It was a pleasure to judge this year's AWR contest. It's my second year representing Elwood Writers as one of the judges, and such an honour to read all the contributions. In two years, the quality of entries just keeps rising. Congratulations to editor D Ferrara on a short-list full of surprises and containing something … Continue reading Winner of 2026 American Writers Review Contest
Category: anthologies
Join the 2026 AWR Contest: ‘The Truth Will Set You Free’
Last year, on behalf of Elwood Writers, Barry Lee Thompson and I had the pleasure of judging submissions to the American Writers Review (AWR) annual literary contest. The editor of San Fedele Press, D Ferrara, themed the 2025 entries to both contest and anthology as ‘Buyers’ Remorse’. Writers these days are encouraged to be good literary citizens, … Continue reading Join the 2026 AWR Contest: ‘The Truth Will Set You Free’
Stories, Songs and a Post Office in Harlem
December 2025 marked the fifth anniversary of Every Second Tuesday, the anthology released by Elwood Writers in 2020. In the middle of a wild Melbourne lockdown, my writing group launched its book via an online event with Readings books. One story of mine included was a personal essay, 'The White Woman’, written after a visit to … Continue reading Stories, Songs and a Post Office in Harlem
The Writing Group
As you might know, my writing group Elwood Writers is an active and committed cohort of four. Member, Barry Lee Thompson, recently wrote about the group on The Writing Life, a blog hosted by Lee Kofman, author of fiction and non-fiction books. She is a superlative teacher - among her other talents - to both … Continue reading The Writing Group
Ethics in Memoir
As part of the Elwood Writers' anthology launch, host Lee Kofman had prepared a question in advance for me on the ethics of writing about one's family. ‘Your memoirs in this collection feature various family members,' the question went, 'What are your ethical challenges when writing about others and how do you deal with them?’ … Continue reading Ethics in Memoir
An Invitation to the Launch
As promised! Elwood Writers' anthology Every Second Tuesday is about to hit the shelves, and we'd love you to join us online as Lee Kofman launches the book with Readings on Wednesday 9 December at 6:30pm (AEST). This is a free event, though booking is required in order to receive the meeting link on the … Continue reading An Invitation to the Launch
The Online Launch
Troglodyte that I am, I resisted the idea of an online launch for the new anthology Every Second Tuesday from Elwood Writers https://elwoodwriters.com (EW). In fact, I’ve resisted FaceTime ‘anything’ for that matter. When it comes to books and launches, I assumed I'd miss the buzz of a real launch, as when EW member Jennifer Bryce … Continue reading The Online Launch
Upcoming Anthology from Elwood Writers
‘But if a book has brought you from one place to another, so that you see something you didn’t see before, you’ve arrived at another point.’ James Baldwin, 1984. Our writing group, Elwood Writers, is slated to release its anthology this November. Every Second Tuesday is a collection of fiction, memoir and poetry drawn from … Continue reading Upcoming Anthology from Elwood Writers
WRITINGS AND MUSINGS OF MARGARET MCCAFFREY 