Deep Reading with Emily Maguire

Energise your writing and deepen your critical reading with Emily Maguire, award-winning author of seven novels and three non-fiction books. This 10-week course will develop your writing craft through close reading and applied writing practice.

Applications now closed
Delivery: Online
Fees: $1550 or $1450 for Varuna alumni. Payment terms are negotiable if you cannot pay the whole fee upfront
Places: 8 participants will be selected for this class (small group)

By closely reading a variety of fiction texts, participants in this course will explore the craft at work beneath the surface: how writers build scenes, control pace, handle point of view and make stylistic choices that bring their work to life.
Weekly readings and discussions will be paired with writing exercises designed to hone your craft, expand your writing toolkit and re-energise your writing practice.
This is a small group program for 8 participants.
Week 1 — What Does it Mean to Read Like a Writer?
- Reading for pleasure vs. reading for craft
- The idea of the text as a made object
- Noticing choices vs judging merit
Week 2 — Character on the Page
- Character revealed through action, choice, contradiction
- Interior vs. exterior characterisation
- Specificity and implication
Week 3 — Point of View and Narrative Distance
- Ist, 2nd and all of the 3rds
- Narrative distance and psychic access
- Reliability and limitation
Week 4 — Voice and Style
- Voice vs. style
- Syntax, rhythm, diction and lexicon
- Consistency and strategic variation
Week 5 — Dialogue
- Dialogue as action
- Subtext and omission
- Tagging, beats and white space
Week 6 — Scene Structure and Momentum
- Scene goals, conflict and change
- Micro-structure within scenes
- Transitions and pacing
Week 7 — Plot, Pattern and Narrative Shape
- Plot vs. story
- Causality and escalation
- Pattern, repetition, and variation
Week 8 — Setting, World and Sensory Detail
- Setting as active force
- Sensory specificity
- Place and psychology
Week 9 — Revision: Reading Your Own Work Like a Writer
- Diagnostic reading vs. line editing
- Macro vs. micro revision
- Asking the right questions of a draft
Week 10 — Building a Lifelong Practice of Reading to Write
- Developing a personal reading practice
- Keeping a reading notebook
- Reading across genres and traditions
Emily Maguire is the author of seven novels and three non-fiction books. Her novel An Isolated Incident was shortlisted for the Stella Prize and the Miles Franklin Literary Award, and her 2022 book Love Objects was shortlisted for the ABIA Literary Fiction Book of the Year.
Her latest novel Rapture won the 2025 Queensland Literary Award for Fiction and the ARA Historical Novel Prize Reader’s Choice Award, and was longlisted for the Stella Prize and the Indie Book Award for Fiction and shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Fiction and the ABIA Literary Fiction Book of the Year. Emily was the 2018/2019 Writer-in-Residence at the Charles Perkins Centre at the University of Sydney and the 2023 HC Coombs Creative Arts Fellow at the Australian National University. She works as a teacher and mentor to emerging writers.
Entry to this course is by application. Writers will be selected based on the creative potential of their work, commitment to craft, openness to collaborating with peers and the balance in the group.
Course fees are $1550 or $1450 for Varuna alumni. Payment terms are negotiable if you cannot pay the whole fee upfront.
Applications close at 5pm on Monday 7 September 2026. All applicants will be notified of the outcome of their submission by 21 September.
Please refer to Varuna’s general submission guidelines for any questions on formatting your work.
Feel free to call 02 4782 5674 or email amy@varuna.com.au to discuss your application.