Coming up in 2026
Join us for our special events in 2026. All sessions held in Newstead Arts Hub (8A Tivey St, Newstead) unless stated otherwise. All welcome. Please book to help with catering and venue set-up.
The Writing Life with Deborah Wardle
Friday 24 April 2026, 6-7.30pm
In April, Newstead Writers will host Dr Deborah Wardle as part of our continuing series The Writing Life. Deborah’s writing has explored climate fiction’s ways of ‘storying with groundwater’ in her scholarly book, Subterranean Imaginaries and Groundwater Narratives (Routledge, 2024). Her short fiction has been published in the Big Issue, Palliative Care Australia, and Feral Feminism (Canada) and her short story, “Groundwater” was selected for On this Ground: Best Australian Nature Writing (2025).
Deborah has taught creative writing at RMIT and University of Melbourne, and now teaches a short course in New Nature Writing at the Newstead Arts Hub. She was an editor of the very successful Bloomsbury publication, A to Z of Creative Writing Methods (2023). She brings innovation and kindness to her teaching and learning about creative writing. For more https://deborahwardle.com
$10 Arts Hub members, $12 non-members
The Writing Life with Christie Nieman
Friday 28 August 2026, 6-7.30pm
Christie Nieman is an award-winning Australian novelist and essayist, living on Dja Dja Wurrung country. Her novel, Where We Begin, was shortlisted for both the NSW and Victorian Premier’s Literary Award, and won a Davitt Award and the Children’s Book Council of Australia Honour Book of the Year Award.
Her short fiction, essays, and articles have featured in Meanjin, Overland, the Sydney Review of Books, The Age, and The Guardian, as well as in a number of anthologies. She has a PhD in Creative Writing and Ecocriticism and teaches Creative Writing at the University of Melbourne. She was lucky enough to be one of the 2024-25 State Library of Victoria Creative Fellows. For more see: christienieman.com
She is also a parent, partner, and keeper of chickens.
$10 Arts Hub members, $12 non-members
The Writing Life with Janice Simpson
Friday 24 October 2026, 6-7.30pm
Janice Simpson PhD lives in Maryborough, a landscape for wildlife and thinking.
Janice has won awards for her work and has been published in a range of magazines. Her doctoral research produced new ways of writing lyric nonfiction. Her content focused on infant adoption in Australia.
She coordinates Words in Winter Central Goldfields which brings important conversations to town as part of the three-day annual festival as well as stand-alone events.
Janice is a former national convenor of Sisters in Crime. She is working on her fourth crime novel featuring detective characters Angela Micelli and Brendan O’Leary. For more see: https://www.janicesimpson.com.au/
$10 Arts Hub members, $12 non-members
Writers Read, Friday 27 November 2026, 6-7.30pm
Writers Read is an invitation to read something you have written, perhaps at a Newstead Writers ‘Shut Up And Write’ monthly session, or elsewhere in your writing life. Poetry, prose, experimental – any form but you will only have three minutes!
Haven’t read out loud before? This will be a super-supportive environment to take the plunge. Or perhaps you are an old hand at reading your work? This event is for you too!
Please let us know you are coming by getting your free ticket at here. $10 donation at the door to cover food and venue.
(Image: Jeff James unsplash.com)
Past events
Writers Read – Friday 28 November 2025, 6-7.30pm
Writers Read is an invitation to read something you have written, perhaps at a Newstead Writers ‘Shut Up and Write’ monthly session, or elsewhere in your writing life. Poetry, prose, experimental – any form but you will only have three minutes!
Haven’t read out loud before? This will be a super-supportive environment to take the plunge. Or perhaps you are an old hand at reading your work? This event is for you too!
Please let us know you are coming by getting your free ticket at Humanitix. $10 donation at the door to cover food and venue.
And don’t forget our last Shut Up and Write session for 2025 is 1-5pm Friday 28 November at the Newstead Arts Hub, 8A Tivey Street, Newstead.
(Image: Rainier Ridao unsplash.com)
The Writing Life with Cate Kennedy
Friday 26 September 2025, 6-7.30pm
Cate Kennedy has published across genres in poetry, non-fiction and fiction, but is best known for her first love: short stories. Cate won the inaugural Scarlet Stiletto Award in 1993. Her work has been published internationally and her two collections, Dark Roots and Like a House on Fire are teaching texts on the Victorian School syllabus. Cate has also published a novel, a travel memoir and three collections of poetry. She is the recipient of the Victorian Premier’s Prize for Poetry and the People’s Choice Award for the NSW Premier’s Prize. Cate is working on a screenplay, poetry and a new collection of stories.
The Writing Life – with Bonny Cassidy
Friday 23 May 2025, 6-7.30pm
Dr Bonny Cassidy is the author of three books of poetry, including Chatelaine (Giramondo, 2017), shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards. Her first book of nonfiction, Monument (Giramondo, 2024) has been critically acclaimed and has been shortlisted for the Queensland Literary Awards and Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards. After 15 years as an academic and researcher in Creative Writing and Australian Literature, Bonny now studies Psychology and is establishing a business combining psychotherapy and writing retreats. She lives in the forest on Dja Dja Wurrung Country. For more see – bonnycassidy.com, @bonnycassidy
The Writing Life – with Carmel Bird
Friday 28 March, 6-7.30pm
Carmel Bird, having originated in Tasmania, now lives and writes in Castlemaine. She says writing and living are to her more or less one and the same. She has published over forty books, mainly novels and short stories. Most of the stories in her recent collection, Love Letter to Lola, concentrate on the question of extinction of species. Her most recent novel, Field of Poppies, is set in a town very like Castlemaine. Her website is https://carmelbird.com/
Newstead Writers 