This year we've had the privilege to publish some of the best, brightest, and most provocative writing from around Australia and the world. Here's a look at some the highlights. 

We Need to Talk About Your Writer Bio - By Elizabeth Flux

Words, and the way you choose to use them, have power. It is interesting then that the people who arguably should know this best consistently and stubbornly insist on using them to tear themselves down. How many words does it take to undercut hours of work or an entire career?

How To Write Sex – By Raphaelle Race

Maybe the whole thing terrifies you, or you could just be terribly confused about the whole thing. We’ve done the dirty business of asking some of our favourite authors how they put together sexy, steamy, thrilling words about people having it off.

The Unnatural Way of Things – By Hannah Donnely

Today when I read Australian literature I am perplexed as to how writers continue to colonise country through their writing .... Australian literature perpetuates a white central narrative rooted in a colonial ignorance of country so deep and untrue. 

Nicholas J. Johnson – A Guide to Writing Mind-Blowing Twists

I ran into my year eight English teacher the other week. She still haunts my old high school, terrifying students. She even remembered me from my time as a student there. “Nicholas! The twist boy!”

Get a Real Job: Why It's Not Arts VS The World – By Elizabeth Flux

The arts aren’t something you slot between Real Life Things That Matter. They permeate everything. They help us understand ideas in ways we might not be aware. They allow us to be less isolated, to know that others have experienced and are experiencing the same issues that we are.

A Room of Their Own – By Vince Ruston 

Language has never been static; it changes as society’s values change. The Oxford English Dictionary has to be revised every year, showing how quickly language evolves: words and phrases fall out of use, and words once widely used are now considered slurs because we are as a culture recognizing the humanity of people of colour, people living with mental illness and disorders, sex workers, and people who identity as LGBTQI+. 

Self Care - By Chloe Papas

I’ve been doing this freelance thing for nearly two years now, and that is a fair description of most of my days. It’s an absolute delight, and a terrifying existence. You get to make your own hours, pick and choose your work, and be your own boss. You also often don’t know where rent money will be coming from that month, have to be incredibly self-motivating, and it’s all too easy to become a strange little hermit.

Producing a Festival – by Shu-Ling Chua

I wonder what stories will come to be told about Noted 2016, a shimmering spider-web of memories and experiences spun into something much, much bigger than me or anyone who was part of it. No person, no story, exists in isolation. Oh, and that shy, bookish teen... she found her people, at last.

Ask a Penguin Editor – An Interview On Publishing

You have to love writing more than you love the idea of success or the idea of being a novelist. And, like other professions or crafts, there are things you can do to make yourself more professional. Read as widely as possible – don’t just read the genres that you enjoy or that you want to write in. 

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