Booked for literary greatness

In 2020, Guido Melo took his emerging writing career to the next level by enrolling in the Diploma of Professional Writing and Editing CUA50118* at Victoria University. He is now an esteemed author and panelist based in Naarm (Melbourne), and has won poetry awards and short-story writing competitions.

He continues to refine his craft in the Bachelor of Arts (Writing & Digital Media) at Victoria University.

I only started to write about five years ago. I realised that if I wanted to take my craft to another level this Diploma was my best chance to achieve that.

"I found the perfect environment to thrive as a student at VU. I was graced with spacious top-grade facilities and classrooms. The teachers were knowledgeable, and the program was interconnected, making it easier for me as a student to be on top of my subjects at all times. I truly loved watching my craft improving every week.

"During my first year, I was published by SBS Voices, ABC and Cordite Poetry, and became a columnist for Negrê, a Brazilian online newspaper. I was also invited to join Sweatshop, a collective for writers of colour based in Western Sydney.

"My favourite subjects were Myth, Advanced Fiction and Creative Non-Fiction. One of my works developed in the Advanced Fiction class was later published in the Better Read than Dead Writing Anthology 2020, a competition by Better Read Books which is based in Newtown, Sydney.

"The most valuable thing I got out of my studies were writing structure, having an outlet to workshop my pieces and a greater understanding of grammatical rules.”

Recently, Guido’s work has been published in Peril Magazine and he was on the panel for the Fitzroy Writers Festival, Emerging Writers Festival and Melbourne Writers Festival.

Nowadays I hope to learn as much as I can in the Bachelor of Arts (Writing & Digital Media) at Victoria University. I want to keep getting published and hope to get a book deal to launch my memoir soon. I would like to work as a writer in different mediums, such as prose, podcasts, script writing, and facilitate TED talk-style workshops.

See Guido’s list of publications

Guido thanks his teachers Tracey Rolfe, Susannah Farrow, Mike Slusher and Morgan Fallon for their dedicated support and guidance.

*Course no longer offered.