awards finalist. She has lectured at the University of Sydney for two decades. As a ghostwriter, she is co-author of Accessory with Felicia Djamirze and Swellbeing with Blake Johnston. Her communications consultancy, Good Prose Studios, specialises in strategic storytelling.
Judith Nangala Crispin
Judith Nangala Crispin is an acclaimed poet, visual artist, motorcyclist and volunteer firefighter, living on unceded Ngunnawal/Ngambri Country near Braidwood on the NSW Southern Tablelands. Her poetry has won the Blake Prize, been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and been shortlisted for many awards including the Peter Porter Prize. Her visual art has won her residencies, awards, and wide acclaim, here and overseas. She has published two collections of poetry, The Myrrh-Bearers and The Lumen Seed.
Kathryn Heyman
Kathryn Heyman is the author of seven novels as well as a memoir, a poetry collection and several dramas for stage and for BBC radio. Her awards UK include the Arts Council of England Writers Award, the Wingate Award, the Hallam Poetry Prize and the Southern Arts Award. Her work has longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, shortlisted for the Scottish Writer of the Year Award, the Edinburgh Fringe Critics’ Awards, the Kibble Prize, the West Australian Premier’s Book Awards, and the Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature. In 2011 she founded the Australian Writers Mentoring Program.
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