Workshops

CRITICAL READING FOR WRITERS WITH LAUREL COHN

SATURDAY 14 MARCH

10.00AM — 4.00PM Byron Writers Festival Office 2/58 Centennial Ct, Byron Bay $110* / $120

All good writers are readers. They read extensively within their own genre, as well as beyond it. We all learn through a process of imitation, and influence plays a significant role in how we fashion ourselves and our creative outputs. Reading the work of others is a way of understanding the craft and helps you develop a range of technical skills and aesthetic ideas that will support the expression of your own voice. The key is to read critically, to read like a writer. This workshop is designed to sharpen your critical reading abilities. In the workshop we will read a range of excerpts. Specific exercises will focus on different story elements that are relevant to both fiction and narrative non-fiction writers, such as voice, backstory, openings, chapter beginnings and endings, point of view, setting and description.

IMPROV’ YOUR WRITING WITH HILTON KOPPE

SATURDAY 28 MARCH

10.00AM — 4.00PM Byron Writers Festival Office 2/58 Centennial Ct, Byron Bay $90* / $100

Finding writing too solitary or serious? Feeling stuck? Looking to be inspired? Then this workshop could be the one for you. A range of fun short writing exercises in a variety of styles for writers of all levels will leave participants feeling rejuvenated, refreshed and ready to write.

Hilton’s writing can be found in Grieve, The Examined Life, Pulse, Chrysalis, The Universal Doctor and More Voices. His play, Enduring Witness, has been performed in the USA and Australia. A film version of the play is used in medical education to facilitate end-of-life discussions.

2020: THE YEAR OF THE NOVEL WITH SARAH ARMSTRONG

STARTS WEDNESDAY 20 MAY FOR 12 EVENINGS

5.30PM — 8.30PM Byron Writers Festival Office 2/58 Centennial Ct, Byron Bay $950* / $1050

Join author Sarah Armstrong for three terms of writing classes spread over the year. The small group will meet once a week for four-week blocks, and a total of 36 face-to-face hours, when Sarah will give you practical guidance, tools and tips. The first term will explore how to come up with ideas, planning, how to build a first draft. The second term will drill down into narrative tension, character development, how character drives plot, and will offer written feedback. Third term is all about how to tackle rewriting and editing: beginnings and endings, structure and themes, and a discussion about where to go from here.

Sarah Armstrong has written three adult novels, including Salt Rain which was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award.