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Writers Voice September 2011 - Fellowship of Australian Writers NSW

Writers Voice September 2011 - Fellowship of Australian Writers NSW

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FAW Branch Reports<br />

Lake Macquarie FAW<br />

cont. from previous page<br />

squeezed in a short poem from Linda<br />

Visman. There was barely enough<br />

time for Jan to thank everyone and<br />

wrap things up before it was time<br />

to spill out the doors, buoyed by the<br />

beautiful day and the wonderful<br />

words we had heard.<br />

Christina Batey<br />

Macarthur faw<br />

We see the picture <strong>of</strong> an elderly lady<br />

with a glowing smile leaning over a<br />

kitchen table cutting pie into slices<br />

with a large knife. Also on the table<br />

are some plates, one displaying food<br />

from an unfinished meal.<br />

This was the picture­prompt for<br />

our July creative writing exercise.<br />

We loaned ourselves to the power <strong>of</strong><br />

suggestion in making the image tell<br />

its thousand words. Brains skipped<br />

a beat as members put meaning into<br />

this innocent­looking snapshot. Were<br />

four and twenty blackbirds under<br />

short­crust pastry whetting that<br />

sweet smile? Well seriously, practical<br />

jokes aside, the suggestion <strong>of</strong> human<br />

steak and kidney under aspic with<br />

a light glaze came to mind, the sick<br />

harvest <strong>of</strong> a demented butcher/killer/<br />

cook. Needless to say, yet we try: the<br />

writing exercise was a lot <strong>of</strong> fun.<br />

And getting their brainchild<br />

down on paper proved to be greatly<br />

satisfying to all members present.<br />

We had a catered afternoon tea to<br />

warm our cockles that cold winter’s<br />

afternoon.<br />

There was a general consensus<br />

social interaction and chat help to<br />

stir the creative juices. This may<br />

become an annual event… food and<br />

people, people with food… a wellrespected<br />

formula in the stoke and<br />

stir department.<br />

We are looking at ways to<br />

accommodate junior members. Some<br />

readings are unsuitable so we have<br />

decided to leave them until the last<br />

half hour <strong>of</strong> the meeting to read<br />

aloud. Suitable timing may be one <strong>of</strong><br />

the important considerations.<br />

Margot is currently featuring<br />

a series <strong>of</strong> articles on style in our<br />

prestigious in­house magazine,<br />

Inkblot. Each month we are able<br />

10 WRITERS’ VOICE 233—SEPTEMBER <strong>2011</strong><br />

to glean something new from its<br />

pages. Inkblot has a light­hearted<br />

tone, but tackles the art <strong>of</strong> writing<br />

with a helpful approach. We would<br />

recommend its format to everybody.<br />

Paul Phillips<br />

Manly and peninsula faw<br />

Our multi­talented group continues<br />

to be busy writing. In June acclaimed<br />

poet Dawn Bruce presented an<br />

outstanding workshop ‘Close<br />

Observation – Inspirational Imagery<br />

for all Genres.’ It certainly opened<br />

our eyes to the fine detail which can<br />

bring objects and people to life in our<br />

writing and produced some excellent<br />

work read out and workshopped inhouse<br />

at the July meeting.<br />

We welcomed some new members<br />

<strong>of</strong> varied ages in July and they<br />

have joined in our activities with<br />

enthusiasm; we should have an<br />

impressive display <strong>of</strong> stories and<br />

poems to pair with the canvases<br />

being painted by the children<br />

attending the special programs<br />

conducted by the Cerebral Palsy<br />

Alliance at Allambie Heights.<br />

Together they will be on display for<br />

our Awards Event on 11<strong>September</strong><br />

in Manly Library when the Annual<br />

Competition results are announced<br />

and certificates are presented to<br />

the winners. Then on a school day<br />

we will meet the young artists aged<br />

from three to twelve years old who<br />

will come to see the exhibition <strong>of</strong><br />

their work in the Library and enjoy<br />

afternoon tea with us.<br />

We were able to congratulate<br />

our long term member Patricia<br />

Jones, who read out some poems<br />

from her book <strong>of</strong> poetry which has<br />

just been published by Ginninderra<br />

Press; a wonderful achievement.<br />

Another member, Margaret Grace<br />

has had several poems published in<br />

international publications and online.<br />

Also, Aleesah Darlison has just<br />

launched another junior novel in the<br />

Totally Twins series – Tropical Trouble,<br />

and this month her picture book<br />

Warambi will be released. All this<br />

success is the result <strong>of</strong> hard work and<br />

serves as an inspiration for all <strong>of</strong> us.<br />

In July Margaret Grace and I,<br />

along with other poets, read out our<br />

tanka at the launch <strong>of</strong> an anthology<br />

‘Grevillea and Wonga Vine.’ This<br />

delightful occasion was held at Pearl<br />

Beach. Margaret and I each had<br />

a haiku accepted for the UK June<br />

edition <strong>of</strong> Presence.<br />

Zena Shapter has won the <strong>2011</strong><br />

Oberon <strong>Writers</strong>’ Competition; also<br />

her short story ‘Breakthrough’ is in<br />

Stringybark Publications Short Story<br />

Anthology ‘A Visit From the Duchess’.<br />

Also a short story ‘Trigger’ in the<br />

Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild’s<br />

Short Story Anthology ‘Winds <strong>of</strong><br />

Change’.<br />

For our August meeting we<br />

have had Crime writer and tutor<br />

Robyn McWilliam who engaged<br />

us in a workshop on ‘Character’;<br />

a vital ingredient essential for<br />

story­writing. This had each <strong>of</strong> us<br />

engrossed in creating a believable<br />

character with some unexpected<br />

twists. Our individual responses to<br />

the ‘suggested exercise’ will be read<br />

out and workshopped in­house at the<br />

<strong>September</strong> meeting.<br />

In October we’ll attempt to cowrite<br />

some quirky/humorous<br />

pieces for our December meeting,<br />

and in November we anticipate an<br />

entertaining afternoon when talented<br />

thespian Angela Smith presents our<br />

monologues. Visitors are always<br />

welcome to attend our meetings.<br />

Beatrice Yell, President<br />

north arM cove faw<br />

Mid­May members spent a glorious<br />

day at the rural home <strong>of</strong> member Bob<br />

Bush and his wife Bev, for the 10th<br />

anniversary <strong>of</strong> Poetry in the Paddock.<br />

It was a day filled with excellent<br />

poetry readings and camaraderie;<br />

members fully appreciating the warm<br />

hospitality <strong>of</strong> the hosts.<br />

At the beginning <strong>of</strong> June, the<br />

group welcomed retired teacher,<br />

mathematician and political scientist<br />

Ron Williams, publisher <strong>of</strong> Boom<br />

Books, to the cove. Boom Books are<br />

a series <strong>of</strong> books covering the baby<br />

boom years and set out the social<br />

history <strong>of</strong> <strong>Australian</strong> life during those<br />

years. He discussed the ‘finished<br />

product’ and the research that led<br />

to each book’s completion. A very<br />

informative workshop.<br />

Visit us on the Internet at www.fawnsw.org.au

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