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

Be afraid!!! Tonight - 8 September at 10pm ABC1 Jennifer Byrne Presents: Monsters and Bloodsuckers. Discover the world of vampires, werewolves and reanimated flesh and the books that have lived in our nightmares; their origins in ancient folk-tales through to the recent vampire explosion in the bestsellers lists; with fantastic special guests including Catherine Jinks (a recent visitor to Orange now researching for her latest novel), Will Elliott, Leigh Blackmore and Tara Moss. Don't miss this sinister special! This episode will be repeated on ABC2 Sunday September 13th at 7pm.

ABC2 are broadcasting a one-hour highlight package of the Australian Poetry Slam 08 Grand Final at 10:30pm on Sunday March 15. The Grand Final was held at the Sydney Opera House in early December 2008. For those without access to digital television, there are also selected highlights still online at http://www.abc.net.au/poetryslam . The Australian Poetry Slam is run through State libraries across the country and a regional heat was held last September at Orange City Library.

Doors open to the public tonight for a Bush Slam as part of filming for a new ABC television series hosted by HG Nelson. ABC TV and Freehand Productions are taking two different poets to six rural towns to explore the culture, the beauty, the folklore and the humour. The other towns featured will be Lightning Ridge (NSW), Corryong (VIC), Yarrabah (QLD), Blinman (SA) and Stanley (TAS). Each poet is given just three days to capture the essence of the town and its people in verse. At the end of three days, the poets entertain the town in a live head-to-head poetry slam hosted by HG, with the locals deciding the winner. Doors open to the public tonight at the Japanese Gardens in Cowra from 5.30 pm and the wet weather venue is the Railway Hotel. There is a gold coin donation entry fee and be early to get a seat. Bush Slam will screen on ABC TV later this year. Read more about it in today's Cowra Guardian: http://cowra.yourguide.com.au/news/local/news/general/cowra-fuels-word-feast/1449729.aspx#