Tessa Piper shares the incredible story behind her winning SBS Emerging Writers' Competition entry, and how she mustered the courage to share the ‘heaviest of secrets’. Find out why judge Alice Pung described Tessa’s story as 'like a punch to the face and guts with a stolen, diamond-studded glove'. Also joining her is competition runner up Monikka Eliah, who reveals how digging deep took her writing to new places.

The winning competition entry that took 20 years to write

How do you write about mental health and class in a way that is tempered by time but still raw? Should you even go there? SBS Writers' Competition highly commended winners Gemma Tamock, Sidney Norris and Alexander Burton discuss how the competition theme of 'emergence' led them to unpack real life experiences in a way that was both cathartic and compelling.

Writing from pain: the whys and the hows

In a special episode of The New Writer's Room, listen to an exclusive stream of our memoir panel from Sydney Writers' Festival. Co-hosted by Sarah Malik and Benjamin Law, the panel, called 'What If My Mum Reads This?', discusses the perils and pitfalls of using your life as a literary canvas. Listeners will also hear from SBS Emerging Writers' Competition alumni Cat Yen, Alana Hicks and Jackie Bailey. Yen and Hicks are the 2021 and 2020 competition winners, respectively, while Bailey's shortlisted entry was developed into her debut novel The Eulogy.

Listen to our Sydney Writers' Festival panel, 'What If My Mum Reads This?'

The latest episode of The New Writer’s Room looks at what it’s like being published in a book and the writer-editor relationship. Listeners will hear from Emily Hart, an editor at publisher Hardie Grant, and Nancy Huang, a 2021 SBS Emerging Writers’ Competition entrant whose memoir piece, ‘Mini Moke’, was featured in Between Two Worlds: 30 Power Voices from the SBS Emerging Writers’ Competition.

The New Writer's Room: Being published and the writer-editor relationship

In this episode of The New Writer's Room, author and SBS Emerging Writers' Competition judge Alice Pung shares her best advice for competition hopefuls and speaks to Caitlin and Sarah about how she started her writing career.

Alice Pung: 'My published output is a small fraction of what I write'

In the first episode of season two of The New Writer's Room, Caitlin and Sarah speak to Australian author and SBS Emerging Writers' Competition judge Christos Tsiolkas about his creative process and his best pieces of advice for aspiring writers.

Christos Tsiolkas: The act of writing itself teaches you how to write

The New Writer's Room is back for its second season. If you're thinking of entering the 2022 SBS Emerging Writers' Competition, consider this your cheat sheet. You will hear from our competition judges Christos Tsiolkas and Alice Pung, and some of the best pieces of advice to inspire you to write your story.

Teaser: The New Writer's Room Season 2

In this special NAIDOC edition of the New Writer's Room exploring 'Literature as Resistance', Dr Larissa Behrendt and Jazz Money discuss how literature can be used to re-centre Black experiences, capture forgotten histories, assert sovereignty, and how writing and truth telling is such a vital part of their work. The episode will also take a deep dive into their latest literary works, Dr Behrendt's After Story and Jazz Money's how to make a basket, and features a special poetry reading from Money.

The New Writer's Room: Dr Larissa Behrendt and Jazz Money

The Sydney Writers' Festival is back for another year with the festival theme 'Change My Mind'. Join The New Writer's Room co-hosts Caitlin and Sarah as they discuss their top picks from the program. In partnership with the Sydney Writers' Festival.

The New Writer's Room Episode 12: Our picks of the 2022 Sydney Writers' Festival

In this episode of The New Writer's Room, Caitlin Chang is joined by Candice Chung and Sarah Malik to discuss their favourite books of the year. Listen here: https://pod.fo/e/fd14e Consider this your holiday reading list: 7 ½ by Christos Tsiolkas, Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner, One Hundred Days by Alice Pung, The Mother Wound by Amani Haydar, No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood, She Is Haunted by Paige Clark, The Republic of Motherhood by Liz Berry, Brown Baby by Nikesh Shuka, The Luminous Solution by Charlotte Wood, A Swim in the Pond In the Rain by George Saunders, Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason, and The Pisces by Melissa Broder.

The New Writer's Room Episode 11: Our favourite books of 2021

In this episode of The New Writer's Room, host Caitlin Chang speaks to the winner of the SBS Emerging Writers' Competition, Cat Yen, and joint runners up Maya Hodge and Arky Michael. They share what it felt like hearing the news they had won, putting their stories out there for the world to read, and where they get their inspiration to write.

The New Writer's Room Episode 10: Meet the winners of the SBS Emerging Writers' Competition

In this episode of The New Writer's Room, host Caitlin Chang is joined by writer, journalist and presenter, Sarah Malik for a debrief of the SBS Emerging Writer's Competition. Ahead of the winner's announcement, they will discuss their favourite interpretations of the theme Between Two Worlds, and give some advice for those thinking about entering the competition next year.

The New Writer's Room Episode 9: Between Two Worlds

In this special episode Caitlin and Candice speak to journalist and SBS Emerging Writers’ Competition judge Behrouz Boochani. The author of 'No Friend but The Mountains' shares his thoughts on this year’s competition theme, Between Two Worlds, and the power in telling your own story.

The New Writer's Room Episode 8: Behrouz Boochani

You’re being published – now what? Amy Duong, one of the highly commended entries from the 2020 SBS Emerging Writers’ Competition speaks to Caitlin and Candice about the experience of being published in our first ever SBS anthology 'Roots: Home is Who We Are'.

The New Writer's Room Episode 7: Amy Duong

Stand-up comedian and writer Cyrus Bezyan talks to Caitlin and Candice about finding humour in the tough childhood moments, and the time it takes to write about them.

The New Writer's Room Episode 6: Cyrus Bezyan

Writer Tyree Barnette speaks to Caitlin and Candice about how writing about food can be a lens to culture, family and otherness.

The New Writer's Room Episode 5: Tyree Barnette

In this episode, Caitlin and Candice speak to community worker and SBS Voices writer Nadine Chemali about writing stories that bring characters to life.

The New Writer's Room Episode 4: Nadine Chemali

In this episode Caitlin and Candice speak to Jessie Tu, author of 'A Lonely Girl Is A Dangerous Thing' about writing about desire and intimacy.

The New Writer's Room Episode 3: Jessie Tu

Caitlin and Candice speak to Alana Hicks, winner of the 2020 SBS Emerging Writers' Competition. She reads an excerpt of her winning entry, reveals her tips for entering the competition, and discusses what it means to be a "cultural in-betweener".

The New Writer's Room Episode 2: Alana Hicks

In this first episode award-winning Wiradjuri author, Tara June Winch speaks to hosts Caitlin Chang and Candice Chung about the importance of creative partnerships and how to develop your writing craft.

The New Writer's Room Episode 1: Tara June Winch

Good writing begins with questions. What does it take to write a good story? How do you get your readers to connect with a character? Each week, co-hosts Caitlin Chang and Candice Chung will speak to writers and authors all about storytelling, and hopefully inspire you to get writing.

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