Editors - can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em. In this ninety minute truce, editors put down their red pens and writers shelve their laptops to discuss professional co-dependence. Includes tips for writers on dealing with hyper-caffeinated deadline junkies, and for editors, massaging awful prose into publishable work without damaging tender egos.

Tired? Chances are you're suffering from ‘Artistic Fatigue.’ Come to the NYWF doctor's surgery, check in with a professional and give your creative practice some long-overdue one-on-one attention. Monday: free and friendly personal help from writer and Overland reviews editor Rjurik Davidson on writing short stories - bring a short story along for some one-on-one feedback.

Had enough of discussing/comparing/analysing/consuming writing? Shed that critic for a day to let your inner wordsmith roam wild with this spontaneous free-writing workshop. Using a series of prompted fast-flow, process-writing activities you'll soon be rambling like you've never rambled before!

The benefits of imaginary friends are endless. Unfortunately these close companions tend to die out after reaching puberty. Writers, however, tend to have many imaginary friends, they call them “characters”. This workshop will equip you with the tools to develop and sustain imaginary friendships.

Calling all writers, musos, stand-up comics and bag pipe kings. Got something new and hot to share with the rest of the world? The Matinee Open Mic sessions are your chance to show us what you're made of. Be bold. Be daring. Grab that mic and do what you will.

Calling all writers, musos, stand-up comics and bag pipe kings. Got something new and hot to share with the rest of the world? The Matinee Open Mic sessions are your chance to show us what you're made of. Be bold. Be daring. Grab that mic and do what you will.

Calling all writers, musos, stand-up comics and bag pipe kings. Got something new and hot to share with the rest of the world? The Matinee Open Mic sessions are your chance to show us what you're made of. Be bold. Be daring. Grab that mic and do what you will.

Calling all writers, musos, stand-up comics and bag pipe kings. Got something new and hot to share with the rest of the world? The Matinee Open Mic sessions are your chance to show us what you're made of. Be bold. Be daring. Grab that mic and do what you will.

See yourself in print! Join Voiceworks, Vibewire, Farrago and Youth Central to create an entire print & online magazine at the festival. It's collaboration in the extreme with just 5 days to write, edit, illustrate, layout, publish and distribute. This intro session outlines the process and will have you out there generating content in no time.

So, you say you want to be a writer/editor? We’ve got three words: present perfect continuous. Learn the basics of your own language PLUS proofreaders marks. Help the Voiceworks Editorial Committee edit work for the NYWF 08 mini-magazine Nanoworks. And watch as innocently wonkish debates over semi-colons escalate into brutal carnage.

The elusive lesser-spotted short story: where to find inspiration, which narrative devices to use, and how to end 'em. A range of writing exercises will be offered, inspiring you to create some kicking fiction for Nanoworks – the NYWF 08 mini-mag.

Amy Hill, JJ De Ceglie, Ben Dynan and Aaron Mannion bring new works to share and be shared by one and all. Come hear some new material and offer your bodies as sounding boards. If you have new writing or performance material you'd like to try out, email amy.nywf@gmail.com.

How much bang can you fit into a short fiction buck? Size doesn’t matter in this big reading from smaller pieces. Listen in as emerging and established short fiction writers share their work.

For some authors, writing good characters means going to bed with, and waking up next to, the fictional people in your head. Novelists talk about the relationships they have with their characters: where they come from, what they're like, and how to get rid of them when their time is up!

If you're under 18, listen up - this is your official introduction to the festival! Come find out what's going down with the program and the workshop series, and get hooked up with a mentor to be your partner in literati crime. Email amy.nywf@gmail.com for more.