The 2012 NSW LitLink Varuna program, funded by Arts NSW, provides NSW writers living outside Sydney with professional development and the opportunity to live and work within a unique community of writers. Submitted manuscripts may be fiction or non-fiction prose, and in any narrative genre, such as literary fiction and non-fiction, young adult or junior fiction, travel writing, and family memoir.

Varuna, the Writers' House, seeks to identify and develop the best new Australian writing. It provides writers with a residential retreat, professional development and pathways to publication.

Applications open on 1 May 2012 and close on 31 May 2012. All entries must be delivered electronically by 5pm on 31 May. The recipients of the LitLink Varuna Fellowships will be posted on Varuna's website on Monday 2nd July 2012. Shortlisted applicants for the Byron Bay Writers Festival/Varuna LitLink Unpublished Manuscript Award will also be posted on the Varuna website, as well as the Byron Bay Writers Festival website, on 2 July 2012.

The NSW LitLink Varuna residency period is 20 August to 3 September 2012. For all the details go to the Varuna website: www.varuna.com.au

http://varuna.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=216:litlink-guidelines-2012&catid=48:what-we-offer-writers

Scribe will be publishing another anthology of short stories, New Australian Stories 2.0, again edited by fiction acquisitions editor, Aviva Tuffield. New Australian Stories 2.0 will be published in February 2011. The anthology will feature established stars of the short-story firmament alongside new and emerging ones. Scribe are collaborating with two partners: Varuna, the Writers' House, will be running the Varuna/NAS national short story competition, with the winners (judged by Peter Bishop, Cate Kennedy and Aviva Tuffield) to be published in New Australian Stories 2.0, and/or to be awarded a week-long residency at Varuna to work with Cate Kennedy, one of Australia's finest writers of short stories. Submissions to the Varuna/NAS competition open on 1 June and close on 30 June. Visit the Varuna website for more details: www.varuna.com.au. And they are teaming up with the Ned Kelly Awards to publish the winner of the S.D. Harvey Short Story Award in New Australian Stories 2.0. This award was established in 2009 in honour of Sandra Harvey, a respected journalist who worked both for the Sydney Morning Herald and the ABC's Four Corners program, and was fearless in her pursuit of the truth. The prize money for the S.D. Harvey Short Story Award will be in excess of $1000. Applications for the S.D. Harvey Award close on 31 May. For more information about entering the award, go to: www.nedkellyawards.com

Arts NSW generously funds the NSW LitLink Program – with four exciting professional development opportunities for writers living outside Sydney. These programs link New South Wales' unique network of regional Writers' Centres – Northern Rivers, New England, Hunter, Central West, South Coast, Riverina (Booranga) and Blue Mountains (Varuna). The NSW Litlink Varuna Writing program uses and extends the resources of Varuna, the Writers' House, Australia's national centre for residencies and writing programs. In 2010, the following programs are available exclusively to writers living in regional NSW:

NSW LitLink Varuna Residencies (3 places) NSW LitLink Full Manuscript Readings and Consultations (8 places) Byron Bay Writers' Festival/Varuna LitLink Unpublished Manuscript Awards (3 places) Byron Bay Writers' Festival/Varuna LitLink Picaro Poetry Publication (1 place) Applications for NSW LitLink programs close on March 31.

Full information: http://varuna.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&catid=48%3Awhat-we-offer-writers&id=96%3Alitlink&Itemid=30

Join in a one-day forum for writers who want to take their work from the page to the screen, featuring top names from the Australian film and TV industry: Producer Margaret Fink (Candy, My Brilliant Career), writer/director Nick Parsons (Dead Heart), writer/producer David Roach (Beneath Hill 60, Young Einstein), agent Jane Cameron (Camerons Management); plus Airlie Lawson (Hachette); Martha Coleman (Screen Australia); Amanda Higgs (ABC Head of Drama); Caterina De Nave (SBS Drama and Comedy); Stephen Liddell and Bob Barton (Ink to Screen); writers Phillip Gwynne (Australian Rules) & Denise Young (Last Ride). Experienced industry players, including David Stratton (At The Movies), actor Shane Porteous and writer Charlotte Wood, will chair the sessions, guiding you through the development of film and TV scripts from first pitch to the red carpet. Cost: $150 for NSW Writers' Centre members (includes morning tea/lunch/afternoon tea) Time: 10:00am to 5.00pm - 2nd November at Carrington Hotel, Katoomba, Limited places - please book your place by contacting Varuna, The Writers' House Ph: 0247 825674 and for a full program & booking details go to www.varuna.com.au