HIDDEN NERVE '26 CALL FOR EOI
Schedule
Tue, 17 Feb, 2026 at 02:15 pm to Wed, 18 Feb, 2026 at 01:45 pm
UTC+11:00Location
Australia | Canberra, CT
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CALL FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST
Expressions of Interest are now open for Hidden Nerve 2026, MARION’s flagship year-long prose program. Hidden Nerve is designed for writers who are serious about their craft, including established and professional writers seeking renewed perspective, and deeper craft insight.
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DEADLINE FOR EOIs Wednesday 18 February
PROGRAM COMMENCES: Wednesday 4 March
LOCATION: online via zoom
ABOUT HIDDEN NERVE
How to choose the perfect word?
How to make a sentence sit up and sing?
What do gestures tell a reader about a character and the predicament that they are in?
Through this online program, comprising 8 x 90-minute monthly sessions, participants will learn from some of the most exciting Australian writers working today about the art of writing prose. Topics include everything from word choice and how sentences work, to illuminating character and building dramatic tension through gesture, and more.
Hidden Nerve 2026 will be delivered by a range of writers, including prolific authors of significance, as well as writers and thinkers with unique perspectives.
Now in its fifth year, the program has become a space where writers come together to explore technique and challenge assumptions. Across two thematic terms, participants engage in a curated series of sessions. Moving from the architecture of story to its emotional core, the program explores structure, suspense, voice, atmosphere, setting, and emotional depth, offering fresh approaches even to writers with long-established practices.
A defining feature of Hidden Nerve is the quality of the cohort itself. This year, we’re delighted to welcome guest facilitator Beejay Silcox, who will join the Hidden Nerve cohort and lead an accompanying interview series on the MARION Journal, The Pulse Papers.
Those attending Hidden Nerve may wish to read the following texts, the first of which inspired the program’s design:
Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose (2006)
Reading Like an Australian Writer, edited by Belinda Castles (2021)
Term 1 features: Cadance Bell, Hayley Scrivenor, Michael Brissenden, and Angie Faye Martin
Term 2 features: Rhett Davis, Isobelle Carmody, Alice Pung, and Omar Musa
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Where is it happening?
Australia, 78 Alinga St, City ACT 2601, Australia, CanberraEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
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