Do you dream of being a published writer? Enter Australia's most prestigious award for an unpublished manuscript. The Australian/Vogel's Literary Award is one of Australia's richest and the most prestigious award for an unpublished manuscript by a writer under the age of thirty-five. Offering publication by Allen & Unwin and prize money totalling $20,000, The Australian/Vogel's Literary Award has launched the careers of some of Australia's most successful writers, including Tim Winton, Kate Grenville, Gillian Mears, Brian Castro, Mandy Sayer and Andrew McGahan. The Australian/Vogel's Literary Award-winning authors have gone on to win or be shortlisted for other major awards, such as the Miles Franklin Award, the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and the Booker Prize. For entry forms and details go to Allen & Unwin's website: http://www.allenandunwin.com/default.aspx?page=442

Find out all your need to know about getting published, who to contact, how to present your work, contracts, agents...the lot. Even if you don't have something ready to go, this two hour session presents the basics for all authors and illustrators:

ASA Getting Published, 6 - 8pm at Orange Friday 17 February in the West Room, next door to Orange City Library, 147 Byng Street, Orange. Refreshments provided. Cost: $15.

Bookings essential - book online at http://www.asauthors.org or call the office on 1800 257 121. Enquiries call the Central West Writers' Centre on 6393 8125. Don't miss this fantastic opportunity to learn from the experts.

The Washington Post runs a contest where they ask readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing of one letter, and supply a new definition. Here are some choice examples (thanks to Krystiina):

1. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period.

2. Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with.

3. Reintarnation: Coming back to life as a hillbilly.

4. Foreploy: Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid.

5. Giraffiti: Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.

6. Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.

7. Inoculatte: To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.

8. Uno: What you insert, you know, while, you know, you are deciding what you will say next, you know.

9. Hipatitis: Terminal coolness.

10. Karmageddon: It's like, when everybody is, like, sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a serious bummer.

What can you come up with?

Calling all writers! The Words Out West Summer 2012 Newsletter is now available. It has all the latest news on upcoming book launches, Getting Published Workshop and Oberon Performance Poetry as well as writing competitions, opportunities, and lots more....To read and subscribe, head to the Central West Writers' Centre Words Out West Home Page: www.wordsoutwest.com.au

Enjoy!

Here's a fun writing exercise for Australia Day. 'If, as John Berger claims, London is a street urchin and Paris is a young man in love with an older woman, what sex and age is Canberra?' Writing researchers at the University of Canberra invite you to write a pithy creative response. Selected contributions will form part of a text video Text and The City: Canberra Writes Back, created by the research team, and may also be considered in research papers related to the project.

Here (thanks to Lapham's Quarterly) is what some North Americans wrote about their cities:

• San Francisco is a wiry guy in his late thirties who may or may not have had a drug problem.

• Cincinnati is an unemployed Mark Twain impersonator.

• New York is the popular kid that no one wants to tell about the mustard on his shirt.

• Montreal is an old prostitute still managing to make a living by selling pictures of what she once was.

• Halifax is the hot cousin you secretly have a crush on but won't tell anyone because that's weird.

• Washington, DC is a driven young political consultant who, despite the exhausting pace of his work, still makes time for art openings, smooth jazz, and light blogging.

Contributions about Canberra should be emailed to Peter Copeman at peter.copeman@canberra.edu.au, preferably before the end of January. Have fun!

Hardie Grant Egmont has always supported emerging writers, and this time they want everyone to know about it. Introducing Ampersand: a new collection of short novels by debut fiction writers.

It's an ambitious idea, but they're excited about bringing new voices to the YA fiction scene. They want to cater to teenage readers who just aren't into fantasy or paranormal romance, and show them a world just like this one. Real life can be just as dramatic and thrilling as other-worldly adventures, and any teenager who's climbed out their bedroom window for an illicit adventure knows it.

To kick this collection off, the editors of Ampersand are looking for fabulous stand-alone manuscripts about the secret lives of teenagers. They want a voice that leaps off the page, a hint of a literary vibe, and teenage characters facing conflict in the course of their everyday lives. Manuscripts that are by turns funny, dramatic, gritty, romantic, heartbreaking or challenging. Ampersand will give each debut novelist the launch they need to build their profiles in a competitive YA market.

They want Ampersand books to feel real to teenage readers. We want to push the boundaries, but we're not interested in moral-panic-inducing, usually urban-legendary topics (no sexting or rainbow parties here, please). Speculative elements are welcome, so long as they adhere to the rules of the real world. The difference is in the execution; for example, Tomorrow When The War Began is a real-world exploration of war as it could occur today, but The Hunger Games is not. Head to website for submission guidelines and story starting points:

http://hardiegrant.com.au/egmont/contact-us/the-ampersand-project

Entries close on 31 January for the 2012 Black Dog Institute Writing Competition that his year throws the spotlight on people caring for someone with depression or bipolar disorder. The carers are the unsung heroes in helping people with mood disorders while at the same time exposing themselves to an increased risk of facing a similar fate. The theme is Walking the Tightrope - Caring for Someone with Depression of Bipolar Disorder. Essays are to be no longer than 1500 words with at least two recomminedations which will be collected into a list of tips to help all carers. And at least two useful strategies such as the type of support services or websites that proved the most helpful and practical. Prizes will be awarded for the three best essays. For details and entry forms go to www.blackdoginstitute.org.au or call 9382 4523.

Get on the airwaves! A free 3-day radio workshop is being held at Oberon this week, 18-20th by AFTRS (Australian Film Television and Radio School). This workshop is being presented by Arts OutWest and funded by Arts NSW. Dates: 18, 19, 20 January

Venue: Oberon Community Centre, next to the library; Time: 9am-5pm; Ages: 13-24 years. This is a wonderful opportunity for young people in the Oberon, Lithgow or Bathurst area to learn how to present and design their own radio show. On the Friday, participants are being driven to Bathurst in a mini bus for a radio station tour and also a chance to record some of their own material! This course is also run is Sydney and usually costs a couple of hundred dollars. Places are limited.

For bookings or further info please call or email Zoe on M: 0434 368 033 or Email: zrodwell@yahoo.com.au

So have you made a resolution or two? Were they to do with writing? If you want to keep your writing in shape then, like anything else, try to keep practising. Here's a great writing exercise to get you thinking and...practising. This is a good one for beginners to experienced writers:

Write a story (as long or as short as you like) with these three things:

1. Conflict

2. Climax

3. Resolution

So set up your characters and the problem, then have a confrontation/climax and then resolve it all. For example, you could have two robots trying to impress their owner, they each play mean tricks and have a huge fight, one robot could win or the owner could discover their antics and sack them - whatever! It's up to you - get to it and have fun!

Just letting you know the Central West Writers' Centre closes from 22 December and reopens for a fantastic program of events during the National Year of Reading 2012 from Monday 16 January.

For upcoming author visits and workshops check out our events page, visit the page for young writers too as there is heaps happening during the holidays, subscribe to our newsletter and get all the details of events in the New Year.

In the meantime have a great reading and writing festive season! See you in 2012!

PS. Hope you like this idea for a Christmas Tree (pictured).