What’s On at the Writers Centre

By South Coast Writers Centre director Sarah Nicholson

If it’s time to make good on your bucket list, and you’ve always wanted to write a film, or a novel, we’ve got you sorted. For wanna-be novelists, our six-month-long fiction writing course starts February 4th. Co-led by an experienced novelist and a writing teacher, the group will meet for two hours once a month and it is designed to take you through the essentials of fiction writing with the intention of creating an ongoing writing group that will provide you with an ongoing home.

Screenwriting info night

If it’s writing a feature-length screenplay that’s on your 2023 radar, and you already have some experience in writing, you are invited to come along for the introductory session of SCWC’s screenwriting group on February 16. Veteran director and story-doctor Graham Thornburn will lead a small group of writers through an intensely practical step-by-step process over a number of months. At the beginning the group will work together on a shared story, but once the foundations are solid, you will be encouraged to develop your script in a personal direction.

Welcome to Film Club

Our monthly Film Club night returns on February 4 with two award-winning short films: Mate and Sunnies. Screenings will be followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers, Nick Bolton, Jesse Milne, George-Alex Nagle and Izzy Khan, facilitated by veteran director Graham Thornburn.

Mate tells the story of a volatile deadbeat’s attempts to reconnect with an impressionable teenager over a weekend on the outskirts of western Sydney, as their fragile relationship threatens to collapse into heartbreak and chaos. An uncompromising examination of masculinity, the film features star-making performances from Joshua Brennan and Jeremy Blewitt.

In Sunnies, after roaming the streets of his neighbourhood one morning, Malcolm, a troubled and seemingly delinquent teen, decides to steal a pair of sunglasses from the local shops – an act that is later revealed to be part of a much bigger plan.

Calling young creative writers

SCWC’s Young Writers Program returns in week two of term, with after-school creative writing classes for young people in Coledale and Wollongong. In our Very Short Story writing competition, there are cash prizes, book vouchers, and publication on offer for young writers aged 9 to 18. We’re looking for stories on the theme of ‘untranslatable’ things – things there are no words for in English, and things that are difficult to comprehend or express. Entries close February 24.

More info at southcoastwriters.org

Librarians’ picks for Kindy kids

Thanks to Thirroul Library staff for recommending these books

• Wombat goes to school by Jackie French

• The Pigeon HAS to Go to School! by Mo Willems

• The wild guide to starting school by Laura and Philip Bunting

• First day by Andrew Daddo

• My school unicorn by Willow Evans and Tom Knight

• Stuff to know when you start school edited by Helene Hilton

• Mae’s First Day of School by Kate Berube

• Chu’s First Day at School by Neil Gaiman