WORKSHOPS AND TEACHING
Rebekah is an experienced teacher of creative writing and sought-after workshop facilitator.
She specialises in teaching educators and writers how to understand and honour subconscious processes in creative writing, particularly when giving and receiving writing feedback.
Rebekah has designed and delivered professional development seminars for educators in creative process and writing, and taught creative writing in schools, libraries and community organisations including Headspace, Writers SA and Express Media.
She coordinated a fiction writing summer school at the University of Texas in Austin and has taught and delivered guest lectures at undergraduate and postgraduate levels at several Australian Universities, including Swinburne University, Flinders University, and the University of Adelaide.
For the past four years she has delivered a guest lecture in the Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching Creative Writing at the University of Cambridge, titled ‘Feedback to Empower: finding the gaps and creating space’.
In 2025, Rebekah delivered a 3-hour workshop on the art of giving and receiving feedback on short stories at the International Conference on the Short Story in English in Killarney, Ireland.
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MODERATING AND PUBLIC SPEAKING
Rebekah is a highly regarded speaker and moderator at writers’ festivals and literary events.
She has appeared at Adelaide Writers Week, the Jaipur Literature Festival, the Australian Short Story Festival, the Wheeler Centre and the International Short Story Conference in English, in Vienna, Shanghai, Singapore, Lisbon and Killarney, Ireland.
She has launched books and hosted conversations with many writers, delivered keynote speeches and presented on multiple panels, including at the Australian Short Story Festival and the International Conference on the Short Story in English.
‘Great presentation style: funny, optimistic, vibrant. The timing was perfect.’
‘Rebekah was excellent – so much experience and such a wonderful sense of humour. I think this has helped me realise what needs to be done for my writing to progress – just do it!’
‘Amazing – Rebekah was an incredible presenter. So knowledgeable, inspiring and funny!’
‘Beautifully paced, enthusiastic and knowledgeable presenter. Clear explanations, useful exercises.’
‘My girl came home shining and alive. Thank you so much.’ – parent of child aged 15
‘If you have kids who read and/or write and you ever see that Rebekah Clarkson is running something for their age group, do what it takes to get them there.’ – parent of child aged 12
‘Rebekah’s creative writing workshop was extremely engaging and the content really accessible for children. She was very positive and supportive in encouraging the children to present their own work and empowered them to feel like real writers.’ – Sally Owen, Learning and Support Manager, Children’s University Australia, University of Adelaide Outreach Programs
‘Rebekah consistently went above and beyond for her students. She was able to adapt her seminars to meet the individual needs of the individuals in her class, while also ensuring that course content was more than adequately covered. She was deeply engaging and I loved coming to class every week. It was fun but also focused. I nominated her for a student-led teaching award, I was so genuinely blown away by having her as a tutor.’
‘Straight up, Rebekah is the best tutor I’ve had.’
‘Rebekah has been my favourite tutor at university. She is engaging, provides useful feedback and always encourages class discussion. She listens to student concerns and takes suggestions on board. Rebekah also has a wealth of writing experience and knowledge about the publishing industry. She offers sound advice from everything regarding assignments to writing and editing techniques to handling rejection.’
‘Rebekah provided me with valuable techniques, but more importantly, she helped me to understand the spirit of fiction writing. That it’s a humble craft, concerned with everything human – and after all, “we are made of dust”. She taught me how to see everything in my life “as fodder for the mill”. And that’s what I’m most thankful for. Rebekah’s teaching took writing from a distant, future maybe, to a part of my daily life – to a part of who I am. She made the craft approachable – more than just something you could do professionally – but as something that can make life better. And it’s certainly done that.’ -Trevor Hadley, The University of Texas at Austin
‘Rebekah taught me to find my voice—and to trust that my voice needs to be heard. She pushed me to search intimately to find and to write exactly what I mean. As part of an educational canon that has historically employed (albeit constructive) critique to shape its students, Rebekah is an inspired exception: she seeks the personalized gifts in young writers and she accepts those gifts. She says “yes” to uncommon expressions of brilliance and helps students leverage that brilliance. In the classroom, she elicits participation and laughter and a desire to find meaning in life’s peculiarities. ’ – Lauren Jones, The University of Texas at Austin
‘Rebekah was an amazing professor, and I feel privileged to have lucked upon taking her one UT class.’