The 28th annual conference of the Australasian Association of Writing Programs is hosted by the University of Canberra’s Centre for Creative and Cultural Research.
The event will be held at the University's Inspire Centre, Building 25, on campus. This is Ngunnawal Country; we acknowledge with gratitude that we have been welcomed to walk on this unceded land, and pay our respects to their elders, past and present, and emerging.
The 2023 conference runs from Wednesday 29 November to Friday 1 December 2023. It features writers from all over the world, presenting their work focussed on the theme: We Need to Talk: issues that demand personal, social and institutional attention.
It is a low-carbon conference; there will not be a paper program provided, and we encourage all delegates to consider their carbon footprint as they prepare to travel to Canberra for the conference.
Please note: UC is a tobacco and smoke-free University. This means that the sale and use of tobacco products is prohibited on the campus.
Presenters, please note that presentations are strictly 15 minutes per person – this allows time for questions, which is an important part of our need to talk. Please arrive for your presentation ten minutes early, to allow time for technical checks and bring your power point on a USB stick. Please do not attend if you are feeling unwell.
Postgraduate Prizes
To reward Postgraduate excellence in scholarly practice, the AAWP Executive is awarding two prizes for papers presented at the conference this year:
-Best academic Postgraduate paper
-Best creative/hybrid Postgraduate paper
Details attached here.
Delegates, please make sure your AAWP membership is up to date; see here for details.
The Conference has now concluded
Thankyou to all presenters and attendees for coming to talk at this year's annual writing conference.
Photos taken by Katie Hayne.
We Need to Talk
Delegates have submitted proposals for conference papers, panels, or performances that focus on issues that demand personal, social and institutional attention; many of these are collaborative, dialogic, improvisational, and/or performative.
The following list sets out examples of the topics that will be addressed during the conference:
Orality – e.g.
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Spoken word forms
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Writing/improvising for performance
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Song / chant
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Script/screenplay
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Audio and transdisciplinary storytelling modes
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Yarning Circles
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Podcasts
Poetry – e.g.
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Performance poetry
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Transformative practice
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Collaborative work
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Ecopoetry
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Poetry of resistance
Essay – e.g.
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Intimacy
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Lyrical or dialogic essay
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Writing as conversation, or collaboration
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Reading as intimacy
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Manifesto / diatribe / rant
Sustainability – e.g.
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The environment and living in the more-than-human world
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Traditional ways of knowing, being and storying
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Economic and political engagement in writing/by writers
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Object writing
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Alternate knowledge systems
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Umwelt
Queering Writing – e.g.
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Decentred and diverse voices
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Indigenous stories
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Neglected art forms
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Queering forms
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AI / Chat GPT – implications, limitations, possibilities
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Gatekeeping
Arts/Health – e.g.
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Writing, reading, and wellbeing
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Transdisciplinary practice for health
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Creative interventions and trauma
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Working beyond the academy (outreach, communicating research)
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Silences in academia
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Care for the author
(or other topics, though we do ask that you aim to accommodate the theme of the conference in your work)
Abstract submissions have closed.
Queries to jen.webb@canberra.edu.au, or owen.bullock@canberra.edu.au
NB: While everyone is welcome to attend the conference, only current AAWP members are eligible to present. You can find membership details, prices, and online sign-up options here.