Breaking News
- IF Maitland Writers Festival is on from 21 October to 30 October 2022. The Family Fun day will be on Sunday 23 October in Sun Street — right outside our studio! We're having a celebration of Adventure Unlocked authors at 1pm, followed by a Mythical Magical Creative Writing Workshop from 2pm - 4pm. Visit the IF Maitland website for details.
Happy Publication Day!
Our new anthology is here. Woo hoo! Congratulations to all the young writers who worked so hard to make this possible. Nice work, gang!
Adventure Unlocked
Unlock a world of adventure with this wild and wonderful collection of stories written and edited by our talented kids – with a little help from author Karen Hughes. From time travel to space diaries, dragon quests to friendly zombies, there’s something in here for everyone!
‘I wish I had an imagination like this.’ – Lewis Carroll
Visit our bookshop
For all the kids who wanted to see our local superstar, Elsa, singing 'Let It Go'. Next time you watch Frozen, see if you can pick out the elements of the Hero's Journey that we talk about when we are plotting a traditional fantasy quest.
Read Our Stories
Welcome to the first edition of our newspaper
Our Talented Kids are not only fabulous story writers, playwrights and poets, they are also professional journalists with a nose…
Air
by Chloe Patron Wind whistles through my hair,as we play in the yard.The flying kite freezes midair,when the wind catches…
The Lantern
By Evie Burns The lantern flickered as the boys sat there in the dark. The wind howled fiercely, and snow…
The Green Amulet
By Marley Krishnan I’ve always marvelled at my pet. But my pet is not a cat or a dog, it’s…
The Three Little Pigs (but the big bad wolf is polite and playful)
By Edru Smit Long, long ago, around the time when people believed that the earth was in the middle of…
Once there were dragons
By Isla Connolly PAGE 1/3 I hobbled up the hill, scraping my hands as I hoisted myself onwards. I had…
Sharing the magic of words
Karen Hughes is the author of the popular Kalika Magic series for kids 9+, exploring themes of courage, adventure, and the power of the imagination. Karen grew up on a cattle station on the Liverpool Plains, where she spent her childhood climbing trees, riding horses, and reading Narnia books. She attended a primary school with only six pupils, before being packed off to boarding school at age twelve. Karen has been a lawyer, a herbalist and a web designer, but being an author is her favourite job. She is currently writing her fifth book and completing her PhD in English.
Supported by the NSW Government through Create NSW.