northerly november-december 2014

northerly november -december, 2013

The Northern Rivers Writers’ Centre Magazine

Inside:

Steve Bisley • The Dog Whisperer • URWF • Short Story Slam

Degrees to help U pursue your passion Are you seeking a career in writing or the media?

At Southern Cross University we have creative and inspirational courses designed to suit you, from our Associate Degree in Creative Writing, which can be completed in two years of full-time study, to our Bachelor of Media and Bachelor of Arts.

You can also enjoy your study without compromising your lifestyle, by choosing to study full-time, part-time, on campus or by distance education. Explore our range of study options and discover how you can turn your passion into a rewarding career.

Apply now for 2013 at scu.edu.au/arts

School of Arts and Social Sciences

It’s all about U scu.edu.au/arts

CRICOS Provider: NSW 01241G, QLD 03135E, WA 02621K

Media Press Ad(halfpage).indd 1

26/10/12 8:49 AM

in this issue ...

02

Noticeboard

03

A word from the Director

04

Introducing Edwina Johnson

05

Jessie Cole wins Book2 Grant

06

Lisa Walker My year in books...

...and what I want for Christmas 08

09

A town called Yarbynob

David Astle Hot Shorts

Mike Russo 10

The dog whisperer

Martin McKenna 11

12

Literary feast, or lost love?

Zacharey Jane My life as a book

Steve Bisley 13

How much luck does an author need?

Stephen Dando-Collins 14

15

Ubud Writers & Readers Festival

Jeni Caffin OzFest, Jakarta

Jeni Caffin 16

SCU Page

17 Events 18

Kids’ page – Wendy Orr

Tristan Bancks 19

From the reading chair

Laurel Cohn

20

News & Workshops

22

Opportunities & Competitions

24

Writers’ groups and member discounts

northerly is the bi-monthly magazine of the Northern Rivers Writers’ Centre. The Writers’ Centre is a resource and information base for writers and readers in the Northern Rivers region. We offer a year-round program of readings, workshops and writer visits as well as the annual production of the Byron Bay Writers’ Festival.

The Centre is a non-profit, incorporated organisation receiving its core funding from Arts NSW. LOCATION Level 1 28 Jonson Street, Byron Bay POSTAL ADDRESS PO Box 1846 Byron Bay NSW 2481 PHONE 02 6685 5115 FAX 02 6685 5166 EMAIL info@nrwc.org.au WEB www.nrwc.org.au NRWC COMMITTEE CHAIRPERSON Chris Hanley VICE CHAIRPERSON Lynda Dean SECRETARY Russell Eldridge TREASURER Cheryl Bourne MEMBERS Jesse Blackadder, Fay Burstin, Marele Day, Robert Hanson, Lynda Hawryluk, Brenda Shero, Adam van Kempen LIFE MEMBERS: Jean Bedford, Jeni Caffin, Gayle Cue, Robert Drewe, Jill Eddington, Chris Hanley, John Hertzberg, Fay Knight, Irene O’Brien, Jennifer Regan, Cherrie Sheldrick, Heather Wearne CONTACT EMAIL: northerly@nrwc.org.au PRINTING: Quality Plus Printers Ballina MAIL OUT DATES: Magazines are sent in JANUARY, MARCH, MAY, JULY, SEPTEMBER and NOVEMBER ADVERTISING: We welcome advertising by members and relevant organisations. A range of ad sizes are available. The ad booking deadline for each issue is the first week of the month prior. Email northerly@nrwc.org.au.

The Northern Rivers Writers’ Centre presents northerly in good faith and accepts no responsibility for any misinformation or problems arising from any misinformation. The views expressed by contributors and advertisers are not necessarily the views of the management committee or staff. We reserve the right to edit articles with regard to length. Copyright of the contributed articles is maintained by the named author and northerly.

Cover: courtesy of Leigh Hobbs

3 - northerly magazine | november - december 2013

Noticeboard Celebrate – 500 word short story slam Do you have something to celebrate? Or perhaps a celebration that has gone wrong? Send in your short stories of up to 500 words with a theme of ‘celebration’ for our Christmas Party short story slam. You must be available to attend the Christmas Party and read your work out loud. Five entries will be chosen to read on the night and a winner will be picked based on performance and story. Book pack prizes for winner and runner up!

Entries must be received by 2pm Tuesday 26 November.

Email your short story to: lisa@nrwc.org.au Or post to: NRWC, PO Box 1846, Byron Bay, NSW, 2481.

NRWC Christmas Party When: Friday 6 December 2013

at 5.30pm Where: NRWC office, Level 1,

28 Jonson St, Byron Bay

RSVP: info@nrwc.org.au

or call 02 6685 5115.

Please note that this event is for NRWC members only.

4 - northerly magazine | november - december 2013

~

Members N ews

~ Congratula tions to Pet for... er Mitchell ~ Highly Co mmended for the sho ‘Call of the rt story, Crow’ in th e Trudy Gra Julie Lewis h am and Aw ~ The follow ard 2013. in Moment’, ‘D g poems, ‘The Scarlet oors’, ‘Explo siv Straw’ and ‘Magpies’ w e Devices’, ‘Final ill be publis in the Indo hed -Australian A nthology of Contempora ry (Authors Pre Poetry: Vibrant Voices ss ~ Awarded , 2013). the 2014 Va runa Doroth Hewitt Flag y ship Fellow ship (poetr Eleanor Da y) by the rk Foundati on (Varuna Centre) Writers’

A word from the Chair If 2013 was without a doubt the most successful Byron Bay Writers’ Festival, it was also the most successful year for our special events and for our workshop programs. She’ll hate me saying this, but part of the reason for the happy result was because our crew invited Jeni Caffin to return to the helm of our Centre.

In tandem with the very talented and hardworking team of Sarah, Lisa and Cherrie, Jeni created a vibrant program and most of all plunged her passionate energy and creative flair into our not for profit community organisation.

As Chair of the NRWC, this is my second stint working with Jeni and all I can say is I have enjoyed every minute of it. We have laughed and talked and shared during our time together and I find Jeni inspirational and a great leader of people.

Now Jeni is moving on to direct an intense project in Jakarta. All of us wish her well and we know she will continue to be involved with us as a mentor and possibly in other roles.

Her successor is Edwina Johnson, one of the publishing industry’s most popular and respected figures. Edwina is moving here from Sydney but she nominates our region as her favourite place in the world and she has visited many times and indeed has family here. Join with me in welcoming Edwina as she makes the move north this month.

Season’s greetings to you all and I wish you a wonderful summer of books and reading.

Chris Hanley

A word (well several) from the Director

Dear members, What a whirlwind couple of months since last we spoke. In fact, Sarah Ma and I have just returned from the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival in Bali and our heads and hearts are full of the glorious conversations, street parties, gamelan and truly delectable lunches and dinners that made up the program. Look further into northerly to find my words describing the 10th anniversary of this sister Festival.

It was sheer joy to be able to spend time with Sarah away from the busy engine room that is the Northern Rivers Writers’ Centre, knowing that my days beside her and Lisa Walker are coming to an end. Mid November, I pack up my carton of toys and slip out of the Chair, sad, but rejoicing that I am handing over to the best of all possible people, Edwina Johnson. To meet her, look to page 4! Ed will be in and out of the office over the next while, totally in as of January.

It’s been a busy and happy year for the NRWC and BBWF and I extend enormous thanks to all who have dipped into activities and supported our events and services. Lisa programmed the most comprehensive skill development program the NRWC has ever offered and an impressive roll-call of presenters combined to ensure that our fledgling

writers received the same expert instruction enjoyed by metropolitan counterparts. And wait till you see what the 2014 schedule contains: no wonder so many new writers are finding voice via the Centre and the Festival.

We’ve been privileged to share a brilliant and inspiring evening with Germaine Greer and, as I write, Christos Tsolkias is waiting in the wings for his conversation at the Bangalow A&I Hall. I’m not letting the cat out of the bag, but dropping a hint that February will see one of our biggest ever out of Festival literary events. Keep vigilant: you won’t want to miss this international uber author, here in Byron Bay. I have read so many extraordinary books this year. Honestly, how many jobs are there where spending hour upon hour with one’s nose stuck in a book can be called work? Lately I have revelled in Poe Ballantine’s Love & Terror on the Howling Plains of Nowhere (Festival alert!) and am now opening Richard Flanagan’s critically acclaimed The Narrow Road to the Deep North, his novel exploring the cruelty of war, the tenuousness of life and the impossibility of life. My gaze is sliding toward Booker Prize winning Luminaries

by New Zealand’s Eleanor Catton. The

gaze turns to a frown as I ponder whether I can absorb its entire 800 pages before scampering away on my travels. This is one book that won’t fit comfortably into my carry- on baggage, which is all I’m taking on my ten week sojourn.

Have a loving and joyous Christmas and New Year, and take plenty of time to find new worlds and ways of being in the pages of a book. See you soon!

Jeni Caffin

photo by Greg Saunders

5 - northerly magazine | november - december 2013

Introducing

Edwina Johnson The Northern Rivers Writers’ Centre is delighted to announce the appointment of Edwina Johnson as Director of the Centre and of the Byron Bay Writers’ Festival.

Edwina has wide experience in publishing, arts and event management, and is currently the manager of Faber Academy at Allen & Unwin in Sydney.

She takes up her new role in November and is currently collaborating closely with outgoing Director Jeni Caffin in planning next year’s Festival.

Edwina’s previous experience includes co-director of FestivalandCo, the literary festival

I was driving to work nearly two months ago when, out of the blue, Chris Hanley called me. ‘We’re about to advertise the position of Director for the NRWC - would you be interested in applying?’ I nearly crashed the car! Visions of Wategos, Mullum, Brunswick, Bangalow and the lush hinterland provided an instant antidote to the gnarly traffic I was navigating.

A few weeks later I enjoyed a couple of stimulating hours in the company of Lynda Dean, Marele Day and Jeni Caffin (otherwise known as an interview) and a couple of weeks ago I accepted this exciting position.

I’m still pinching myself at how life can delight and surprise you in unexpected moments.

I have strong ties to the Northern Rivers regionwith much loved

family in Mullumbimby and I have been drawn back again and again.

In a previous life I organised David Suzuki’s first visit to Byron Bay and I will never forget the rousing reception he received. Good Weekend journalist Jane Cadzow was travelling with us and I recall her looking at me and saying in a knowing way: ‘you’ll be back here’.

Little did I know how far into my future she was looking nor how wonderful a role I would be offered as Jeni’s ‘happy successor’.

I have inhabited the literary world for nearly 20 years now, working for publishers and literary festivals, in Sydney and Paris. On a recent visit to Paris I was truly blessed to see Seamus Heaney read his poetry at the Irish Cultural Centre. We sat there all of us, knowing how lucky we were.

6 - northerly magazine | november - december 2013

run by Shakespeare & Company in Paris, and as administrator and artistic operations manager for the Sydney Writers’ Festival.

The Chair of the Northern Rivers Writers’ Centre, Chris Hanley, welcomed the appointment of Ms Johnson. “We are excited to have attracted a Director of Edwina’s calibre,” he said.

Edwina has been on our radar for some years and possibilities have been mooted, but the timing has never been as right as it is now.

She’s a perfect fit for our Centre and Festival and you’d be hard pressed to find a more voracious reader and fervent advocate for Australian literature.

And then, suddenly, shockingly, he was gone. But his voice repeats the words of ‘Digging’ in my mind and I can return to that soothing memory whenever I like. This is the gift of writers; this is the gift of literary events and festivals.

In this precious connection between writer and reader we find such nourishment and never have we needed it more. I celebrate all the writer members of the NRWC your penned efforts give texture to our internal landscapes and all the readers who come out in their thousands to make the Byron Bay Writers’ Festival the perennial favourite that it is.

I look forward to joining you in Byron Bay soon and getting to know you and your community even better.

Edwina Johnson

Jessie Cole wins Australia Council Book2 Grant

By Lisa Walker What do Nam Le, Anna Krien, Favel Parrett and local author Jessie Cole have in common? They are all recipients of the highly sought after $50,000 Book2 Grant. This grant is awarded to writers whose first book received critical acclaim and who now have a contract for a second book. The aim of the grant is to welcome new talent and help these writers to establish their careers by writing their second book.

It is exciting to see a writer develop the way Jessie has and we are all very proud of her. Jessie was a participant in the NRWC Residential Mentorship in 2008. In 2009 she was awarded a HarperCollins Varuna Award for Manuscript Development, leading to the publication of her first novel Darkness on the Edge of Town, which was shortlisted for the 2013 ALS Gold Medal and longlisted for the Dobbie Literary Award. Her work has also appeared in Meanjin, Kill Your Darlings, Island Magazine, Big Issue, Daily Life and The Guardian. She is currently working on her second novel, Deeper Water, which will be published by HarperCollins in 2014.

I talked to Jessie about her writing, her new book and what receiving this grant means to her.

Why do you write?

I think I write mostly to get things off my chest. I find writing fiction, especially, very therapeutic. And I like that it serves two purposes: working with myself and my demons, and producing a readable story!

Photo: Cristina Smith

How has living in this region influenced your writing?

I get asked this question a lot, but I find it difficult to answer because I’ve been here almost all my life and it is hard for me to get an outside perspective. I think living in this region probably permeates through everything I do, and certainly I get a lot of feedback from people in this regard.

Can you tell me a little about your next book Deeper Water?

Deeper Water engages more with the ‘alternative’ element of our local culture than Darkness on the Edge of Town did. I grew up in the 1970 –80s, and it was such a time of experimentation locally. I’m really interested in that, and how it has panned out into the present.

Is it fair to say that it is a story about awakening?

Yes! What would you like a reader to take away from reading this story?

Most importantly, I want the reader to feel immersed. Good writing allows you the experience of being someone else, of seeing the world through another’s eyes. This is one of the major joys of reading and of writing.

Writers often talk about the ‘second book syndrome’. Has writing this book been more difficult for you than Darkness on the Edge of Town?

Yes, this project was initially slower

than Darkness on the Edge of Town, and I think this was partially because I couldn’t get away from an awareness that it would eventually be read (even if only by my agent!).

Previously, I’d always written with such a sense of privacy, believing I wouldn’t be published, so writing for potential publication was a really big change. When I was struggling initially, a friend said to me: ‘But you still get to decide which bits will be read. Write freely, then share later.’

And that was really important to hear.

What was your immediate reaction to finding out you had received the Book2 Grant?

My whole body started to shake. It was utter disbelief. As though my eyes had deceived me.

This is a highly contested grant. What do you think appealed to the judges about your application?

I have no idea!!

On a personal level, what does getting this grant mean to you?

It makes me feel more like ‘a writer’ than I did previously. And maybe I can get air-conditioning in my car!

7 - northerly magazine | november - december 2013

My year in books Jann Burmester 2013 has been an amazing year for the written word.

So many new faces have exploded onto the literary scene, none more so than the incredible Hannah Kent with her magnificent debut novel, Burial Rites.

This is a story that drew me in from the very first sentence.

Written with incredible maturity for one so young, Kent’s descriptions of the unforgiving and freezing landscapes in Iceland took my breath away!

Based on a true story, Burial Rites was most definitely the best book I have read this year.

Other books to capture my heart and my time were, The People Smuggler by Robin de Crespigny; John Cantwell’s Exit Wounds: One Australian’s War on Terror and I Confess: Revelations in Exile by Kooshyar Karimi.

As for my literary wish list for my Christmas stocking this year, a ticket to the Galle Literary Festival in Sri Lanka would be a dream – a book extravaganza in paradise!

Gillian Rubinstein I enjoyed recognising (and learning more about) my new home town in Melissa Lucashenko’s Mullumbimby. I liked the wry, bittersweet Office Girl by Joe Meno so much I read it twice. A.M Homes’s May We Be Forgiven was just the right blend of shocking and compassionate. The Orphan Master’s Son, by Adam Johnson, was a brilliantly written addition to the existing literature on North Korea.

Japanese reading included The Goddess Chronicle by Natsuo Kirino (dark and different) and The Demon’s Sermon on the Martial Arts, presented as a graphic novel (truly enlightening). And no year is complete without reading or rereading Haruki Marukami: his latest novel, The Colourless Tazaki Tsukuru and his Years of Pilgrimage, is a haunting study of friendship and its loss.

I usually avoid books that hitch a ride on the classics, but Jo Baker’s Longbourn won me over, not only for its finely judged take on Pride and Prejudice but

also for its perfect evocation of the English countryside and seasons. Now I use a Kindle I buy far more books than I used to. This year Claire Messud’s The Woman Upstairs and Ruth Ozeki’s A Tale for the Time Being sent me in search of all their previous novels. And finding on the way Bernadine Evaristo’s Mr Loverman was sheer delight.

For Christmas I would like an app that magically transposed my scrawling handwritten notebooks into a beautifully typed manuscript.

It must exist somewhere.

Kate Veitch My reading has travelled with me in 2013, beginning with a trip to Laos where I made the acquaintance of Dr Siri Paiboun.

The hero of a terrific mystery series, the good doctor is Lao’s reluctant (only) coroner, a free thinker, ready drinker, and indefatigable investigator of all manner of untoward events in and around 1970’s Vientiane. Creator of the seven beguiling Dr Siri Mysteries is Colin Cotterill, born in England, taught in Australia (he has dual citizenship), resident for many years now in South East Asia. Crime buffs looking for something different will relish these, as will anyone interested in effortlessly learning a great deal about Laos, its people and politics.

I’m finishing the year with a trip to Japan, so have been busy reading novels ranging from David Mitchell’s The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, an absorbing story of Dutch/Japanese relations both mercantile and intensely personal in Nagasaki circa 1799, to Canadian Ruth Ozeki’s thoughtful, multilayered A Tale for the Time Being, set in the equally troubled present. I was also lucky enough to get an advance copy of Lian Hearn’s latest, The Storyteller and his Three Daughters. Brimfull (like one of its narrator’s own tales) of love, jealousy, intrigue and betrayal, this is one of those books that you have to force yourself to put down occasionally so it’s not over too soon.

But in the middle of the year, I read a novel set right here in the Northern

8 - northerly magazine | november - december 2013

Rivers that won me over heart and mind.

Melissa Lucashenko’s Mullumbimby is wise, funny, heartbreaking and hot. I’d like ten copies in my Christmas stocking, please, so that I can send this ripper of a book to friends overseas and tell them, ‘Here’s a slice of the Australia I love.’

Mandy Nolan I was sitting in a cafe this morning and this fellow leans over and asks me ‘what is your favourite book?’ It’s like being asked to name your favourite child. I look at him dumbly, like an illiterate person whose been asked to read out something from a menu. I have no response except for ‘lots’. It’s embarrassing, but I’ve drawn a blank. I read all the time, but when put on the spot I can’t think of a single title. An hour later driving home in the car I start yelling out authors and titles to no one in particular. I am offended again by the impropriety of the question. I can’t tell you my favourite book of all time, because I’ve changed. But I can tell you the book I enjoyed most this year. It was New York Times’ best-selling author David Thorne, I’ll go home then; it’s warm and has chairs: The unpublished emails. I can’t tell who it’s published by, perhaps it’s self published.

I know it’s not Penguin, because he was published with them at one time and the book details some pretty hysterical legal letters from aforementioned publishers and Mr Thorne when he pictured a penguin giving the finger on the first-edition cover. Thorne is a graphic artist and a shit stirrer. It’s a wonderful combination. I guess if you were the target of his ire you’d call him a bully. I call him the unmasker of petty minds. He pushes people to the brink of explosion, keeps the email, or letter trail and then publishes them as part of some sort of chaotic narrative showing their eventual undoing. Like the bloke who lived across the road from him and installed a security light that shone into his bedroom window who was subjected to a tirade of hysterically ironic missives like ‘I did consider installing a floodlight as bright as yours, but this would require some form of carrying things, electrical

Stephen Axelsen

wiring knowledge, and access to a power supply capable of producing that amount of wattage. Probably fusion. As I am told off by my partner for wasting money when I leave the light on in the bathroom overnight, I can only speculate to what her reaction would be to an electricity bill eight times our annual income for retaliatory garden lighting.

She would probably have to get a third job.’

Of course he’s Australian, and they’re all American. They just don’t get the Aussie concept of a piss-take. Instead of realising the irony they become irate. It makes damn funny reading, even embues the reader with a little Aussie smugness.

I guess you could google search and find it on the internet. I got mine off my chiropractor, a man who knows I’m a girl who loves a few good wisecracks!

Chris Hanley It has been a good year for books and reading and I HAVE BEEN LUCKY IN 2013 and I have picked up a lot of books that now sit on the bottom shelf of bookshelves in my study, the shelf of my favourite books.

I enjoyed Murray Bail’s The Voyage, a meandering story that visits Vienna and involves a slow boat trip back from Europe. Bail has a way with language.

I have just finished Malcolm Gladwell’s new book David and Goliath, a nonfiction book by the New York writer that debunks the myth of advantage in life.

In essence he has studied a lot of people and a lot of data and discovered that many people including dyslexics not only overcome their challenges but flourish because of their handicaps. The Pulitzer winning Richard Ford is dyslexic.

In case I am edited for space I need to say

that Richard Flanagan’s novel The Narrow Road to The Deep North is superb. It is about love and loneliness and war and it gets stronger and stronger as you turn each page. I have long thought Richard Flanagan was a great writer looking for a great story. He found it in this book.

Quickly noted are How Fiction Works

by James Wood, Time Present and Time Past by an old friend of mine, Irish writer Deirdre Madden, a writer celebrated by other Irish writers, The Light Between the Oceans, a wonderful debut novel from WA writer ML Stedman and finally All That Is by the doyen of American fiction writers James Salter.

I was asked to also say what I would like in my stocking. Michael Robotham’s new novel would be great for Christmas.

Happy reading.

9 - northerly magazine | november - december 2013

B

A Town Called Yarbynob -by David Astle

yron Bay. Close your eyes and say it slowly. Can’t you hear the rolling surf? See the arcs of fire jugglers along the foreshore? Smell the 15+ up your nose?

Sure, there’s Splendour in the Grass and the splendour of the cape. The Bluesfest, the green hinterland. The verbal writers of August and the herbal cigarettes of Aquarius. But Byron could afford to be a backwater rathole and still exude that trademark allure, thanks to three sexy syllables.

Indulge me. Say them again – by-ron-bay. The double B is gold.

Then there’s the echo of romantic poetry, all those iambic pentameters written in the name of alabaster skin.

As for bay, that’s a word to conjure spicy cooking and reddish-brown horses, the howling of hounds, or shelter from the storm.

Soundwise, bay offers the perfect climax of a lingering long-a, the first sigh after a cold beer. Taken in isolation, Byron Bay would be a topshelf porno name, like our own Alice Springs who’s making her way up the adult ladder. I’m talking a quality porno name, a rising star in a movie you’d watch for the storyline.

Seriously, who needs brochures if your town’s name does all the pitching for you? Forget about the whales, the falls, the rocks, the wrecks. Who cares if the cape stands closer to the sunrise than any other cape?

That’s just spin. No surfer gives a flying floater whether Beach X juts out further than Beach Y. It’s more about the vibe.

The aura. The sun is up and the swell is clean. But really Byron,baby, you had me at your name.

Eggheads at remote universities get paid big dollars to study this caper. They call it onomastics, the science of proper names.

You think those pizza parlours would do a brisk trade in Surfers Paradise, selling Mexicanas to a million sunburnt gringos, if the local burghers had stuck with Elston?

Down south, a surf town like Mollymook, with its cute alliteration, is gaining leaps and bounds on the ho-hum flip-flop of Ulladulla.

Who knows? Maybe Melbourne would stop boasting about its laneway coffee

if it settled for the founder’s early suggestion of Batmania. The whole city would be different, a place with more capes than Byron could count. Instead, it’s all about roast. An opportunity wasted due to sloppy onomastics.

The science is fascinating. To compose this rant, I spent a few hours swotting the map and pondering the fate that each town name decreed. Or wondering what might have been.

Before Gallipoli knocked us round, the Adelaide Hills were sprinkled with the

likes of Heidelberg and Langdorf. But then the Nazis disrupted our affection for German heritage, seeing the marmalade nook of Bismarck change to Weeroopa, or Klemzig switch to Gaza. Even Wusser’s Nob had a nagging Deutsch glitch, getting renovated into Karun Nob. Which leads us to the onanism of Onomastics. The smutty stuff. If you go to your library and ‘accidentally’ drop an Australian atlas, the pages will fall open at the schoolboy favourites of Rooty Hill or Burrumbuttock.

Or let’s do a grander experiment. Civic leaders of Byron, I dare you to jumble your town’s letters to spell Yarbynob, and see what impact that switch will have on sales. You think Prince sold more albums when he changed his name to some Gothic dingus? And let’s not start with John Cougar Mellencamp, or whatever

10 - northerly magazine | november - december 2013

he’s strumming under lately. Names matter, both the sexy and the stupid kind.

Because there are those towns, both here and abroad, that struggle for want of nominal mojo. Worse than that, they make you cringe or giggle – versus visit. The reason Shane Jacobson chose to launch his toilet movie in Poowong, back in 2006, had nothing to do with the town’s state-of-the-art cinema, believe me.

Crap plays quite a theme down under, in fact, where Dunedoo lies two hours south of Boggabri. Meanwhile a posse of Poms is still needing therapy thanks to their own Shitterton in Dorset, or Greater London’s Back Passage. Names can make or break a location’s fortune, which is why I’d called for catchy slogans on my word blog.

Face it, if you do live in Dismal Swamp, Tasmania, or Dildo in Newfoundland, you may need to rely on a seductive motto to entice the sightseer. At no cost, gentle townsfolk of Accident, in Maryland, I offer you: A Great Place To Crash. Or maybe: We Welcome Large Families.

Then there’s Broke in NSW – Where Your Dollar Goes Further. Or what about Intercourse in Pennsylvania?

Two slogan ideas came to light: Come Up For A Coffee, versus We’re Not All Talk. Meantime nothing can beat Iron Knob on the Eyre Highway.

Nonetheless, there are some unfortunate names we just love for being unfortunate.

There’s a kooky charisma about Uki on the Tweed, or Wonglepong at the foot of Mount Tambourine. While inland from Byron, where the secret crops grow, Woodenbong is a stoner's throw from MulliMulli. Perfect.

So here’s my advice, Byronians. Ditch the leaflets. Take down the tie-dye bunting.

Demolish the lighthouse if you’re really feeling naughty. Tell the whales to hang out at Coffs and get John Butler to comb his mane. We don’t care. We love you already, out of sheer euphony. www.davidastle.com twitter.com/dontattempt

Hot Shorts Hot Shorts, inaugurated by the Baywrite playwrights’ group and now run by the Drill Hall Theatre Company, has become an iconic celebration of local community theatre. It is a biennial, 10-minute play competition with $2,000 in prizes, mostly voted for by its audience, though for the first time this year the first-prize winner has been selected by a Northern Rivers Writers’ Centre panel headed by NRWC Director Jeni Caffin. It was staged for the sixth time in October this year and so has now presented a total of 60 short plays by more than 40 Northern Rivers writers over 10 years. These 60 plays were selected from over 400 submissions and the 10 presented this year, from an initial submission of 28 plays, represent a diverse selection of comedy, burlesque, satire and, unusually, a large number of tragedies. The hope in asking the NRWC to select the best written play in 2013 was to avoid a good play failing to achieve recognition by some quirk of audience preference or by not reaching its full potential through casting or directing difficulties. This proved to be the case with the play selected by the panel; “Terra Nullius” by Michael Lill, about an expectant couple being placed under extreme stress; being too powerful and confronting for our audiences and coming last in the audience vote.

It has always been the hope of those staging Hot Shorts that the successful writers will be encouraged to write longer pieces for the theatre but this has almost never been the case. This year,

Mike Russo, Artistic Director, Drill Hall Theatre Company

however, Michael Lill, a writer, actor and director living in Murwillumbah had two plays take out the major prizes and has been appointed Drill Hall Theatre Company writer-in-residence for 2014.

Michael’s two plays are both very strong dramas about family relationships and hold much promise for the longer pieces we look forward to from him next year.

The audience favourites in descending order were “The Promised Land” by Michael Lill, a very moving portrayal of love under duress; “Vote Counting”

by John Smithwick, a satire on the bureaucracy of the democratic voting system; and “I Love Acting” by Monique Lavail, a comedy burlesque in which the difficulties of casting a leading lady lead to an extreme solution. The other finalists, which include plays by six previous prizewinning writers, were “Right On Peter Morley” by Paula Williams, a story of triumph over physical disability; “Fine, Thanks” by Jan Baldwin, in which an elderly man struggles with ego, pride and denial; “Salome Does Pilates” by Greg Aitken, where life imitates art in the eternal triangle; “Mud”

by Denise Lego, an anti-CSG comedy; “Jack and Sophie” by Max Strong, a comment on intimate communication in the digital age; and “Window Dressing”

by Bette Guy, a tragicomedy about the public “invisibility” of the older and larger woman.

The finalists were selected by a panel of four readers with many years theatre

experience in July before the seemingly impossible task of casting 26 actors, appointing ten directors and getting the plays ready for performance within three months began. This always involves a treasure hunt for props and set furniture, directors wanting rewrites, actors pulling out at what seems like the last moment and a long and anguishing journey that doesn’t end until the last play is staged on the last night. As artistic director, organising Hot Shorts is like selecting and then training and preparing all 10 horses in a race in which the punters choose the winner. While I do have my favourites I’m always driven by the hope that we will present a solid night of entertaining theatre that offers something for everyone and that the best plays will win.

The 10-minute format means that we often get what are essentially sketches rather than plays with a dramatic arc that builds tensions or audience expectations and then surprises us. This year, of the ten plays, there are seven that can be said to have a genuine dramatic arc that, while complete in themselves, could be successfully extended into longer pieces.

This is gratifying from the point of view of hoping to encourage writers to produce longer works.

While creativity doesn’t always sit well in a competitive format the response of our almost capacity houses has suggested that the night itself is a definite winner with its audience.

11 - northerly magazine | november - december 2013

The Dog Whisperer Are you ready to let your dog be your personal guru?

With Martin McKenna Why did you write your latest book, What’s your dog teaching you?

I was a street-kid and dogs saved my life.

I grew up in Garryowen, Ireland, and ran away from home at a young age because of family violence. I lived in farmers’ hay barns and stray dogs soon moved in with me. This motley pack of strays taught me some of the most important lessons in my life about loyalty, friendship, survival, responsibility, determination, patience and optimism. My latest book shows how dogs can transform your life into something really amazing – once you allow them to be your teacher.

How long did the book take you to write?

About two months but it’s much easier when you have a book made up of small true stories. I’d just think of the dogs and clients I’ve had over the years and the stories flowed out like conversations.

What is your writing process?

My amazing wife Lee taught me to read and write in the last five years by encouraging me – well – ordering me to learn to write my poetry down in cheap exercise books.

Today, I still write everything down in cheap exercise books and my writing is still atrocious – only I can read it! However, I write down everything like I’m recounting an interesting story directly to you, the reader.

What are some of the important lessons dogs can teach us?

I think there are three great lessons. First – live spontaneously in the moment like a dog as much as you can, it gives you so much genuine energy and really lets you revel in your senses which give you a natural high.

Don’t think – just do. Second – learn to be as optimistic as a dog. It doesn’t take much for a dog to be grinning and wagging its tail. That optimism gives off such fantastic energy you can soak it up when you’re doing an exciting creative project or as a soothing balm if you’ve hit an obstacle in life. Being around the optimistic street dogs kept me positive and sane. Third – get out there and exercise! Dogs know how important it is to stay fit – but more than

that – they instinctively know you have to move all that natural build-up of tension and toxins right out of your body at least twice a day.

How have people reacted to your two books?

People mainly recognise me by my voice because I’ve been on ABC Radio for over 15 years talking about dogs. They stop, stare and run over and hug me and usually get a photo. Always surprises me! They love how I’ve given them insights into their dog and take all the baffling confusion out of their relationship. I’ve had some truly amazing shared confidences from people who previously only trusted dogs. These beautiful conversations always start with, ‘I’ve never told anyone else this before, but…’and they’ve gone on to tell me their most personal and emotional stories, knowing I won’t judge – just like their dog.

They say my books have given them a lot of peace and taken the shame out of their life.

I get wonderful poems, letters, emails and facebook messages from people thanking and assuring me they’re spreading the word about how to communicate better with dogs. Readers are amazing people and very generous with feedback!

What are the advantages for people in learning to communicate better with their dog?

If you can communicate well with a dog, then you can communicate well with everyone. As a kid I couldn’t make myself understood at all – but now dogs have taught me to be super-sensitive to the undercurrents in any conversation. Life is just easier and more fun if you can communicate easily. You become more confident – and boy, you won’t be afraid to try anything new, whether it’s relationships, friendships, pitching projects or trying for a better job!

What is a common mistake people make in communicating with their dog?

I guess not understanding dogs play a secret game with us and other dogs to see who should be in charge. There’s about 25 popular secret challenges dogs throw at you, your family, your visitors and other

12 - northerly magazine | november - december 2013

dogs – even your cat to see who should be Boss. If your dog wins the secret challenge, it wins a point. Whoever has the highest point score gets to be the Boss – it’s like the Basic Law of the Dog World. Some of these challenges you may mistake for affection – such as when your dog jumps up on you – but this is actually point-scoring.For example, jumping up on you might earn your dog 20 points while stepping on your toes might earn it two points or leaning against you one point – all things that have the dog invading your personal space.

Communication problems begin when you try to tell your dog to do something but it ignores you because it’s saying, ‘Nah, sorry – I have a higher point score than you,so you can’t tell me what to do.’

Learning how to win this secret game is actually really fun and easy – What’s Your Dog Telling You? published by ABC Books, shows you how. Naughty dogs just have too high a pointscore. Discovering how this secret game works was the greatest lesson I learned from the street dogs I lived with as a kid – suddenly it made sense of everything they did – and we all got on much better. Dogs feel very relieved when humans understand the secret dog game – you can see them think, ’Finally! You’re playing the one game that matters!’

PS.What will you write next?

I’m very excited that my memoir of being a street-kid has just been accepted by New York publishers, SkyHorse. Called The Boy Who Talked To Dogs it’s due out late next year.

Literary Feast, or Lost Love?

In defence of the Australian literary journal

By Zacharey Jane Imagine a feast, a smorgasbord, laid out before you. Amongst the oysters, smoked trout, delicate soufflés and fragrant sashimi there may also be cold chicken, sausages, potato salad and very possibly, hot chips. Eat them all and you’ll walk away in an uncomfortable state of culinary confusion. Sample here and there, seeking nourishment to your taste and you will walk away satisfied, refreshed, even inspired.

Now imagine that this smorgasbord is a banquet of words and you have envisaged the Australian literary journal. To assume that any one reader, wielding their personal subjectivity, should or would read a literary journal from cover to cover and finish with a uniform sense of satisfaction, is misguided.

In this much I agree with Robyn Annear’s article ‘Puzzling the purpose of Australian literary magazines’ (The Monthly, October 2013).

By accepting that not all content will satisfy a single reader, one must also accept that the writing showcased will be diverse.

Taking this premise one step further, it follows that the diversity will present pieces of differing style, quality and genre. But it is needlessly negative to conclude, as Annear does, that this represents ‘unevenness’, or creates a ‘disorientating’ publication.

Australian literary journals cater to myriad tastes in an effort to present what is relevant to Australian literature, at the time of publication.

Annear calls the literary journal ‘the hardest to swallow of literary art forms’, setting a tone of negativity that is at times confusing. Her main dissatisfaction seems to be with the quality of writing published, depicting emerging writers ‘groping towards’ publication. She cries ‘Hallelujah’ to the idea of the unwritten, but ironically supports her argument by quoting an article written by John Kinsella in, of all things, a literary journal (Island #132).

This insinuates that the editors of Australian literary journals are, for want of discernment or suitable submissions, publishing secondrate writing. According to Matthew Lamb, editor of Island and Review of Australian Fiction, great care is taken in the selection and editing of all submissions, despite gross understaffing and budget restrictions.

(David Brooks, from Southerly, goes further to say that much of their work is unpaid).

Lamb solicits content from ‘name’ authors

in order to draw readers in, pairing the established with unknown or emerging authors. This ploy is used across the arts.

Thus new writers become published writers, supported by the renown of established writers.

However, Lamb points out, ‘the end game is not to be published, but to be read’.

And what better place than a literary journal, surely the closest equivalent to the peer reviewed journals of academia, no anachronistic ‘artefact’, as Annear implies.

Consider, says Erica Sontheimer of the Griffith REVIEW, her journal’s syndication agreement with The Guardian, which sees fit to take their authors to millions of readers internationally. Nor is the Griffith REVIEW alone in the excellent company it keeps.

Tony Hughes-D’Aeth and Delys Bird, of Westerly, remind us that their journal first published ‘Kim Scott, Dorothy Hewett, Tim Winton, Randolph Stow, Elizabeth Jolley, Frank Moorhouse and many others’, as emerging writers. All editors bemoan that no writer can earn a living from literary journals, but agree that publication in print is a public vindication of the worth of their writing, as Westerly’s list would prove, and in this Westerly is not alone.

In fact, all literary journals contacted by northerly believed that far from being a negative, the diversity of literary content presented should be celebrated.

Nicholas Bray, from the Griffith REVIEW, believes that it becomes harder every year for new writers to be published, which must, by the most basic logic, lessen the scope of the Australian literary field. Jeff Sparrow, editor of Overland, commented that without literary journals there would be nowhere for emerging Australian poets to emerge to, begging the question of critics like Annear: should poetry not be published?

However, Annear claims that there ‘aren’t a lot’ of readers actually buying literary magazines and that their disappearance from the literary world would ‘discommode contributors, and potential contributors, far more than it would readers’. This is refuted

by Sparrow: whilst acknowledging that it is legitimate to expect journals to justify their raison d’être, he reveals that the circulation of Overland has risen steadily over the last five years. So much for reader

dissatisfaction.

But for the reluctant reader, imagine the literary journal as speed dating for those unwilling to commit to an entire novel. I recently purchased a copy of the Griffith REVIEW, particularly to read one wellknown author. That article was not to my taste, however I was mesmerised by a short story from an author I had never even heard of. Perhaps, heaven forbid, more government funding would enable editors to commission work from celebrated writers, which would increase sales, which would reduce the need for government funding?

But even as I write this, I feel a flare of enfranchised outrage: what is so wrong with government support for literary journals?

Remember the hullabaloo before the last election, about how much government funding the motor industry was to receive?

Not if, but how much. Industry cries ‘jobs!’ as the boy cried wolf, leaving the literary world to provide absolutely essential cultural identity, for a fraction of the cost.

We would not have the image of the good old Aussie battler without the writers who created it. And writers created Clancy, Dad and Dave, the Pickles and Lambs, Stan Parker, Bobby Wabalanginy and Sybylla Melvyn, amongst others.

Or is Annear’s argument that the $500,000 per year of government subsidies should go to support well-known writers? If so, who decides who gets the cash? Bureaucrats?

Is it not better to use this microscopic pot of money to showcase as many writers as possible, supporting a greater range of genres, styles and qualities, and let the reader decide?

Finally, I would place money on the certainty that anyone reading this article has attended a writers’ festival. As a frantic festival attendee, would you, should you, could you, take in every panel and every panelist? Of course not. One flits, happily, between venues, enjoying old favourites and sampling the new. Some panels will disappoint, some inspire and some, a mixture of both. The discussions and revelations of a writers’ festival are truly ephemeral, but after a wonderful weekend stomping down the kikuyu at say, Byron Bay, wouldn’t you just love to wrap it all up in a book and take it home to keep?

13 - northerly magazine | november - december 2013

My Life as a Book

Steve Bisley

I’ve got something to say! After thirty-five years of being an Actor and breathing life into other people’s stories, I had decided to write my own. It was a year ago, October 2012.

I had written ten pages of my life, a proposed memoir, earlier in the year and a friend of mine, an established author, had urged me to send the scant few pages to her publisher. A week later, I received an email from Catherine Milne at HarperCollins, saying she “would walk over broken glass” to work with me on this book.

So Stillways, an early memoir, was born.

It wasn’t until some months later that the same scant pages were discussed at an acquisition meeting and I was offered a contract and a small advance to write the book.

I went to bed later that night with visions of large mansions and exotic cars I would buy with the proceeds of the sales of the book. Tours would stop in the street outside my one bedroom flat and the guide would point and tell the curious passengers that this was the very place where Steve Bisley wrote the world’s bestselling book of all time, of course he doesn’t live there any more, (some say he’s in France, others claim Morocco), but wherever he is, they all agree, would be exotic and expensive.

I woke the next morning, still in Sydney.

I had a contract to write a book. I had someone who believed in me.

Right, I said to myself (I had to, I live alone).

How do I go from a lifetime of pretending, from taking my inspiration from the words of others,

to creating my own?

A small pig flew past my small kitchen window.

How do I become a writer?

What do I need?

A paper and a pencil and a deadline.

Keep it simple and get on with it.

I didn’t see the pig again.

My self-imposed deadline was six months and to get there I wrote for six hours a day, five days a week. I gave myself an unrealistic five-page target to achieve every day, I rarely met the target, but I tried like hell and it drove me forward.

“How do I go from a lifetime of pretending, from taking my inspiration from the words of others, to creating my own?”

I write longhand but at the end of each day I would transpose the writing onto my computer, which neatened the work and formalised it into a manuscript shape. That way I could identify the rhythms, which are very important in my writing, more clearly.

The challenges were always there, everyday, but each day I inched closer to my goal. Every chapter had a key and sometimes the keys took days to find, but once the door creaked open I was free to play, and play I did. There were times of dark frustration and times of pure ecstasy and I loved it.

14 - northerly magazine | november - december 2013

I was quite close to the end of the first draft and I had been discussing the cover design with Catherine. I had sent her some early black and white photos of times from my childhood.

She rang me one morning and said that the art department had a mock up of the cover design and that she really liked it. She sent me the email with the cover design attached and when I opened it I cried for five wet minutes, I cried a river. Thinking back on that day it was the sense that what I had written was actually, nearly, almost, the book I had lived with, dreamed about and imagined for almost six long months. I delivered the manuscript, six months and one week from the day I sat down to write. I took a week off and went to a mate’s place in beautiful Port Douglas and promised myself I would not think about writing. On the second night of my holiday, as I sat with friends over dinner, the idea for the next book, a novel, hit me right between the eyes. It’s another October and hopefully I will deliver it in six months and one week’s time.

I have days of dark frustration and times of pure ecstasy and I love it.

Stillways had its debut at the Byron Bay Writers’ Festival in August this year. It has had brilliant reviews and I am overjoyed by its success.

I’m not in Morocco yet, but, hey there’s still time!

How much luck does an author need?

Stephen Dando-Collins

A

crowd had gathered around a Sydney ad agency chief in a Singapore bar, as he regaled them with the story of a comedic novel he’d just read. They all roared with laughter.

As luck would have it, an English film producer was in the crowd, and he declared, “I’ve got to make that book into a movie!”

The book was my novel Finklestein’s Miracle. The producer eventually bought the film rights, and I made a lot of money. My luck was in. Then, in 1999, as shooting of the movie was about to begin in Ireland, the US financier of the film was arrested in Texas for money laundering.

Production was cancelled. My luck was out.

But, even today, the producer is determined to make that movie.

“Next year,” he keeps saying, every year. And, maybe next year my luck will turn. Because, in my experience, luck, good and bad, plays a major part in an author’s career. And bad luck often turns to good luck.

Another novel of mine, The Inquest, was published in the US by independent publisher i-Books.

Weeks after it was released, the publisher was killed in a car crash on Long Island. My novel sold quite well.

But, apart from pocket money from e-book sales, the rights to which I’d kept, I’ve never seen a cent from it.

Years on, the publisher’s estate, the publishing company and its creditors are still in litigation. That was my bad luck, although the publisher had even worse luck. One day, good luck will revive The Inquest, I’m sure.

Luck can turn around for you. It has for me. A while back, Wiley, another of my US publishers, commissioned me to write a nonfiction book to tie

in with the release of the next movie in the ‘300’ franchise, 300, Rise of the Empire. While the Warner Brothers movie will take liberties with history, my book, Rise of an Empire will tell the true story of how Themistocles of Athens led the Greek navy in defeating Xerxes’ invading Persians.

There was a stroke of luck; I’d been researching the same period in Greek history for two years, for another planned book. My book written and submitted, I waited as the August, 2013 release edged closer.

Then, bad luck. Really bad luck.

Last Christmas, Wiley announced they were closing several divisions, overnight. My book, along with 1,500 others, went into limbo. Then, in April, Turner Publishing announced they were purchasing the Wiley assets. They’d publish my book in March, 2014, to coincide with the new 300 movie’s planned DVD release. Yeehah!

August came and went, but the 300 movie wasn’t released. Bad luck? No, because then we learned that the movie’s release had been delayed, until March next year! My book will be coming out the same time as the movie after all. The good luck has returned! And the movie’s trailer is receiving millions of views on YouTube.

Another case in point. My agent just happened to pitch my latest Australian book, the warts and all political biography Sir Henry Parkes, the Australian Colossus, to Random House Australia when they were looking for a big Australian history title for Christmas 2013. They snapped it up.

Often, you can’t know when luck is going to go for you, or against you.

But, if I can give fellow authors one piece of advice, it’s ‘make your own

luck’. You see, I’d given that copy of Finklestein’s Miracle to the ad agency chief who raved about it in Singapore, hoping he’d talk about it to influential friends. And look what happened. Trust me, you can never give away enough free copies of your book.

And, if you don’t have your own website, get one. Mine is a luck magnet, attracting fans, publishers, movie-makers.

I’m developing another for my successful children’s book series, Caesar the War Dog. Pay for your own book launches.

Offer to speak at your local library, speak without fee at events. Be seen. Do whatever it takes to give your author’s luck every assistance.

One day, people will say, perhaps sounding envious of your success.

“Weren’t you lucky?”

You’ll nod, and smile, and know that you helped create that luck.

STEPHEN DANDO-COLLINS’ latest Australian book is Sir Henry Parkes, the Australian Colossus, (Knopf, hardback, $45), which, according to Geoffrey Robertson, is an important, long overdue warts and all biography of Australia’s most formidable politician.

15 - northerly magazine | november - december 2013

I

ntoxicating, heady, spicy: impossible to talk about the intense experience that is the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival without resorting to cliché.

Begun in 2004 to combat the negative effects on tourism the first Bali bombings occasioned in 2002, the Festival has flourished and matured magnificently on the international literary calendar.

Visitors from Byron Bay might notice a similarity in main program structure with that of the Byron Bay Writers’ Festival, and that is no coincidence. The BBWF mentored its Balinese sister Festival and Australian ex-pat founder Janet De Neefe acknowledges the support in those crucial fledgling developmental years. But venture beyond the set conversations and panel discussions and oh my goodness how the Festival swoops and soars in truly Balinese style!

As these pictures evince (thank you to the UWRF for providing access) the beauty and seductive glamour of the settings add nuance and sway to the feature events and cultural offerings that other Festivals would swoon to replicate.

I speak as one who knows: having

directly experienced 8 UWRFs and been creative director for 2, the challenges and surprises faced in this complex and evolving not for profit organisation are trumped and outweighed by the staggering generosity of the people, businesses and underbelly of Ubud. It was a privilege to return as a punter to the UWRF’s 10th birthday and to, inevitably and irrevocably, succumb to its delights.

I am a Festival director and accustomed to moments of intense illumination and surpassing beauty, but the feeling was at times unearthly.

Opening night at the Puri Ubud Palace set the seal on the days that were to follow. We have all seen golden images of temple dancers, wide of eye, delicate of frame, gilded and gleaming of garb.

In 2013, the dancers were of surpassing beauty and were augmented by a moving and silently eloquent procession of women carrying the statue and attributes of Saraswati, goddess of arts and sciences. Favourite moments for me occurred in the many wild and joyous free events, including Jalan Monster in which the monsters and demons of

16 - northerly magazine | november - december 2013

Bali were brought to life by Indonesia’s hottest contemporary artists, Saturday night’s Jalan Kajeng street party with dance, music and hilarity, the boisterous Poetry Slam hosted by Australia’s current slam champion, CJ Bowerbird and Monday night’s heartstopping film and music extravaganza at the Blanco Renaissance Museum, Long Way Home.

Clare Bowditch, Tommy Spender, Yeshe Reiners: glorious.

The UWRF is a team event and we congratulate Janet De Neefe, Summa Durie, Kadek Purnami, Wayan Juniartha, Ida Bagus Putra Wira Adnyana et al ( and there are a lot of “al”) for a kaleidoscopic celebration of words and ideas. Writers Festivals are proliferating and it seems the desire to connect with communities of thinkers is global and urgent. To my mind, none make this connection more elegantly than the Byron Bay Writers’ Festival and the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival. Of course, I may be biased: visit both and make up your own mind. I’ll be there: heaven.

S

he’s leaving home, bye bye…

This is the second time I’ve written that line in reference to departing from the Chair at the Northern Rivers Writers’ Centre and scampering away from the smorgasbord of words, writing, books and ideas that is my daily fare and nourishment. And now, just as in 2010, I’m about to pack my little wheelie bag and rush away to stop and stare and think on the other side of the world. But not for ever: happily at the end of January I will return to Byron, obediently standing in the wings and ready to perform whatever work our illustrious incoming Director, Edwina Johnson and our stalwart Committee require. But that’s not all: along with standing in the wings and immersing in a three month Ashtanga yoga intensive, I will be wearing the batik patterned hat of Director of Ideas Festival, the culmination of Oz Fest Indonesia 2014. What is this, I hear you ask?

Oz Fest is an annual initiative mounted by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade through the Australian International Cultural Council, each year focusing on a specific country of interest.

In 2014, that country is Indonesia n and the mission is to provide a professionally curated program featuring the very best and most innovative of Australia’s creative talent. Performance and presentations and exhibitions will take place across the vast and diverse archipelago, culminating in mid May with an Ideas Festival designed to populate several venues in Indonesia’s heaving capital Jakarta, with compelling thinkers and leaders both Australian and Indonesian. Challenging? You betcha. It’s a constant battle to keep that batik from

slipping over one eye!

Mid October I made a flying visit to Jakarta, which turned into a crawling, creeping visit as I trawled through the muddy, sticky, cruel traffic that transforms one of the most densely peopled cities in the world into an eternal and surreal car park, in search of venues. Jakarta has a way of turning assumptions, or at least mine, on their heads, so that I returned to Bali with greatly altered programming expectations. Colouring my perception was the massive KPK , Indonesian Corruption Eradication Commission, demonstration that swarmed Jakarta as I left. Fascinating to see one of the demonstrators leading his large pet monkey, clad like his keeper in blue shirt and blue bandana. Both held banners.

Not only am I not in Byron any more, barely felt like the same planet.

At the core of the Ideas Festival will be conversations and panels that examine what it is that defines a good society and how closely Australia fits that definition. The program will dedicate itself to dialogue and exchange and I am committed to presenting Australia as an inclusive and innovative nation in which substantive and intelligent debate is not only encouraged but is part and parcel of our cultural identity.

To my absolute delight, and pathetically grateful relief, my Australian collaborators in Oz Fest Indonesia 2014, are very well known to me. The Festival Producer is the inimitable Ali Donellan, who joined me at the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival in 2012 as an Asialink resident. Ali is possibly the person I would like to be if I wasn’t me and wasn’t allowed to be Cate Blanchett or Phryne Fisher. Ex-Cultural Partnerships Manager of Brisbane

Powerhouse, Ali has worked extensively through Asia and is best described as formidable. She has to be. Ably assisting her as Associate Producer is Jane Fuller, who was my Executive Producer in Ubud for two years and is the most capable, cherished and thorough workmate one could ever hope to have, other than Sarah Ma of course. And keeping us diplomatically decorous is totally unflappable First Secretary (Cultural) at the Australian Embassy, Jakarta, Vicki Miller. Three Musketeers plus one. I tell you, it’s a whole new world.

Politics, religion, economics, technology, future leaders, contemporary culture, ethics, science and innovation, our planet, food and fashion: my brain’s scrambling in multiple directions like an over stimulated crab. What an absolute privilege to be entrusted with this role, she said, clutching at that batik hat with both hands.

Om Swastyastu, till next we meet.

17 - northerly magazine | november - december 2013

SCU Page A showcase of SCU student work, compiled by Dr Lynda Hawryluk

A Moment

by Michelle (Woo Wei) Richards The Prime Minister stood with the CEO. They had made the joint announcement and fielded questions from the packed media gallery. They were about to vacate the podium and go through the door, where rapid-fire photographers could no longer shoot and capture them.

Holding his own hand behind his back, the Prime Minister just managed a smile. Remembering he wasn’t to appear as if his hands were tied, he let go, and was about to adopt the gunslinger stance, when in his gut a feeling made of lead dropped. He had forgotten something.

The Prime Minister’s hands dangled. In a flash of memory he saw his two business-suited personal trainers demonstrating the pre-announcement gesture. Again he felt the movements in his body, as he had practised them in his closed office. He was the Prime Minister. He had forgotten to perform the ‘newsworthy’ gesture. He would still have to adopt the pose.

On an inward breath, the Prime Minister refreshed his smile, reached with his left hand, put his palm flat onto the CEO’s upper-back, and bent his head in an I’m-listening-to-you action.

A moment is the time it takes to make a gesture.

In a moment, the Prime Minister heard the shutter-clicking frenzy and saw, despite the staccato burst of glaring flashes, the CEO opening his mouth in mimed-speech. Together, they completed the agreed-on picture; the tableau vivant of responsive government. Out of the stream of possible images, the media would choose this one. It would surf the next wave of hard and virtual front pages.

The Prime Minister would survive another day.

Taming of the Lionesses

by Sharon Fearnside-Hunter

The cake she served for morning tea was chocolate and sticky, decorated with rose petals from her garden and cinnamon quills and served on a wooden platter. Morning tea became an all-day affair. We sat on two-dollar-shop chairs on the unpainted rickety veranda, tin roof creaking as it heated up, a breeze blowing through the mulberry tree. The old blue heeler wheezed and farted under the table while we patted her with our feet. She was tall and beautiful in a vintage dress and bare feet, a brushing of flour on her face, chipped wine glass in her hand. Chattering like lorikeets, we nibbled and sipped. We took to the day beds in the cool afternoon to doze and listen to Rumours, smoking and laughing, more like the dog under the table than the fierce warrior lionesses we once were. We clink glasses. More cake? ****** We met when she was a waitress. I envied her. She laughed and carried four plates at a time, flicking waist length blonde hair.

I worked in an office; no amount of hair flicking made that interesting. Hunting fun we spent late nights drinking at the Bourbon with football stars and transvestites, danced under the mirror ball at The Site, ate dumplings and sipped bitter green tea at a hole-in-the-wall Chinese café. Then, teetering into the pale early morning light, we’d fall into a taxi, lionesses in their steel cage speeding away from an asphalt savannah, back into the suburbs. ****** We drink coffee. I like her coffee and she likes mine. I’m a Vietnamese handmade ceramic cup with no handles, she’s a pottery mug from Sweden. She says we are coffee snobs and laughs. There was a falling out over coffee. Her sister served instant and she refused to drink it. Said she would have tea instead. They still don’t drink coffee together. There is often an uncomfortable moment at the end of dinner, ‘anyone for coffee’ the sister says, ‘and, oh, or tea’ and looks her in the eye. ****** In the evening the veranda’s familiar shadows flicker in the glow of tea-lights. We sit on day beds, legs crossed. No more hunting for these lionesses. We clink glasses. More wine?

Remembering Sinai

By Paula McDougall I remember sitting quietly, waist deep in sparkling clean water, legs splayed. I waved to my friends who were snorkelling further out from the shore. I remember darting silvery flashes swirling between my nut-brown legs. Exotic tropical fish I had only ever seen pictures of in dog-eared books with maps of far flung colonies coloured rose garden pink. I remember looking across the Gulf of Aqaba to the secretive mountains of Saudi Arabia. I remember the black soldier from the nearby American army base who appeared unexpectedly. He offered me fruit. Perhaps he was lonely. I felt uneasy. I remember I scanned the beach for signs of life and there 18 - northerly magazine | november - december 2013

was none. No buildings. No traffic. Nothing but tangerine sand and shimmering air. Dead. Quiet. I heard distant animated voices and through the quivering haze I saw a small group of Bedouins walking towards me along the shore. As they neared one of the men’s kufiyas slipped to his shoulders and I was surprised to see he had dirty blonde hair. He glanced at me and in that fleeting moment I thought I saw Jesus Christ. I remember he was beautiful.

I dropped my gaze as the men continued their journey to god knows where. As quickly as they had arrived, they were gone. My companion’s squeals drew my attention back to the sea which I noticed wasn’t Red at all.

Events Germaine Greer delivers photos by Greg Saunders She came, she spoke, she signed, she delivered: Germaine Greer’s White Beech presentation was a triumph and all who sat in the Byron Community Centre Theatre were rewarded with an hour long lesson in conservation and Australian flora and fauna, spoken in her trademark direct and take no prisoners prose.

Her encyclopaedic knowledge of the native plants and introduced species on her patch of Gondwana Rainforest is staggering and it was an honour to witness her passion for and commitment to the land she has so painstakingly restored to health. Q & A’s were eagerly batted to and fro and not surprisingly Germaine’s forthright views and avowals elicited feisty responses. For those present on the night, a personalised copy of White Beech: the rainforest years was a perfect way of continuing the dialogue. The signing queue was long and Germaine was at pains to answer every individual question and genuinely engaged with all who had something to say, a story to share or a question to ask. The Northern Rivers Writers’ Centre is deeply grateful to Bloomsbury, publisher of White Beech and to the inimitable Germaine Greer, who gave so warmly of her time and intelligence. We can’t think of a more appropriate Christmas gift than this timely and informative book.

Christmas at Feros Every Christmas, all of us at Feros Care, including our reluctant children, go on the travelling holiday roadshow “Griswald style” to each residential village of Byron Bay, Bangalow and Wommin Bay at Kingscliff. CEO Jennene Buckley, says “Our Christmas carolling is my absolutely favourite thing to do every year”.

We have a fun day of singing to our residents, who really do enjoy the carols, the children, the red and white dress-up and general festivities. Our troupe walks around each of the villages, singing in the corridors, visiting each room and dining rooms where we stop and sing 3 or 4 carols during morning tea. For the staff, it is heart-warming and fun, a chance to be a bit silly at what can be an emotional time for seniors. Our Feros residents are very polite in listening to us, however some have been known to put their hands over their ears at our singing! – it is the silly season after all. If we do have babies in tow there are a lot of cuddles and sometimes tears, as Christmas can evoke many memories of friends, family , partners and loved ones passed away, as well as good memories of happiness of course.

Feros Care reminds those in the community that if they have a senior neighbour, friend or loved one to make a special effort to pop in and visit, have a cuppa and a chat and let the festive season get the better of you : maybe even invite them over for a Christmas meal! www.feroscare.com.au 19 - northerly magazine | november - december 2013

Kids’ page

Wendy Orr in The Writer’s Studio Wendy Orr is a fascinating character. She lived in many parts of the world as a child and survived a life-changing accident as an adult. She writes books about ‘the resilience of the human spirit; finding the courage we need to face adversity’.

Wendy is the legendary author of the book Nim’s Island, adapted into a feature film starring Jodie Foster and the recently adapted sequel, Nim at Sea, starring Bindi Irwin. Here, Wendy invites us into her writing space, giving an intimate portrait of her writing environment and process.

Where did you write your latest book?

Mostly at this desk, but also at my parents’ house on an island near Vancouver, hotel rooms in New York and Boston and waiting at the hairdressers.

How important to you is the space that you write in?

Having my office the way I want it is important to me – but the actual writing I can do anywhere, as long as it’s quiet and I can sit in some comfort.

Do you transform your space in any way for each book?

I put pictures and small objects etc. up on my windowsill and the

desk, maps and larger pictures on the door and collect photos for a screensaver. So for a recent book, Raven’s Mountain, I had pictures of mountains, waterfalls, bears etc.

Do you ‘get into character’ at all?

Mostly in an inner way, going inside myself to find what the character is feeling, but I also work out some things physically – like actually climbing in the kitchen window. It’s surprisingly awkward to get in and out of the sink!

How has the place that you write evolved or changed since you first began writing novels?

This is our fourth home since I started writing – so I started on an old laminex table that the previous owners of our farm had left behind, on a built-in veranda.

Our next farmhouse had a strange, skinny office, where I had an IKEA desk and faced a brick wall, which I completely covered with pictures to set the scene for each book. So when we built this house, I put a lot of care into designing the office. And as I’ve been writing for over 20 years, the office is now crammed with book and film souvenirs, awards, book covers etc – all things that make me happy.

20 - northerly magazine | november - december 2013

Do you keep regular writing hours? What are they? If not, when do you write?

I read my emails before breakfast and answer the urgent overseas ones immediately, so I can catch people before they leave work for the day. Then I walk the dog and start work after that – I’ve got into the habit of checking Twitter and Facebook as well as emails before I actually start writing, but try to then switch those all off while I’m working. I try to make sure I stand up and stretch (or hang up washing etc) every half hour, and then walk the dog again around 4pm, then work through till about 6pm. In theory that’s when I do emails, but often I continue writing. On the weekends I try to catch up on emails and readers’ letters.

For more on Wendy and her latest series Rainbow Street Pets, check out her FAQ with lots of readers’ questions at www.wendyorr.com or swing by Wendy’s blog http:// wendyorrjournal.blogspot.com.

Interview by Tristan Bancks www.tristanbancks.com

From the reading chair Finding your rhythm Editor Laurel Cohn clarifies the importance of stylistic individuality.

“Do you mean to say that all writing needs to be in short sentences and trimmed to within an inch of its life?

What’s wrong with long sentences? Or sentences with two adjectives in a row?”

This was the question from a workshop participant in Sydney earlier this year (let’s call him Scott). I had spoken about the need to trim and tighten text to avoid ‘overwriting’ – unnecessary repetition, overstatement, too many adverbs and adjectives, too much detail, too much exposition, too much back story. And I had quoted other writers and editors who counsel the same thing. Carmel Bird in Dear Writer says, “Strangely enough, the strength of fiction seems to lie as much in what is left out as in what is included; as much in the spaces between the words as in the words.” The American writer Brian Kiteley suggests that writers should train themselves to leave out as much as they put into a story. The writer and editor William Zinsser’s theory is that “writing improves in direct ratio to the number of things we can keep out of it.”Stephen King talks of the 10% rule – you should be able to cut your text by 10% after the first draft without losing anything necessary.

But it was a fair question, and alerted me to the possibility of an emerging writer misinterpreting the ‘less is more’ message. Trimming and tightening text does not necessarily result in clipped sentences with barely an image in sight, it is however an important principle to ensure that every word on the page is there for a good reason and works to support the story development (fiction or non-fiction). There is plenty of room in the publishing world for a variety of writing styles. It’s all about finding your rhythm, and the rhythm that suits the story you are telling.

I was reminded of Scott’s question after I recently read two very different novels back to back: Philip Roth’s American Pastoral(1997) and Rachel Joyce’s The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (2012).

American Pastoral is Roth’s eighth novel, and I have to confess to being a confirmed Roth fan. The novel won the

Pulitzer Prize in 1998 and was included in Time’s 100 Greatest Novels. Harold Fry, on the other hand, is Joyce’s first novel, although she is an award-winning radio playwright. The novel was long-listed for the 2012 Man Booker Prize, and Joyce won the UK National Book Award for New Writer of the Year.

Roth creates a particular rhythm in his prose by often using very long sentences with clauses that cascade over each other building a carefully constructed scene or description or idea. Roth’s writing reminds me of jazz, where a soloist may produce a long run of seemingly rambling and unpredictable notes that are carefully shaped and punctuated to portray a feeling, a mood, a thought. When you get used to Roth’s style, you ride the solos with him and allow yourself to be taken into his way of seeing things.

It’s not always comfortable, but always rewarding. As the quote on the cover says, “…raging and elegiac.”

says in Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting, “Story is about principles, not rules.

A rule says, ‘You must do it this way.’ A principle says, ‘This works… and has through all remembered time.’”

So think of trimming and tightening text as a principle, find your own rhythm and make it work for you and your story – therein lies the challenge.

LAUREL COHN is an editor and mentor passionate about communication and the power of narrative to engage, inspire and challenge. Since the late 1980s she has been helping writers develop their stories and prepare their work for publication, and is a popular workshop presenter. www.laurelcohn.com.au

In contrast, Joyce’s writing is more like folk music, where the harmonic structure is usually predictable, the melodic range is limited, and the overall effect is satisfying but rarely challenging. As the quote on the cover says, “touching and charming.” I in no way mean that this style of music or writing is less worthy or effective or skilful than Roth’s jazz style (or any other genre), it is simply different: it appeals to a different audience and produces different types of works that are appropriate to the stories being told (in words or music). A multiplicity of styles is no less important in writing as it is in music.

Both Roth and Joyce are successful writers (although at different stages of their careers) and you can be sure that both laboured long and hard at trimming and tightening their texts.

They found the rhythms that were appropriate to their own ways of seeing and forms of storytelling. There are no rules in writing about sentence length or numbers of adjectives and adverbs.

It’s not about rules. As Robert McKee 21 - northerly magazine | november - december 2013

NEWS NEWS The Editing Firm Gillian Stern joins M J Hyland & Trevor Byrne at the Hyland & Byrne Editing Firm for the launch of an intensive & inspiring Mentoring Programme for writers of fiction & non-Fiction.

The Hyland & Byrne Editing Firm announced the launch of a new mentoring program. The mentorships will run over six, twelve or eighteen months and are designed for writers at all levels of experience and for works of fiction at any stage, from first draft, to a manuscript being prepared for publication.

The Editing Firm, run by award-winning author M J Hyland and acclaimed novelist and short-story writer, Trevor Byrne, is also pleased to announce that Gillian Stern will be a key part of the mentoring team. Gillian is an experienced editor who works with major publishers, including Bloomsbury and Orion, and will join Hyland & Byrne as a freelance, consultant editor.

Three types of mentorships are available: Polish Your Book for Publication, Finish Your Book, and Write Your First Serious Work. Each programme is designed to recreate the best of the traditional editor/author relationship, providing a sustained critical dialogue over many months and all mentorships, long or short, are custommade to help writer’s produce their best work. The Hyland and Byrne mentoring model also incorporates the best of the workshop model, used by M J Hyland in the Centre for New Writing at the University of Manchester. All writers will be given writing exercises, guided reading, and all the craftdevelopment techniques used in a post-

graduate creative writing programmes.

'In the past, great literary editor/writer relationships were common – Lish and Carver, Maxwell and O Connor,' said M J Hyland. ‘Our mentorships are modelled on these inspirational writer/ editor relationships, as well as our own experience with leading editors. Gillian Stern is one of the most highly acclaimed editors working in the UK today and we’re honoured to have her as part of the team.’

‘Gillian Stern is one of the UK's most highly regarded editors. She has edited several award-winning novels, working on Bloomsbury's literary list and with literary agencies such as Curtis Brown, Conville & Walsh and A M Heath. Before becoming a fiction editor, Gillian spent fifteen years as a Commissioning Editor of non-fiction, and later as a Publisher, specialising in Criminology and Criminal Justice.

For more information please contact Alex Ruczaj, info@editingfirm.com or visit our website: www.editingfirm.com

Griffith REVIEW Novella Project 2 Submissions for the Griffith REVIEW Novella Project 2 are now open, once again supported by the Copyright Agency. The competition is open to citizens and residents of Australia and New Zealand.

A one-page outline or summary of the proposed Novella, along with a sample of writing, must be emailed (in Microsoft Word format) to griffithreview@griffith. edu.au no later than 31 January 2014.

Griffith REVIEW 46: Novella Project 2: Forgotten Stories will explore in fiction forgotten stories with an historical dimension, delving beyond the

handful of iconic tales that have grown threadbare.

The massive migration of the past generation is not only changing Australia but reviving the need to find new ways to tell forgotten stories that are part of a shared but often overlooked cultural heritage of this country. Forgotten Stories will redefine what it means to be Australian in the twenty-first century.

Authors must initially submit a project outline and evidence of prior writing no later than 31 January, 2014. The entry fee ($50, or $35 for current Griffith REVIEW subscribers) will be used to cover the administrative costs of conducting this competition. The complete Terms & Conditions of entry can be found here: http://griffithreview.com/ Submission is limited to Australian and New Zealand authors.

Deadline for submissions: 31 January 2014, early submissions encouraged.

Publication date: late October 2014.

Society of Women Writers NSW The next meeting of the Society of Women Writers NSW Inc will be Wednesday13 November, 2013.

Venue: Dixson Room, State Library of NSW, Macquarie St. Workshop: ‘What makes good writing?’ (10am - 11.50am) Presenter: Wendy Michaels.

Literary Lunch: Biennial Book Awards.

(12.30- 1pm). Guest Speaker: Valerie Khoo–Sydney Writers Centre.

Cost: $50 members / $55 non-members.

Workshop only: $20 members/$30 nonmembers. Special Lunch & Workshop price: $65/$80. Bookings required before 11 November.

Email: swwlunchbooking@gmail.com

Australian Poetry Slam There was an amazing collection of talent at the finals this year! Competition was extremely tough. Pictured is this year’s winner Jesse Brand, from Newcastle. To view a video of his performance go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXf-3O9nyGQ&feature=youtu.be

22 - northerly magazine | november - december 2013

WORKSHOPS WORKSHOPS Creative blogging with Megan Kinninment

Travel writing in the 21st Century with Claire Scobie

The Great Story Scavenger Hunt with Melaina Faranda

When: Saturday 23 November, 10am-4pm Where: SCU Room, Byron Community Centre Cost: $75 members/ $95 non-members

When: Saturday 7 December, 10am-4pm Where: SCU room, Byron Community Centre Cost: $75 members, $95 non-members

We all have a story to tell. Whether you are an emerging author looking to build a marketing platform; a creative with a passion you want to share with the world or a journalist-in-the-making, blogging is a place to start.

In this one-day workshop, experienced journalist, digital producer and blogger, Megan Kinninment will guide you through the basics of establishing a blog.

The workshop will cover storytelling techniques she has honed through years of news reporting, feature writing and blogging through to the technical side of online publishing, including visual storytelling methods that will have your readers coming back for more.

Blogging is not only an ideal tool for building a brand and growing a client base, it is also a powerful and fun medium to express and enhance your creativity, discover your writing voice.

This workshop is suitable for those wanting to tell their creative, business, personal or community story in their own, unique voice.

By the end of the day you will have been shown how to develop and produce blog posts; introduced to the basics of designing, editing and customising your blog and shown how to develop an editorial/content plan brimming with ideas to see you through the next leg of your blogging journey.

With the rapid evolution in online communication, travel writing is changing– and changing fast. Today, travel writers are thinking about their brand, their image, their next blog post.

Claire shows you how to navigate through this new world while crafting compelling stories, giving participants a broad understanding of travel writing in magazines, newspapers, blogs and online.

The workshop covers how to develop an idea and turn it into a polished piece of work, how to craft a story and evoke a sense of place, the use of photographs, revising, structuring and editing.

Who: for young writers 9-13 years When: Friday 24 January 2014, 10am – 4pm Where: SCU Room, Byron Community Centre Cost: $40 NRWC Family members, $50 others

Claire Scobie is an award-winning journalist and author who has lived and worked in the UK, India and now Sydney.

Her first book, Last Seen in Lhasa, won the Dolman Best Travel Book Award in 2007.

Penguin published her first novel, The Pagoda Tree, in mid-2013.

Spot a woman with a butterfly tattoo, count how many things you can smell between the bakery and the gelateria, describe the colour of the sea without using the word blue, spy on passers-by and write their possible secrets… Welcome to the Great Story Scavenger Hunt! Come embark on a crazy adventure with children’s author, Melaina Faranda, as she leads you on a young writers’ excursion into Byron.

Equipped with pens, clipboards and a checklist for what to look out for, you and your fellow story scavengers will be hunting down images, ideas, characters, sense impressions, settings, and descriptions to bring back to the workshop room and weave into your own fantastic story with Melaina’s expert guidance.

Melaina Faranda is the international author of twenty-nine books for children and young adults. Melaina infuses her teaching with a vitality, generosity, acuity and unfailing sense of fun that consistently garners rave feedback from course participants.

She conducts creative writing workshops and masterclasses throughout Australia.

.Megan Kinninment works as a journalist, digital producer and as weekend chief -of-staff with the Northern Star newspaper and she blogs on creativity, community and simple living at www.thebyronlife.com

23 - northerly magazine | november - december 2013

Opportunities Varuna’s Publisher Introduction Program2014 A pathway to publication Varuna’s unique Publisher Introduction Program (PIP) is one of Australia’s most dynamic literary partnerships, opening important doors for exceptional new writers in a creative, collaborative process that aims to deliver finely honed manuscripts to leading publishers. PIP gives 13 selected writers of novels, short stories, poetry and non-fiction the chance to nurture their manuscripts to publication stage with: •Private writing time in an environment of guidance, community and conversation – awardees will receive a one-week residency at Varuna, the National Writers’ House in the World Heritage Blue Mountains, between June and August 2014.

•A literary mentor – you will be matched with a mentor who understands manuscript development and knows the publishing process. You will have a one-hour consultation on your manuscript during the residency and again when you have completed the manuscript.

•A date with a publisher – when your manuscript is completed, it will be read by one of seven leading Australian publishers: Allen and Unwin, Pan Macmillan, Picaro Press, Random House, Scribe Publications, Text Publishing or UQP. Your writing mentor will support you in the process of presenting your final manuscript to the publisher for their consideration.

Who should apply?

They encourage writers working on the development of a new work of fiction, narrative non-fiction or writing for young adults to apply for PIP. Drafts submitted may be for full-length works, novellas, short stories, and/or poetry. Projects may be at any stage of development but you do need to be confident of your direction and voice for the work and be able to show clear evidence of this within your submitted pages.

For full details and to apply, visit Varuna’s website: www.varuna.com.au and go to the Publisher Introduction Program.

Applications close: 28 November

Citizen Journalism Writing a news story is like writing a country music song – deceptively simple.

Yet it’s a fantastic skill to master for anyone willing to apply themselves to the task.

A new citizen journalism experiment has been launched online and its editor, local journalist and author Stephanie Dale, is calling for volunteers – anyone who wants to learn a) how to write news stories and b) the craft of journalism from experienced professionals.

The No Fibs citizen journalism experiment

was launched during the recent federal election by former Sydney Morning Herald journalist Margo Kingston, in conjunction with Macquarie University.

About 25 citizen journalists (CJs) filed reports from the seats where they lived throughout the campaign – and No Fibs were first political media to recognise the importance of the Voice for Indi campaign, which unseated the Liberal Party’s Sophie Mirabella (who had held the safe seat for 12 years and required a 9% swing to defeat her).

Riding high on the success of its CJs during the 2013 election coverage, No Fibs recently launched its second project: reporting on the CSG campaign that has unified Australians.

“The CSG campaign is the biggest grassroots movement to emerge in recent history,” said Stephanie, who reported for No Fibs during the 2013 election on former Queensland premier Peter Beattie’s bid for the seat of Forde.

“For the first time in a very long time, we have environmentalists lining up alongside farmers in a united cause that crosses cultural, political and social divides.

“We are at a pivotal point for the future of both mining and the environment in this country.

“The decisions made now by our political representatives will decide once and for all whether and how mining rules our lives, and the costs we’re willing to wear for our land, our

24 - northerly magazine | november - december 2013

Opportunities water and our communities.”

Stephanie said No Fibs intended to have reporters on the ground around the nation, reporting on the CSG campaigns in their regions.

“Reporters write the first drafts of history,” she said.

Stephanie said No Fibs’ CJs were mentored by professionals and stories filed were edited by experts.

She said CJs could choose to write news stories, feature articles and/or opinion pieces – and would be offered guidance about the art of writing any or all of these news formats.

News writing is the snappy art of capturing who, what, when, where and why in the one sentence, she said.

“These skills are applicable to a range of tasks faced by writers, even creative writers and novelists,” she said.

These include writing grants, pitch documents for publishers or promotional materials for newly published books (such as media releases) – as well as the developing the skills of critical thinking and relationship building, as No Fibs’ CJs are required to uphold Australia’s Journalists’ Code of Ethics.

“The No Fibs’ citizen journalism experiment is an exciting new addition to the Australian online media landscape,” she said.

“It’s an adventure – and anyone who’d like to try their hand at reporting for a credible media player is welcome to enter our brave new world.”

For more information on No Fibs visit www.nofibs.com.au * Stephanie Dale is a former journalist with The Northern Star and the author of two books.

She is the editor of the No Fibs CSG citizen journalism experiment.

Competitions

Australian Love Stories 2014 In the wake of the success of Australian Love Poems 2013, Inkerman & Blunt Publishers has decided to create a trilogy of Australian love, to explore love through the written word in all its versatility. Australian Love Stories 2014 will be proof that prose is as capable as poetry of delving into the rawest truths and secrets about passion, infatuation and sensuality.

Editor Cate Kennedy seeks stories that explore all aspects of amatory love: the dark and the light of it; the holy mess of it; the beginning and the end; the ferocity and tenderness; the way it unmakes us, as we make it; the emptiness it leaves when it leaves. Submissions must be your own, unpublished work and submitted as a hard-copy postmarked by 28 February 2014. http://inkermanandblunt.com/home/

Pantera Press An Australian publishing house focussed on quality fiction for an international audience, is actively seeking submissions: http://www. panterapress.com.au/fiction-and-non-fictionhow-to-submit

The David T. K. Wong Fellowship Award £26, 000 This is a year-long residential fellowship with an award of £26,000. Applications will be considered from established published as well as unpublished writers of any age and any nationality and will be awarded to a writer planning to produce a work of prose fiction in English which deals seriously with some aspect of life in the Far East.

Applicants must submit 2,500 words of unpublished work which they plan to undertake during the fellowship.All application forms and full details are available at: http://www.uea.ac.uk/lit/fellowships/ david-wong-fellowship Applications close: 13 January 2014

EJ Brady Mallacoota Prize for Short Stories 2013 The EJ Brady Mallacoota prize for writing short stories is contested Australia-wide and this year the Mallacoota Arts Council has increased the major prize to $2000 for the winner, with $200 for the runner-up, and the prize of $500 for the shorter story category.

The competition offers a choice of entering a work up to 700 words limit, or a major story of up to 2500 words. www.artsmallacoota.org.

Closing Date: 15 November

The Overland Judith Wright Poetry Prize For new and emerging poets is proudly sponsored by the Malcolm Robertson Foundation Major prize: $6000 Second prize: $2000 Third prize: $1000 The judge for the 2013 competition is Overland poetry editor, Peter Minter. The award is open to poets who have not yet had a solo collection of their work commercially published: that is, by a publishing house with commercial distribution. Winners will be announced in Overland 214, autumn 2014. http://overland.org.au/prizes/poetry-prizeguidelines/ Closing date: 16 November

Peter Porter Poetry Prize The Peter Porter Poetry Prize 2014 is now open. This year we are encouraging poets to enter online with entry open to all poets, not just Australians. The Peter Porter Poetry Prize is one of Australia’s most lucrative and respected awards for poetry, and guarantees winners wide exposure through publication in ABR. First prize: $4000 https://www.australianbookreview.com.au/ prizes/ Closing date: 20 November 2013

Busybird’s Great Novella Search The novella form includes such classics as Animal Farm, Of Mice and Men, The Old Man and the Sea, and A Clockwork Orange. It’s also a form of storytelling that Busybird is keen to re-popularise, and your novella could be next!

The winner will receive $1000 and their book will be published in both hardcopy and digital formats. Entries must be from 20,000-40,000 words, in any genre. Entry fee: $25. Entries open 1 August and close 29 November.

This competition is open only to residents of Australia and New Zealand.

Closing Date: 29 November

Northern Rivers Competition

Short

Film

Filmmakers form across the region are invited to submit their short films up to 30min in length, of any genre. If you have a film produced in the Northern Rivers or about the Northern Rivers you can enter. Byron All Shorts celebrates the filmmaking talent of the Northern Rivers region and encourages audiences to experience the many amazing films and local stories that are produced here

Competitions each year.

Byron All Shorts finalists will screen on the 25th January at Bangalow A&i Hall;.alongside the best in the world at Flickerfest - Australia’s only Academy® accredited International short film festival.

Info & Entry Forms at: www.iQ.org.au Closing date: 29 November

National Seniors Literary Prize National Seniors Australia and publishing powerhouse Random House Australia are working together to give one lucky writer, aged 50 years and over, the opportunity to make their mark in the world of publishing.

The National Seniors Literary Prize 2014 will be awarded to a work of fiction based on the theme of ‘reflections’. Random House and National Seniors are giving you the opportunity to be creative so this theme can be integrated into your storyline or your novel’s structure!

The winner of the National Seniors Literary Prize will receive: $2,000 prize money, a three year membership to National Seniors Australia , a complete cover design for their manuscript, professional editing by Random House Australia plus E-book publication of their manuscript, 12 printed copies of their novel and the opportunity for print-ondemand versions of their book . http://www.nationalseniors.com.au/page/ Membership/National_Seniors_Literary_Prize Closing date: 29 November

Calibre Prize 2014 Australian Book Review seeks entries for the eighth Calibre Prize for an Outstanding Essay, the country’s premier award for an original essay. The Calibre Prize is intended to generate brilliant new essays and to foster new insights into culture, society, and the human condition. We welcome essays from leading authors and commentators, but also from emerging writers. All non-fiction subjects are eligible.

Full details about how to enter and eligibility can be found on the ABR website at: www.australianbookreview.com.au/prizes/ calibreprize First prize: $5000 Closing Date: 2 December

25 - northerly magazine | november - december 2013

WRITERS’ GROUPS

Alstonville Plateau Writers Group Meets 2nd Tuesday of the Month. 10am to 12pm. All genres welcome. Contact Christine 66288364 or Kerry 66285662.

Ballina/Byron U3A Creative Writing Contact ph. Jan 0404 007 586. Meets at 12.00pm every second Wednesday, Fripp Oval Ballina.

Bangalow Writers Group Contact Alexandra Williams williams.alexandra@ymail. com. Meets 9.45am- 12.00pm, first Thursday of the month, Scout Hall, Bangalow.

Bellingen Writers Group Contact David Breaden (president) on 02 6699 3888 or email davidmb@wirefree.net.au. Meets at Bellingen Golf Club on the fourth Monday of the month at 2.00pm. All welcome.

Baywrite Theatre Inc. Contact Udo Moerig on 02 6680 9698 or go to www. baywrite.com. Reading and comment on new scripts 1st Saturday each month.

Workshopping of selected scripts 4th Tuesday each month.

Casino Writers Group Contact Brian Costin 02 6624 2636 or email briancostin129@ hotmail.com. Meets 3rd Thursday of the month 4pm at the Casino Library.

Cloudcatchers Contact Quendryth Young on 02 6628 3753 or email quendrythyoung@bigpond.com. For haiku enthusiasts, a ginko (haiku walk) is undertaken according to group agreement.

Coffs Harbour Writers Group Contact Lorraine Mouafi on 02 6653 3256 or email lmproject@bigpond.com . Meets 1st and 3rd Thursday of month, 10.30am–12.30pm. www.coffsharbourwriters.wordpress.com Coffs Harbour Memoir Writers Group Share your memoir writing for critiquing.

Monthly meetings. 0409 824 803. Email coastalmermaid@gmail.com Cru3a River Poets Contact Pauline Powell 02 6645 8715.

Meets every Thursday at 10.30am, venue varies, mainly in Yamba. Email kitesway@ westnet.com.au.

Dangerously Poetic writing circle Meets second Thursday of every month 12.302.30pm, at the Brunswick Heads RSL Hall, Fawcett St. Contact Laura – 6680 1967 or visit www.dangerouslypoetic.com Dorrigo Writers Group Contact Iris Curteis on 6657 5274, email an_lomall@ bigpond.com or Nell Hunter on 6657 4089. Meet every second Wednesday from 12.00pm - 4.00 pm Dunoon Writers Group Writers on the Block Contact Helga on 02 6620 2994 (w) or email: /heg.j@telstra.com/. Meets 2nd Tuesday of month, 6.30pm–8pm, at the Dunoon Sports Club.

Federal Writers Group Contact Vicki Peterson on 02 6684 0093 or email ganden1@ gmail.com. Meets 3rd Saturday of month in Federal.

FAW Port Macquarie–Hastings Regional Contact Bill Turner (President) on 02 6584 5342 or email wjturner@aapt.net.au. Meets 1pm on last Saturday of month, Historic Museum, Clarence Street, Port Macquarie.

Gold Coast Writers Association Contact 0431 443 385 or email info@goldcoastwriters.org.au. Meets 3rd Saturday of month, 1.30pm for a 2.00pm start, at Fradgley Hall, Burleigh Heads Library, Park Avenue, Burleigh Heads, Qld. Kempsey Writers Group Contact Carma Eckersley on 02 6562 5227. Meets 1st Sunday of month at the Railway Hotel.

Kyogle Writers Group Contact Brian Costin 02 6624 2636 or email briancostin129@ hotmail.com, meets 1st Tuesday of the month 10:30am at the Kyogle Bowling Club.

Lower Clarence Arts & Crafts Ferry Park Writers Group Contact Di Wood on 02 6645 8969 or email diwood43@bigpond.com. Meets 1st Thursday of month,10.00am–12.00pm.

Memoir Writing Group Contact Diana Burstall on 02 6685 5387 or email diana. burstall@gmail.com. Meets every month at Sunrise Beach, Byron Bay. Mullum Writing Group Contact Louise McCabe on 0401 568 540 or email louisepmccabe@gmail.com. Meets fortnightly on Tuesdays, 7.30pm.

Nambucca Valley Writers Group Contact 02 6568 9648, or nambuccawriters@ gmail.com . Meets 4th Saturday of month, 1.30pm, Nambucca.

Poets and Writers on the Tweed Meet weekly in the Tweed Heads Library, Tuesdays 1.30pm to 3.00pm. Poets, novelists, playwrights, short story writers all welcome. Fun group meets for discussion, support and constructive criticism. Free membership.

Phone Lorraine 07 55909395 or Ken 02 66742898.

Taree–Manning River Scribblers Contact Bob Winston on 02 6553 2829 or email rrw1939@hotmail.com. Meets 2nd Wednesday of month, 9.00am–11.30am in Taree.

Call first to check venue.

UKI Writers meet last Sunday of most months to share and encourage our literary endeavours. Contact Elspeth on 0266797029 or email windelwood@bigpond.com WordsFlow Writing Group Contact Rosemary Nissen-Wade 02 6676 0874, Pam Moore 02 6676 1417. Meets Fridays in school term, 1.00pm–3.30 pm, Pottsville Beach Neighbourhood Centre, 12a Elizabeth St, Pottsville Beach. Visit http://wordsflowwriters.blogspot.com

26 - northerly magazine | november - december 2013

NORTHERN RIVERS WRITERS’ CENTRE 2013 MEMBERSHIP DISCOUNTS BOOK WAREHOUSE 107-109 Keen Street Lismore 02 6621 4204 BOOK WAREHOUSE 26 Harbour Drive Coffs Harbour 02 6651 9077 BOOK WAREHOUSE Shop 6 Ballina Fair Ballina 02 6686 0917 BOOK WAREHOUSE 70 Prince Street Grafton 02 6642 6355 BOOK WAREHOUSE Settlement City Port Macquarie 02 6584 9788 BOOK WAREHOUSE Yamba Fair, Treelands Drive Yamba 02 6646 8662 BYRON BAY LONGBOARDS 1/89 Jonson Street Byron Bay 02 6685 5244 CLIX COMPUTER CENTRE 3/3 Marvel Street Byron Bay 02 6680 9166 COLLINS BOOK SELLERS Unit 3. 9 Lawson Street Byron Bay 02 6685 7820 CO-OP BOOKSHOP Southern Cross University Lismore 02 6621 4484 CO-OP BOOKSHOP Coffs Harbour Education Campus, Hogbin Drive Coffs Harbour 02 6659 3225 DOLPHIN OFFICE CHOICE www.officechoice.com.au Cnr Fletcher & Marvel Streets Byron Bay 02 6685 7097 DRAGONWICK PUBLISHING www.dragonwick.com 02 6624 1933 EARTH CAR RENTALS 18 Fletcher Street Byron Bay 02 6685 7472 EBOOKS NEED EDITORS www.ebooksneededitors.com 15% discount to NRWC members Call 02 6689 5897 for further details HUMBLE PIES Pacific Highway Billinudgel 02 6680 1082 KEEN STREET COMMUNICATIONS www.keenstreet.com.au 50 Bulmers Rd Hogarth Range 02 6664 7361 MARY RYAN’S BOOKSTORE Shop 5, 21 -25 Fletcher Street Byron Bay 02 6685 8183 NORPA www.norpa.org.au PO Box 225 Lismore 02 6621 5600 PAGES BOOKSHOP Park Beach Plaza Coffs Harbour 02 6652 2588 THE BOOKSHOP MULLUMBIMBY 39 Burringbar Street Mullumbimby 02 6684 1413 THERE’S ALWAYS MORE HAIRDRESSING Shop 5, 14 Middleton Byron Bay 02 6680 7922

NRWC Membership All memberships are valid 12 months from the date of payment Organisation Name (if applicable) First name Phone

Surname Mobile

Email Address Postal Address

Please indicate: male female age range: 7-16 17-30 31-45 46-64 65+

I identify as an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander I am from a non-English speaking background I do not want my details passed onto other arts organisations I am interested in volunteering at: Writers’ Centre Byron Bay Writers’ Festival

Early Bird Membership Rate

$60.00

INDIVIDUAL

$50.00 CONCESSION (Govt Pension cards only) CRN #

$40.00 STUDENT (Proof must be shown) Student #

$120.00 ORGANISATION

$90.00

FAMILY (2 adults and up to 3 children under 18yo) names____________________________________________

NEW ECO OPTION - Enjoy all the usual NRWC member benefits, but opt to receive your copy of northerly electronically (rather than a print copy) and help care for the planet.

Tick this box for the ECO OPTION and we’ll take a further $10 off your Early Bird Membership Rate

Payment Details TOTAL AMOUNT PAYABLE

Payment method

Credit Card: Card no: Name on Card:

$ Cheque/money order

Cash

Credit card

(Please make cheques payable to the Northern Rivers Writers’ Centre)

Mastercard

Visa

Signature

Please send with your payment to: Northern Rivers Writers’ Centre, PO Box 1846 Byron Bay NSW 2481 or call us on 02 6685 5115 or apply and pay online at www.nrwc.org.au

Expiry date: