northerly Jan-Feb 2013

Inside: The New Novella • Road to Publication• Jesse Blackadder • workshops and more!

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in this issue ...

02

Noticeboard

03

A word from the Director

04

Disturbing the dead

Jesse Blackadder

05

Shore Writers’ Festival

Elizabeth Reapy

06

The new novella

Jim Hearn

08

Robert Drewe’s book launch

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

Alan Close

10

Retreat into writing

Anneli Knight

12 A writer abroad

Phillip Gwynne

14

The publishing journey

Susanna Freymark

16

Well versed

Paul C Pritchard

17

7 reasons why agents stop reading

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.

Livia Blackburne

18

Kids’ page

Tristan Bancks

19

From the reading chair

Laurel Cohn

20

Workshop & events

22

Opportunities & competitions

24

Writers’ groups and member discounts

NRWC COMMITTEE CHAIRPERSON Chris Hanley VICE CHAIRPERSON Lynda Dean SECRETARY Russell Eldridge TREASURER Cheryl Bourne MEMBERS Jesse Blackadder, Fay Burstin, Marele Day, Robert Hanson, Brenda Shero, Adam van Kempen LIFE MEMBERS: Jean Bedford, Jeni Caffin, Gayle Cue, Jill Eddington, Chris Hanley, John Hertzberg, Fay Knight, 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 attributed articles is maintained by the named author and northerly.

Cover: NRWC Christmas Party. Photo by Ian Smith

3 - northerly magazine | january - february 2013

Notice Board CONGRATULATIONS TO THE REMARKABLE JILL EDDINGTON As we welcome a brand new year and eagerly ponder what it might contain, the Australia Council for the Arts, Australia’s peak arts funding and advisory body, welcomes a new Director of Literature. The announcement has created intense local excitement as the name of Jill Eddington is revealed.

Jill is well known to readers of these pages as the Director of the Northern Rivers Writers’ Centre and Byron Bay Writers’ Festival from 2000 until 2006, curating seven Festivals in that time and steering the event’s growth from a grassroots community Festival to its position as one of the foremost literary celebrations on the national calendar. Said current NRWC and BBWF Director Jeni Caffin “Jill was my mentor and my role model when I joined the Centre. A more informed advocate for books and writing I cannot imagine and we congratulate her on this brilliant and deserved appointment”.

When asked what had attracted her to a position that will necessitate a move away from her beloved ocean and Byron Bay home, Jill replied “This is the one job I am happy to return to Sydney for! Having the opportunity to contribute at a national level to the vibrancy and future of Australian writing and to ensure our stories are told both nationally and internationally and that writers have an environment in which they can continue to work and write is a unique privilege. It comes at a critical time: there are definite challenges in relation to the new on-line environment and sustaining the creation of Australian literature and therefore incomes for writers.

Whilst there are opportunities in this notion of a global market we must ensure standards are controlled and intellectual property is protected and that writers continue to earn an income.

It is much bigger than e-book v published book. An additional challenge and joy will be to see through the new recommendations of the review of the Australia Council, which will change the way the body does business in the future.”

Predictions of the demise of Australian literature and indeed the local publishing industry have been rife, especially since the collapse of major Australian book retailers and the impact of discount department stores. Northerly posed the loaded question: is Australian writing and our literary future in a healthy state?

Jill had this to say: “I will be able to answer this in a more informed way in 12 months. I believe the current climate in Australian Literature is stronger than ever in terms of the quality, depth and vibrancy of the sector. However I am very mindful that financial sustainability is imperative and with so much volatility in the on-line market and consequent globalisation of the industry, the challenges for the next 10 years are many and varied. With the booming power of Amazon, Google and eBooks alongside the closing of small and independent

4 - northerly magazine | january - february 2013

publishers and booksellers and the consequent reduction of incomes and advances for writers, particularly established and literary writers, there is much to be considered. I have gained insight into these issues specifically through the work I have been doing with the ASA to develop a program for their 50th Anniversary National Writers’ Congress in Oct 2013, bringing Australian writers together to discuss these issues and develop future directions for the ASA. Let’s talk again in one year!”

Northerly wondered whether there was anticipated regret at being separated from the beauty of our natural environment, but Jill has a strategy for that. “Actually I am hoping to have the best of both worlds as I intend to commute back every second weekend. Of course I am lucky to have family and friends in Sydney and am looking forward to being back there to share in their lives again too.”

Jill Eddington takes up her Directorship in January 2013. Join with us in wishing her every success.

Changes to the NRWC membership

T

he NRWC membership payment schedule will change as of 1 March 2013 so that your membership will be valid for 12 months from date of payment, instead of automatically expiring at the end of February.

I

f you have already renewed or plan to before 1 March this year then your membership will expire on 28 February 2014.

For further information please contact is on 02 6685 5115 or email:

Sarah Ma sarah@nrwc.org.au

A word (well several) from the Director

Dear members, Welcome to a brand new year.

steaming parking lot, I glided about the of-

NRWC Committee member and novelist Jesse

I’m sure some of us behaved as is required

fice like the ghost of Christmas past (in the

Blackadder celebrates the release of Chasing

over hot summer weeks and sought shady

words of NRWC Committee Secretary Russell

the Light: a novel of Antarctica with an event

places in which to loll languidly with a book,

Eldridge) and read and thought and read and

at the Byron Community Centre Saturday

fanned by sea breezes, senses sated with icy

thought. The result of all this reading and

16 February. This is Jesse’s second fiction

beverages and tidbits of tapas, slip sliding

thinking is that all Byron Bay Writers’ Festi-

from Fourth Estate/ HarperCollins and her

into pools and breasting surfish waves. Other,

val 2013 invitations have been issued, the

third published novel overall. And there will

slightly mad, people braved the madding

majority of acceptances received (yay) with a

be further announcements of NRWC writers

crowds that ate Byron and pattered about

smattering of rejections (kill me gently) and

achieving publication soon to come: for those

their places of work, creeping in early and

the conversations are being whispered in my

of you with manuscripts in need of polish-

hitting the footpaths seldom and fleetingly

head. I love this very special time of prepara-

ing or ideas in search of a genre, watch out

to avoid being coated in Other People’s

tion. And yes, the entire list is under embargo

for the list of skill development workshops,

sand, sweat and dripping ice-creams. I had

so I will just have to hug the precious names

appearing soon on the NRWC website. And of

a swag of reading and thinking to catch up

to myself for a while longer, but if I may be

course in May there is the residential mentor-

on, and so, while the world got into its cars

permitted a small expression of enthusiasm:

ship opportunity: application details in the

and turned Ewingsdale Road into a baking,

whooohooooo!

March/April northerly.

And what a start to the year for our Northern

And here’s a word of encouragement: on

Rivers writers: the wonderful Lisa Walker

my lightning visits to major publishers in

launched her second HarperCollins publica-

November and December, I was elated to find

tion at the NRWC Christmas party in Decem-

an unprecedented number of debut authors

ber. Sex, Lies & Bonsai earned an excellent

being published in 2013. Plus, hold on to your

glowing review in The Sydney Morning Herald

sunhats: several of the truly innovative and

in January. Former Federal resident Susanna

outstanding manuscripts had been plucked

Freymark has invited me to welcome her

from slush piles, those supposed graveyards

debut novel Losing February into the world

for unsolicited submissions. Isn’t that bril-

at the revitalised Federal Store on Sunday

liant? Write on!

10 February. Thank you, Pan Macmillan, for seizing this fabulous fiction and bringing a

Jeni Caffin

new voice to the Australian literary chorus.

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DD

isturbing the ead

An historical novelist considers the genre

It’s an overcast autumn morning in a leafy suburb of Oslo, and I am walking up and down well-tended rows of graves, peppered with hyacinths, in Ris Cemetery.

Most of the headstones consist of a few words carved on to natural rocks; just the barest details. It seems Norwegians don’t use headstones to express sentimentality.

At last I find Lillemor Rachlew’s resting place, a small slab of rock in an overgrown corner, half hidden behind a tenacious climbing plant and covered in moss. There are no flowers planted to mark the presence of Lillemor and her husband, and no sign that anyone has looked after their plot recently.

I’m here to ask permission. I want to take the barest outline of Lillemor’s life and work a novelist’s craft upon it.

I wonder if she sat here on the spongy grass, propped against a tree as I am now, tending to her husband’s grave. Lillemor lived till she was 81, some 15 years after her husband died. There’s no mention here (or in any records I can find) of children. Lillemor, where are the diaries you kept of your travels to Antarctica?

I’ve asked every public institution in the country, but no one has heard of them.

Did they go to some niece or nephew, or end up in a fireplace?

Ingrid Christensen’s grave in Sandefjord’s churchyard is a different matter. It only takes me a few minutes to find the Christensen family plot under a pleasant tree right up close to the church, as central as this family was to the life of the port town in the middle of last century. Ingrid lies underneath a heavy bronze plate with her and her husband’s names stamped into it in such high relief that it will be centuries before they’re worn away. Blood ties hem in the members of this family. As an author I can’t make free with Ingrid, this

grave is telling me, not the way I can with Lillemor.

I want to tell the forgotten stories of these women, but in doing so, I know I can’t speak for them. Perhaps I silence them further by putting my own words into their heads and their mouths. I’m taking liberties with them in the name of fiction.

Is it fair?

On 1 February 2013 I will bring Ingrid and Lillemor back from the dead. Not literally, but in the pages of my novel Chasing the Light, inspired by the ‘true story’ of their journey to Antarctica in the 1930s.

It’s a daunting responsibility. Ingrid only died in 1976 and she still has living grandchildren. I sense her putting on her glasses and peering over my shoulder to read those printed words. I suspect that Lillemor, being a diarist and photographer herself, wouldn’t mind being remembered in print.

Untold stories, the ones that have been overlooked and forgotten, or the details that have been left out, fascinate me. I’m not alone – in recent years there has been an extraordinary rise in the number of female writers producing historical fiction based on real stories from the past – think Hilary Mantel, Philippa Gregory, Geraldine Brooks and Kate Grenville, among many others.

However, using historical fiction to recover lost history can be controversial. You probably remember the war of words that raged around Kate Grenville’s historical novel The Secret River, inspired by the true story of her ancestor. Historian Inga Clendinnen criticised Grenville for her claim to be writing a new kind of history, and questioned its validity.

The heart of the matter is in what we promise to our readers. The phrase ‘based on a true story’ is a bargain that our imag-

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ined world holds at least a kernel of truth.

However, the stories that most cry out to be told are often those with the least evidence. Ingrid kept no diary of her four trips to Antarctica, as far as my research shows. Even more frustratingly, Lillemor did – but her words have been lost. All that remains are some quotes in the book written by Ingrid’s husband about their travels.

So I have gone where angels fear to tread, into the dangerous territory of historical fiction based on ‘truth’, armed with my novelist’s imagination and as much research as I can muster. It’s nerve racking, but also the most rewarding genre I’ve worked in. Ingrid and Lillemor, get ready.

Your story is about to go public.

Jesse Blackadder won the Guy Morrison Prize for Literary Journalism in 2012 for her research into Ingrid Christensen. She was also awarded the 2011-12 Australian Antarctic Arts Fellowship, which enabled her to travel to Antarctica. Chasing the Light is published by Fourth Estate and will be launched on 16 February at the Byron Bay

Shore Writers’ Festival, Co. Sligo Ireland

In early November 2012, over sixty young and emerging Irish writers went to a small coastal town beside the Atlantic to participate, perform and party at a new free festival ‘Shore Writers’ Festival’ dedicated to fostering the post Celtic Tiger literary community. It was run completely on goodwill and was a massive success. The idea for this festival was conceived during my working holiday in Australia.

I worked in a fruit factory in Mildura in order to get my 2nd visa for Oz. There, I packed oranges and mandarins and worked 11 hour night shifts 6 days a week. My mind had a chance to drift as my hands boxed the fruit and it was a brilliant job for unleashing my imagination. The idea of a writers’ gathering just kept coming into my mind. Each night, the idea would grow more and more elaborate. I wanted it in the West coast of Ireland, beside the roaring Atlantic. To host it in November, which is when winter has made its presence felt in Ireland; short days, bitter winds, heavy skies. I wanted the writers to have something to be excited about in the middle of all this, especially with the way things are in Ireland at the moment, with mass unemployment and emigration. We could have fires blazing and hot whiskeys. Sing songs. Write poems and stories inspired by our settings. By the end of my time in Mildura, I had a full weekend visualised in this romantic way.

I was going to be featured at the NYWF in Newcastle and I wanted Ireland to have something similar too. I run a journal in Ireland for young and emerging writers (www. wordlegs.com) and I know a lot of other young writers who were enthusiastic about Photo: Cristina Smith

the idea. But the financial implications of trying to start up something like this was disheartening. Ireland is in the depths of a recession and arts funding has been slashed, with even established institutions and events struggling to maintain their grants. So I faced a predicament, I wanted an Irish version of a young and emerging writers’ festival but I hadn’t a cent to put it together. And then it dawned on me to just try organise it without money and see how far we could go without it. It would be a skill exchange, a place for like minded people to meet and hang out, for writers to workshop and give workshops in return. People would perform for free but in doing so, their peers would become aware of their work.

When I left Mildura, I went to the breathtaking Blue Mountains to take up my residency as Exchange Irish Writer in Varuna. I wrote this big proposal on the wordlegs’ page, (https://www.facebook.com/wordlegs/ posts/414617585251570) It was mid morning in Australia, middle of the night in Ireland. I went to the gym, feeling nervous about it, wondering if I should just delete it and write it off as an orange factory fantasy that I used to pass the long nights. But when I came back from Katoomba I’d over 20 emails of people offering to volunteer at the festival. Then later that day when it was morning in Ireland, I got more and this continued right up to the event.

The challenge was then to make it actually happen for free and try organise it from the other side of the world. With the assistance of two of my friends, Cathal Sherlock and Karen Maloney, we found a venue, got amazing deals and designed the branding.

We utilised social media to spread the word.

Despite the emails, time zone challenges, logistics, call outs and Skypes, we pulled together and stayed excited about the weekend and we did it. With no money.

It was one of the best weekends I’ve ever had and from the feedback we’ve received, I’m not alone in that feeling. My face was sore after it from smiling. People really connected at Shore. We had ridiculously late nights, singing, dancing and drinking.

We had great days and evenings of writing, learning and listening to readings and music. There was a varied programme which included panel talks, workshops, acoustic performances, open mic, selected readings, bookstalls, a live DJ set, an open discussion and a book launch.

Now that we know the format worked, we are all feeling confident about trying it again in 2013. What we’ve learnt from it is that things can happen if community spirit and creativity meet; if people are enthusiastic and positive, nothing will get in the way.

By Elizabeth Reapy (pictured below) www.wordlegs.com (editor@wordlegs.com, @emreapy)

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The New Novella By Jim Hearn Earlier this year when I read that Griffith REVIEW was calling for submissions for their Novella Project I was instantly excited. There’s something about the form of the novella that I find deeply romantic. It is a form imbued with a sense of madness, metaphor, intensity, and obsession.

I like those qualities in whatever I’m reading.

There has been quite a bit of press recently about the rise of the novella as a literary form. Ian McEwan was quoted in the UK Telegraph as saying, ‘If I could write the perfect novella I would die happy’. That’s quite a statement from such a lauded novelist, and begs the question, why do so many writers and readers hold the novella in such high esteem?

Many peoples’ list of favourite books includes a novella, even if they’ve never identified them as such. Joseph Conrad’s, The Secret Sharer and Heart of Darkness are both celebrated novellas. As is Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice, Kafka’s Metamorphosis, and also Stephen King’s three stories The Body, The Mist, and Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption. Henry James, Truman Capote, Charles Dickens, Helen Garner, and Herman Melville also wrote celebrated novellas.

For me, a novella offers a writer the opportunity to be single-minded about a particular event or theme.

In River Street, my story that Griffith REVIEW ended up accepting for publication for their Novella Project, I obsessed about the obscure power relations of transgression. While that might sound like a strange thing to get excited about, it is a theme that I’ve been researching for the last three years as part of my PhD, and

writing the novella offered me an ideal opportunity to write creatively about what I’d been researching.

I never thought I’d go to university.

When I did I was thirty-seven years old. I quit my job as head chef at Rae’s on Watego’s and enrolled in the writing program at Southern Cross University. Seven years later I’m teaching writing subjects and trying to finish my thesis. It’s been quite a journey from the stainless steel and fluorescent glow of commercial kitchens to the air-conditioned halls of academia. Don’t get me wrong, I like my office and I’ve come to love teaching, but both my recent memoir High Season, and my novella River Street, offered me the opportunity to reflect on my lived experience in the commercial domain of hospitality in newly considered ways. It’s not like I could leave my life as a chef behind; somehow divorce myself from cooking. It wasn’t until I had my memoir published though, that I felt I could sufficiently embody the romance of being a writer of fiction, and tackle those themes in a novella.

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In The Australian recently, Geordie Williamson wrote that ‘Whether it is the satirical pessimism of Voltaire’s Candide, which first appeared in 1759, or the urbane philosophical dialogue of Australian author David Brook’s The Conversation, just published by UQP, the novella has thrived on brevity’. And it is brevity that is both the novella’s greatest strength and every publisher’s nightmare. One of the reasons why the novella has fallen out of favour since the late 19th and early 20th century, is because publishers have stood by their assumption that readers want value for money; quantity over quality. It’s a valid concern: why should I pay the same price for a book of a hundred pages as I do for a book of three or four hundred pages? Recent changes in how we read books though, are partly responsible for a fresh appreciation of the novella.

Novellas are shorter than a novel and longer than a short story. They have a word count of around 15,000 to 40,000 words. What makes a story of that length so appealing to readers is that it can be read it in one or two

sittings. And e-readers, whether it’s a Kindle, iPad, Cybook, or Icarus, are thought to be the perfect technology to engage with a story that can be read over that length of time.

Whether you agree with that argument or not, or are determined to never go to the dark side in regards to e-readers, many people are going there. A range of publishers have reported that 25% of total sales are being derived through e-books. One of the key drivers of this change to how we read, is price. Basically, e-books are a whole lot cheaper to distribute and consume than paper books. And early evidence seems to suggest that people are reading more since the release of e-books, even if sales of paperbacks are down.

For me, the most important aspect surrounding the argument about whether or not to use an e-reader is to remember that books are a technology too. Just like the pen and paper changed the way we used a quill and ink, and the printing press made scrolls obsolete, e-readers are primarily changing how we read rather than how much or what we read. Which is not say that e-readers will make writing a book any easier, even if it does make self-publishing a lot more accessible.

In the novella workshop I’m running for the NRWC in February, we won’t be talking about self-publishing; we’ll be discussing the novella, and begin writing one. We will do so with a view to seeing it released through a commercial publisher. Whether it’s marketed and sold as a paperback or an e-book doesn’t really matter, what does, is that there are new opportunities opening up to get your novella into the hands of readers.

Julianne Schultz, the editor of Griffith REVIEW, writes in her introduction to the novella project, that ‘As well as producing suffering, adversity can spark genius. And works of genius – painting, writing, music, science, even buildings – endure long after calamity has been chased into the

deepest recesses of memory.’ It is the novella’s form that has the potential to contain, and make sense of, the intensity of adversity. Given its brevity, it is possible in a novella to write obsessively about an incident and its themes. A novella shouldn’t try and tell a story that spans generations, or even weeks and months, but rather, pull focus onto an aspect or incident of a life and write it large. That is the power of the novella; it provides a writer with the scope to work through a particular event, or theme, or idea -or moment of adversity - and through a narrative that unfolds over a few hours or days, share with a reader the intensity of that journey.

That is not to say it is possible to write a novella in a few days or weeks. All good writing takes time to develop and finesse. I wrote a 40,000 word draft of River Street over two months and then spent the next four months editing and rewriting that narrative into a 22,000 word piece of publishable prose. All writers need the freedom to write a draft of their story for themselves prior to rewriting one to submit to a publisher. Knowing that (first one’s for me, next one’s for the publisher) is often the difference between a rejection slip and a publishing contract. It’s a point - I think – that most writers have to discover the hard way.

before making that decision, I would like participants to remain open to the idea that we will go on a journey of discovery during the workshop that both broadens our understanding about what a novella traditionally does best, and associate that with what we’re going to write about in the workshop.

I had a great deal of fun launching the latest edition of Griffith REVIEW with the five other writers who had their novellas published as part of edition 38. We did readings at Gleebooks in Sydney, Avid in Brisbane, and Hill of Content in Melbourne.

We also each received a portion of the $30,000 prize money that was on offer from the Copyright Agency (CAL) and Griffith REVIEW. Over two hundred writers submitted novellas for that edition. That’s a lot of reading for the three judges who had to read ‘blind’ all the submissions. Julianne Schultz has said that, should the funding from CAL happen again next year, Griffith REVIEW will be running the competition again. Submitting their novella to that competition should be something all participants in our workshop aim for.

We will be both writing and reading our work during the workshop; much like the tutorials I teach at SCU. After having a discussion about the history of the novella, and what and why particular novellas are each participant’s favourite, we will take part in a number of writing exercises. These exercises are a way of getting words onto the page, moving from our capacity for critical thinking to creative writing. Ideally, participants will bring along an example of their previous work. Reading a short passage from that will give each of us a sense of who we are and what the central theme of our writing is. It may well be that a novella emerges from a piece of writing we’ve already done, but

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Rob Drewe’s Montebello

By Alan Close

Any new book by Rob Drewe is reason for celebration, particularly here on the North Coast, where Rob now makes his home.

After launching Montebello around the country, Rob sat down one balmy spring evening at the Northern Rivers Writers’ Centre Byron Bay office- come- function- cupboard to be coaxed into a bit more talking by that master coaxer, Kerry O’Brien.

affair with Rottnest Island and of course there’s the forgotten islands of the Montebello Archipelago and their huge, too often dumb neighbour. The British tests revealed Menzies’ Australia at its most compliant and complacent. Menzies didn’t even tell his cabinet he was giving approval, let alone inform the country.

they helped define the culture that we still live. If the 19th century was the century of the bush and the 20th was the century of the beach, then Rob is in many ways the man who first wrote it down. (The 21st, we’re told, will be the virtual century, and as such, I suppose, is already being recorded by anyone with access to a keyboard or touchscreen.)

Rob’s disgust at this was almost palpable.

Montebello is Rob Drewe’s second memoir, a sequel of sorts to the acclaimed The Shark Net, published in 2000. It’s based around the British nuclear tests in the Montebello archipelago in the 1950s, events Rob remembers from his childhood and which, although largely forgotten in Australia now, have haunted him since. Woven around this pretty sordid episode in Australia’s history and a trip out to the still irradiated island in 2010, are Rob’s recollections of the time, ruminations on Australia then and now and reflections on his own life since.

In a wide ranging chat, Kerry drew Rob out about, among other things, his ‘islomania’, Described as ‘the age-old obsession with discovering islands’, Lawrence Durrell wrote that islomaniacs ‘find islands somehow irresistible. The mere knowledge that they are in a little world surrounded by sea fills them with an indescribable intoxication.’

In Montebello, Rob continues his long, sultry

‘The soldiers out there, British and Australian, were told nothing,’ he told Kerry O’Brien. ‘When the blasts went off, they dug their fists into their eyes. They could see the bones of their hands lit up like an x-ray.’

The health consequences were predictable.

Many ex-servicemen developed cancers.

Turtles and other sea creatures were killed in their thousands.

There’s a saying that every circle needs a writer to complete it. Rob has earned every inch of his reputation as one of Australia’s most respected writers by making himself a correspondent, in his unique voice, of the national mood. In The Bodysurfers, the 1983 collection of short stories which remains his most successful book, he sensed a national zeitgeist and put it on the page.

These succinct, beautifully written sideways glimpses of life on the coast were snapshots of the Australian way of life at the time – and I don’t think it’s farfetched to say that

10 - northerly magazine | january - february 2013

It’s interesting that our two great chroniclers of the coast – Rob Drewe and Tim Winton – are from the under populated West. And while they both remain distinctly of the West, they speak to the many of us clustered along the east coast because they are telling our stories as well. (It should be noted that although Rob was brought up in WA, he was born in Melbourne and moved back east as a young man, which perhaps explains a crucial difference between him and Winton. Rob looks at the West with the eye of distance and time passed; he describes and almost seems to want to explain the west for the rest of us to understand.

Tim’s stories and novels resist this; they remain defiantly parochial, their roots planted deep and unmoving in that wind scoured Western Australian sand.)

It’s always a pleasure listening to Rob. He talks as he writes, with wit and intelligence, and almost with a twinkle of mischief in his eye. He has a strong and obvious passion

for social (and indeed environmental) justice but this is leavened by a novelist’s eye for the absurdities and ironies of life.

He leans in to the microphone and you can feel his anticipation as he polishes a line to puncture a pomposity or deliver a withering putdown of an intellectual or moral shortcoming. You get the sense that while such acts appall him for their stupidity and moral offensiveness, he enjoys them almost as much for the opportunity to unsheath that rapier wit.

the bounty that age can bring.

The first chapter of Montebello in part recounts the end of his (most recent) marriage. He stumbles across his wife’s copy of His Stars: Your Partner’s Horoscope and, as a known mocker of astrology, is pleasantly surprised by its accurate and flattering description, until the final sentence: ‘”Your partner is intriguingly unconventional for a Pisces!” Pisces? I’m a Capricorn.’

‘These British scientists were smart enough to develop an atomic bomb but they weren’t so smart to not let it off in literally the windiest place in the world.’

Laughter. ‘No, I’m serious. Montebello holds the record for the strongest gust of wind ever recorded – 408km / hour.’

And the laughter quietens as this sinks in.

‘Those winds blew the fallout right across the country. But of course no-one cared in those days. There wasn’t any such thing as the ‘environment’ then. That came later, with the hippies in the 1970s.’

Sometime later, on the way to the toilet one dark and stormy night (yes, that is how the book starts) he encounters a brown snake making its way to his seven-year-old daughter’s bedroom. He is dressed only in thongs and underpants. (‘Hang on, what’s that got to do with it?’ asked Kerry O’Brien. ‘Well, what I’m saying is that they’re hardly the best clothing for snake-wrangling.’)

One of the things that struck me that night listening to Rob was his longevity as a writer. He is 70 this month and has been writing for over 50 years.

Montebello is the gift of a mature writer who is not afraid to report back on life’s shortcomings at the same time as celebrating with humour and intelligence

He deals with the snake, arse in the air, with the closest available snake-wrangling tool, a barbeque spatula, and then finally sings his daughter to sleep with his best throaty imitation of Fats Domino singing Blueberry Hill. And the three other songs in his late night repertoire. Several times each. (‘Anyone who knows Rob will agree his children are the most important thing in

his life,’ Kerry commented, peering over his half moon reading glasses. Rob has seven children. But then he did start when he was eighteen.)

All of which is a way of introducing us to the state of his life at the time. A man well into his sixties with yet another broken marriage and who knows what prospects for future companionship, but with fierce, if clear-eyed love for his children.

And from this he follows his own winding path into a little known, outrageous episode in Australia’s recent history. One of Rob’s abilities as a writer is to make the personal political and the political personal. As Australians, he seems to be saying, we must acknowledge our past to be responsible for our future. Rob Drewe achieves what only the best writers manage. He tells a story only he can tell, in a way that speaks to and for us all.

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Retreat into Writing

The Magic of the NRWC Residential Mentorship

I

n an event that has become the jewel in the crown of the Northern Rivers Writers’ Centre’s annual professional development program, the Residential Mentorship is celebrating its thirteenth year in 2013.

As a testament to both the success of the program and the talent and tenacity of writers in this region, three of the mentorship’s alumni are this month celebrating the release of their novels.

Jesse Blackadder, who participated in three mentorships in its early years, is releasing her third novel Chasing the Light. Lisa Walker, a two-time beneficiary of the mentorship is launching Sex, Lies & Bonsai, the follow up to her 2010 debut. While Susanna Freymark is on the cusp of releasing her first novel, Losing February.

Marele Day has been the mentor for the program for the past eleven years and will be taking this role again in 2013. Day says the program has averaged one published novel per year from its participants, and because there is usually a lag of several years between mentorship and publication, the average publication success rate will probably prove to be higher.

Day says that the mentorship often represents an important step in a writer’s career and helps build a sense of confidence.

“The feedback from participants over the years is that the mentorship week gives them validation as writers. It may be a long time before you ever get paid for writing a novel, it necessarily starts off as a hobby, something you do in your spare time. What happens during the residency is that this manuscript becomes important and the person becomes a writer. Whatever else they are is secondary for that week,” she says.

The structure of the week includes

feedback from Day on individual manuscripts as well as writing workshops and group work. All four participant writers come to the mentorship having read each other’s work, and the group discussions form a significant part of the writers’ manuscript development, Day says.

“Unlike residencies elsewhere, for example Varuna, we do group feedback too. The stories come to life in that group, they take on an aspect of reality, they become palpable, and what you’re doing in the privacy of your own home before the mentorship, now has a reality and validity and is nurtured and respected by the other people during the week.”

Day says many of the writers who have taken part in the mentorship intend to have a career in writing, and though participants usually have more than one book in them, the workshopping process is dedicated to the pages of the manuscript submitted as part of the application.

Jesse Blackadder, a proven career writer with three published novels, took part in the first three years of the mentorship in 2001, 2002 and 2003, firstly with Inez Baranay then with Marele Day, working on part of her manuscript for After the Party, which was published in 2005.

Blackadder says the mentorship offers a rare space for a writer.

“It’s always a great gift to be able to go away and devote yourself to your writing for five days. For any writer that is an incredible gift, it takes you away from the normal domestic chores and stuff you do at home and puts you into that special creative space.

“When you’re an emerging writer it’s such a boost to have someone say, ‘Yes, this project is worth working on.’ That’s an enormous boost to your confidence.”

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The social aspect is another memorable part of Blackadder’s mentorship experience.

“Because writing is such a solitary pursuit normally, it’s great to have that feeling of people working in the same way, with people who understand the insecurities and the challenges and the excitement of being a writer, the ups and downs. I’m still friends with people I met 12 years ago [at the mentorship],” Blackadder says.

And it’s also a time to really roll up your sleeves and write, she says. “It’s a fantastic experience, it can be a great time for productivity.”

Blackadder says the mentorship program is one of the important opportunities for emerging writers in the region. “We’re so lucky to live in this place where writing is so valued and we have access to the writers’ centre. It’s extraordinary, the number of people from here who are getting published. A lot of the people who I’ve met or been in writers’ groups with are getting published. We’re building a very strong professional writing community here, which is a great thing.”

Susanna Freymark attributes the mentorship as her springboard into a professional writing career, and she has thanked the Northern Rivers Writers’ Centre in her soon-to-be released book. Freymark says the strong support of the writers’ centre is unique.

“Since I’ve been in Sydney, one of the things I’ve noticed is that everything in Byron Shire is incredibly accessible.

I remember going into the Writers’ Centre asking which agent I should go to. In the city you’re just another person trying to make it, but up there people are really rooting for you.”

Freymark is returning to the Shire to launch Losing February in Federal, the town where much of her novel is set.

Although her impending novel is not the one she workshopped during her 2005 mentorship, she says what she

learnt during the week she later applied to her fresh manuscript.

“It was the first time I realised how much work goes into every word, and every sentence and every page. While all your friends, are like, ‘Haven’t you finished your book yet?’.”

This attention to detail during the editing process is something that also took Lisa Walker by surprise when she did her mentorship in 2005.

“I realised the process of bringing a book to completion is such an arduous one in a way, you just keep going over it and going over it and going over it, just honing the words and making sure it’s in the right place and it did a lot for my written expression,” she says.

Lisa wrote three novels – one young adult fantasy and two crime novels - before forging her way on the romantic comedy path, which led to the publication of Liar Bird, after her manuscript was accepted as part of the Varuna HarperCollins development program, followed by her new release Sex, Lies & Bonsai. She says the mentorship was the start of a chain of events that gradually led to her being a published writer.

“I’ve been to Varuna twice. The first time I went to Varuna was on the Litlink program, after the mentorship.

It’s kind of been like stepping-stones along the way: bits of encouragement that made me think I’ll keep going, and just slowly getting there. I think I may well have given up if I hadn’t had the opportunity. The Northern Rivers Writers’ Centre offers something for local writers that is so important.”

Other writers who have been published after taking part in the residential mentorship include Jessie Cole, whose novel Darkness on the Edge of Town was ranked in the top 10 books of 2012 by The Hoopla, and Oren Siedler, Daniel Ducrou, Emma Hardman, Matt Webber, Sarah Armstrong, who was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin award, and Leigh Redhead, named one of the Sydney Morning Herald’s Young

TIPS FROM MARELE DAY WHEN PREPARING YOUR APPLICATION FOR THE 2013 RESIDENTIAL MENTORSHIP

Novelists of the Year.

On 4 March Jesse Blackadder, Susanna Freymark, Lisa Walker and two other residential mentorship alumni Jessie Cole and Sarah Armstrong will be featured in an event at the new Byron Bay library.

Jesse Blackadder is launching Chasing the Light at the Byron Bay Community Centre on Saturday 16 February at 4pm. www.jesseblackadder.com

Susanna Freymark is launching Losing February at the Federal Village Shop, on Sunday 10 February at 5pm for 5.30pm. www.susannafreymark.com Lisa Walker’s book was published

by HarperCollins on 1 January 2013. www.lisawalker.com.au

Anneli Knight is a freelance journalist and writer living in Byron Bay. In 2012 she participated in the Northern Rivers Writers’ Centre Residential Mentorship where she worked on the manuscript of her first novel, To The Bones, set in a remote community in the Kimberley.

• First of all, it’s the manuscript that is chosen rather than the writer. It’s competitive, there are 25 to 30 entries a year and only four places. We’re looking for manuscripts that are distinctive, that have the X-factor – something that jumps up and carries you, that you want to stay involved with.

• The best submissions are from those who demonstrate an understanding of story; of narrative structure. Many memoirs are submitted but relatively few are chosen. Frequently these manuscripts seem like a list of the events in a person’s life, or a particular aspect of their life journey. They fail to find the story in the life and to make their personal drama part of the big human drama.

Fiction manuscripts are generally more successful because the writer is able to take that imaginative leap and make a story.

Look out for the application form in March/April issue of northerly and it will also be online as of 4 March.

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A WRITER IN BALI

by Phillip Gwynne

Our second daughter Ella was born in 2006 and living in Sydney on a writer’s income was no longer an option for us.

We moved out, and some more bankers moved in.

No wonder, then, that the literature of modern Sydney is so meagre. The writers who should be writing this stuff just can’t afford to live there anymore.

Being ocean loving people, and thinking that we couldn’t bear to live more than a reasonable walk from the water, we looked up and down the coast. Alas, there were no bargains to be had.

‘What about the mountains?’ my wife suggested.

Why not?

We ended up in genteel Leura in the Blue Mountains, an hour and a half by car from Sydney.

Of course, I wasn’t the first writer to travel that route.

The Blue Mountains was teeming with authors – every café seemed to have one in residence - and creative types in general.

A great community.

But, oh dear, the weather.

I don’t mind the cold but my wife is not built for temperate climes.

After a couple of years, and a bout of double pneumonia, we were getting itchy feet again.

I’d spent a lot of time outside of

Australia in my twenties and early thirties and often had thoughts of an ex-pat life.

On a trip to Wordstorm, the Darwin writers’ festival, I met a few people who divided their time between Bali and Australia.

Why not the Island Of Gods? I thought, the first place I’d ever visited overseas, the place that had always occupied a privileged place in my memory.

But how to persuade my Sydneycentric wife?

In fact, it didn’t take much persuading at all.

Something along the lines of ‘Hey, let’s go live in Bali for a while. It’s really really warm there.’

Her reply ‘Okay, let’s do it.’

Six weeks later the four of us arrived at Ngurah Rai Airport, Denpasar, with six suitcases.

I’d spent a lot of time in Bali in the 80’s but hadn’t been back for a long time and my wife had visited just twice, both times staying at Club Med. We rented a villa in Seminyak for a week, and set about constructing a life.

Schools, house: it all happened very quickly.

But, in a way it had to, because I’d just signed a deal with Allen & Unwin to write The Debt, a six book high-octane thriller series

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for kids, and if I was going to hit the deadlines I had to quickly find a work routine.

I have never really liked working at home – the fridge is too available, and in Bali there always seems to be people coming and going .

The very colonial sounding Canggu Club became my de facto office.

Its advantages were pretty obvious. My kids were enrolled at the adjoining school, the library is air-conditioned (I am firmly of the opinion that the brain needs to be reasonably cool in order to work optimally) and reasonably quiet, the coffee in the cafe is okay, and there’s a gym for a midday workout: pretty much all I need to write.

So let’s cut to the chase: has the move to Bali worked, have I been productive?

The answer: hell, yeah!

By January 2013 I will have met my strenuous deadline: 6 books, over 350,000 words, in two years.

Not only that, I have also knocked out seven picture books, which will be coming out at various times over the next couple of years. The most recent one, Ruby Learns to Swim, was published this month.

Which begs the question: why

have I been so productive?

Now here’s where I try not to sound too neo-colonial!

Basically, we have staff.

Some ex-pats I know have 17 people working for them, so that they can spend their days lunching and playing golf. We have three.

But those hours I used to spend doing housework and cooking – and yes, I am one of those men who do both - I now spend writing.

But not only is Bali working for me: my wife also has started writing. She has finished a novel and has three different jobs writing articles for various publications.

Most people would think that the natural home for a writer in Bali is Ubud, given that it is the ‘creative matrix’ (as I once heard it described) and home to the splendid Ubud Writers & Readers Festival.

In my bitchier moments the line I trot out is that people go to Ubud to be a writer, but I came to Canggu to write.

Actually, I love Ubud but the choice of schools up there isn’t great. And we do like to be near the ocean.

Still, I’m pretty much a lone wolf here as far as writers go, amongst all the villa developers, clothes designers, burntout bankers (there really is no escaping them) and – my favourite, to be said with a French accent – part time DJs. After almost two years here, I’m convinced that Bali is a very good fit for

authors and I’m surprised more of us don’t live here, at least for part of the year.

We can work anywhere, especially now that electronic editing is the norm. What money we authors make, we make in Australia, and you definitely get more bang for your Aussie buck here.

For parents, I think it is an especially good fit if you have younger primary school age kids.

Even when you factor in school fees – I would never send my kids to a private school back in Australia but here you have no choice – and visa runs, the cost of living is less than Australia, especially Sydney!

Hey, I even get to go out with my gorgeous wife, something that I hardly ever did before.

And of course, writers have been living outside of their own culture for hundreds of years; the critical distance it gives is a wonderful tool.

Downsides?

Well, when I have my customary grumble about how poor I am, how hard it is to survive as an author, I have to be a bit careful now.

But Phillip, you have a maid, don’t you?

And a gardener?

And a pool guy?

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THE JOY OF PUBLISHING AND OTHER WRITERLY DREAMS

By Susanna Freymark Whatever motivates a writer to sit at their desk and find the right words to tell the story in their head — they do this alone.

I write because I have to. I can’t imagine not writing. It helps me understand what is happening in the world. I write to amplify the minutiae of life and to see things more clearly. It is only near the end of the story that I start to imagine someone else reading my words.

My dream is a simple one. One day, on a bus or train, I want to see someone I don’t know engrossed in my story. With more people using iPads and Kindles that could be difficult to witness. If I could see just one person, holding my book, and maybe, if I’m lucky, they will almost miss their bus stop because they are so buried in the story.

I imagine I might secretly take a photo and pin it up near my desk.

Now I am on the publishing journey, it is so fast, exciting and exhausting I barely have time to think about the reader.

All the work though was in the years before. In the first novel, under the bed waiting for its turn. In all the short stories I wrote and in the five that have been scrubbed, polished and published.

Now my dream of publishing a book has come true.

When I was halfway through writing the draft of my manuscript Losing February I enrolled in the Master of Arts in Creative Writing at UTS. For two years I studied and caught the late night train home from Platform 18 at Central Station. Even on the cold winter nights it didn’t matter. I was learning from experienced authors and soaking up their feedback and I read their comments about my story on the journey home. If you want support in being a writer go to uni. There I received feedback from Jean Bedford, Rosie Scott, Adam Aiken and in my final term, one on one sessions with Debra Adelaide. She wrote The Household Guide to Dying and I pored over her markings of green biro on my manuscript telling me how to improve my words.

On a whim, a term before my course ended, I submitted the first chapter of Losing February. I don’t know what prompted me to do that. I was flagging and I suppose I was reaching out for an audience.

Pan Macmillan, like other publishers offer a Manuscript Monday where unknown writers can submit a chapter with a turnaround response of three weeks. A few days later, the publisher emailed and asked for three more chapters, then three more and finally she asked for all I had. At that point my 40,000-word manuscript was rough and raw. I was still writing with the

door closed — as Stephen King had suggested in his book On Writing. This draft was mine and I hadn’t yet opened the door and rewritten it for the reader.

I sent it off anyway.

She liked it and asked to meet at a corner cafe in Surry Hills.

I clutched my manuscript in its folder.

I met Ingrid and she asked questions about the story and about me. She liked that I was a journalist. Reporters are used to the editing process, she said. I don’t think I breathed during the meeting. I tried to act calm and confident and when she said they would like to publish my book, I gripped the sides of my chair so I wouldn’t fall off.

She had to pitch the story to the acquisitions group and would let me know in a few months if it they said yes. She was sure they would.

I flew home. Actually, I caught the train but it felt like I was flying. Publishing was a possibility. I wrote like mad and waited.

I contacted an agent and said I had a publisher knocking at the door and need representation. Selwa Anthony stepped in and took care of negotiations, the money, the contract and I was left to write.

Every morning I set the alarm for 5.30am and wrote for an hour and a half before going to work as an education reporter in the newsroom. My day was full of writing other people’s

Susanna with publishers Cate Patterson and Ingrid Ohlsson from Pan Macmillan.

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stories and despite early bed times I was exhausted. But I was happy. The words flowed and with a deadline looming I believe I wrote my best work in that period.

There was no time to listen to the harsh, critical voice that more often than not followed me to the writing table.

Then I was invited to the Pan Macmillan offices with its expansive views of the harbour from the 25th floor. In that moment, the lone writer had an entourage of agent, editor, publisher and publicist focussed on my book. For two hours, we discussed the beginning, the end, (they wanted to change both), the cover, the voice and the process of editing.

It was the first time in my life that such interest had been shown in my work.

And I was overwhelmed. All those years of trying and finally I felt like an author.

Writing is so solitary and publishing involves teamwork. And I haven’t even started on the marketing of the book with launches, festivals and interviews.

The cover of Losing February was sent to me a few days ago. It is on the pin board next to my desk and I am sure I have worn out the words on the cover. There is my name, on a book. Now I just want to catch someone reading it.

Susanna Freymark’s book Losing February will be launched in February 2013. Set in the Byron Bay hinterland where Susanna lived for ten years, her tale of love, sex and longing is her first novel. See more of her ramblings on her blog atherdesk.blogspot.com.au or at Susanna Freymark (Author) or follow her on Twitter at @SusannaFreymark or go to her website susannafreymark.com to find out about local book launches.

The publishing journey so far 2006 - writes a short story called Losing February (never published).

2008 - the opening chapter (since discarded) flashes into the author’s head on a ferry trip across Sydney Harbour.

2009 - the manuscript titled Sex, Love and Losing February has tentative beginnings.

2010 - enrols in a UTS Masters in Creative Writing course.

2011- submits story to Varuna’s Harper Collins Manuscript Session. Losing February is short listed but doesn’t make the final cut. The feedback is that the story made them blush.

2012: March - submits the first chapter to Pan Macmillan’s Manuscript Mondays.

June - asks literary agent Selwa Anthony to represent the book.

July - in final Masters subject author works with Debra Adelaide.

August - contract signed. 80,000 words must be delivered by August.

September -graduate in Masters.

- the blue line edit, redo the first chapter, throw out the last chapter.

- Attends first Sassy Awards organised by agent.

October -Publisher sends front cover.

November - meet publicist to discuss marketing strategy.

December - proof pages, set up author website.

February 2013-ready (or not) for launch of Losing February.

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Well Versed: Paul C Pritchard All Is As It Should Be Zoë I’m in MOMA in New York

I’m sitting in the veins of the 2012 Cindy Sherman Retrospective Cindy’s in my veins too we’ve collided over the years in various cities or on old book shelves She’s everywhere always disguised and I guess I must be too I really do see you photographermodel fragmented raped stitched and frayed tired and lonely glamorous and staid And before gigantic Sherman portraits I conjure up Zoë, who took me, aged seventeen, all working-class green, into Medici - a humble art shop in Liverpool England Zoë, with your knowledge and curiosity you opened my eyes as much as you could without matchsticks and amphetamines and Electroconvulsive Therapy You showed me painters and sculptors frozen in books Blistering with envy I began falling between their worlds I still take great shocking risks to keep bumping into you all - to wield myself between your worlds all over this world, around these spaces with Caravaggio Kahlo Giacometti O’Keeffe Moore Matisse Bourgeois Picasso Claudel Gaudi All of us just milling about perhaps bored or electrified Just looking for souls like Zoë to possess

The last twenty-four hours have infinite pixels illuminating yet another dark night of my soul All through the oscillating opaque and transparent night the cells in my body have given up then picked themselves up over a million times a second My imagination has murdered so much that is not God My heart is telling countless lies and there are volumes of stories - great epic drama that no one in their right mind will ever want to read I occupy only a small part in your equations almost invisible to the larger numbers and processes that you are busy with in your beautiful pain body your body that has only ever broadcast the Truth I am squared and fractioned and simultaneously I fall in love when all I want to do is rise in love You have refused all my invitations You cannot meet me ...

Still in the last twenty-four hours I have run you an outdoor-garden bath sprinkled with hundreds of gardenia petals and aromatic oils to soothe you I begged the Wompoo Doves to serenade you to steal away any obstacles to me I have made mountains out of mole hills I know you’re not coming In the clear morning light the whistling torpedo battle song of the Sooty Owl tells me again and again that there is magic everywhere And that ALL is as it should be

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7 REASONS AGENTS STOP READING YOUR FIRST CHAPTER Previously, I attended the Writer Idol Event at Boston Book Fest. It was not for the faint of heart, but for those willing to brave public ridicule, it was a great way to get helpful feedback.

This is how it worked: An actress picked manuscripts at random and read the first 250 words out loud for the panel and the audience. If at any point a panelist felt he would stop reading, he raised his hand. The actress read until two or more panelists raised their hands, at which point the panel discussed the reasons they stopped, or in cases where the actress read to the end, they discussed what worked. Helene Atwan (Director of Beacon Press) and agents Esmond Harmsworth, Eve Bridburg, and Janet Silver (all from Zachary Shuster Harmsworth) served on the panel.

These panelists were tough! I’d say less than 25% made it to the end of the passage. Here are some of the common reasons panelists stopped reading.

1. Generic beginnings: Stories that opened with the date or the weather didn’t really inspire interest. According to Harmsworth, you are only

allowed to start with the weather if you’re writing a book about meteorologists. Otherwise, pick something more creative.

2. Slow beginnings: Some manuscripts started with too much pedestrian detail (characters washing dishes, etc) or unnecessary background information.

3. Trying too hard: Sometimes it seemed like a writer was using big words or flowery prose in an attempt to sound more sophisticated. In several cases, the writer used big words incorrectly. Awkward or forced imagery was also a turnoff. At one point, the panelists raised their hands when a character’s eyes were described as “little lubricated balls moving back and forth.”

4. TMI (Too Much Information): Overly detailed description of bodily functions or medical examinations had the panelists begging for mercy.

5. Clichés: “The buildings were ramrod straight.” “The morning air was raw.” “Character X blossomed into Y.” “A young woman looks into the mirror and tells us what she sees.” Clichés are hard to avoid, but when you

WRITER’S JOURNEY

revise, go through and try to remove them.

6. Loss of Focus: Some manuscripts didn’t have a clear narrative and hopped disjointedly from one theme to the next.

7. Unrealistic internal narrative: Make sure a character’s internal narrative—what the character is thinking or feeling—matches up with reality. For example, you wouldn’t want a long eloquent narration of what getting strangled feels like—the character would be too busy gasping for breath and passing out. Also, avoid having the character think about things just for the sake of letting the reader know about them.

Hope these tips are helpful. Do you see any of these mistakes in your writing?

This guest column is by Livia Blackburne. Livia is a graduate student at MIT. She describes her blog as “A Brain Scientist’s Take on Creative Writing.”

From Chuck Sambuchino website Editor of Guide to Literary Agents www.guidetoliteraryagents.com/ blog

creative adventures

Writer’s Journey offers annual writing sojourns in extraordinary places: • Fiji Writers - March • Desert Writers - June • Backstage Bali - July

• Mekong Meditations - November • Burmese Temple Tour - December • Moroccan Caravan - January 2013 Writer’s Journey is committed to supporting writers in all genres.

For further details, go to www.writersjourney.com.au or call 0415 921 303

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Kids’ pages Hi and welcome to the Northerly kids’ page. I write books for kids and I love speaking other to other authors and illustrators about how they do what they do. In this issue of northerly I speak to Irish author John Boyne and discover where and how he creates.

By Tristan Bancks John Boyne is a good man. He is generous and funny, he reaches out to connect with people and he also tells a mean story, for both adults and children. He is the author of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and The Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby Brocket (illustrated by Oliver Jeffers).

Where did you write your latest book? How important to you is the space in which you write?

I wrote the first draft of THE ABSOLUTIST entirely in my study at home in my house in Dublin. It’s important to me that I start a new novel when I know that I have a space of time on my calendar to devote myself to the draft, seven days a week, without interruption.

Once I’ve finished it though, I’m happy to work while touring, or in hotel rooms, or anywhere really. The novel almost immediately moves from my desktop computer to my laptop and then that goes wherever I go. And as for the novel I’m writing at the moment, a new children’s novel, again the 1st draft was completed in Dublin but the 2nd was all written on the balcony of my apartment in Kirribilli, Sydney, during January and February.

Do you transform your space in any way for each book? Do you ‘get into character’ at all?

No, I don’t make any transformations to my

study. But I do make transformations to myself. Beginning a first draft and knowing that you have long weeks of work ahead over the next four or five months is something that I have realised takes a certain amount of good physical conditioning. And so while we all might eat and drink too much while on holidays or while promoting books abroad, before I start working on a new book I bulk up my gym attendance and make sure I get there every morning without fail by about 7 am. Then walk the dog.

By the time I’m sitting at my desk I’m alert, refreshed and buzzing with well-being. The importance of this has become more obvious to me with each novel (and each passing year).

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

When I first started I was living in a rented flat in Dublin city centre. I wrote my first 2 novels on a computer set up in the corner of my bedroom. Since then, I’ve moved out of flat-land and bought a house on the southside of the city with a good garden and much more space to work in. In truth, although it’s more comfortable in the house, it doesn’t really affect the writing. When you write, the idea is to be totally focussed on what you’re doing and not distracted by things around you.

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

Yes, I’m at my best in the mornings. I work on the novel I’m writing between about 9 am and 2 pm. After that, I’m done in and might spend the afternoon reading, or editing, or just on general day to day tasks.

When I was younger and lived alone, I would often work into the night but I don’t do that now.

Do you have a morning ritual? Roald Dahl was said to sharpen pencils. What settles your mind for writing?

After the gym and the dog walking, I start on the emails, then trawling through the internet to catch up on the day’s news. Then I make a cup of herbal tea – a pot, in fact, in a very nice pot with a very fancy cup. Then I settle the dog, Zaccy, into his basket behind me and open a Word document. And then I start typing.

http://www.tristanbancks.com

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From the reading chair Tackling a synopsis Editor Laurel Cohn offers some tips on writing a synopsis Writers often moan and groan about synopses, but there’s no escape – if you want a literary agent to represent you or a commercial publisher to consider your manuscript, you can’t avoid it.

Many writers find tackling a 500 word synopsis more daunting than an 80,000 word manuscript. Here are some tips to help.

THE ESSENCE SENTENCE A good place to start is with a single sentence that identifies the essence of your story. This is not what happens in your manuscript, this is what it is about.

You’ll find an ‘essence sentence’ in most back cover blurbs – have a look on your bookshelves.

Your essence sentence may take a while to hone, but it is very useful, not only for your synopsis, but for your own understanding of your work. Consider the themes at play in your manuyscript.

If you’re feeling stuck, try ‘This is a story about...’ or ‘This is a story of...’

Your essence sentence should appear somewhere in your synopsis.

THE STORY LINE The professional reader considering your work may have a few sample chapters, but they will want to know what happens in your book, through to the end. This is where the synopsis differs from the back cover blurb. In both cases you want to entice the curiosity of the reader, but in the synopsis you need to give the game away so that the agent/editor can consider the viability of the story as a whole.

But remember you only have around 500 words. And in that space you need to introduce the key characters. Think of the key events and turning points, stripping away minor plot lines or minor characters. Dive straight in and get to the point. Think of the way we summarise plots (of films, books) when friends ask what what we’re reading or what we’ve seen recently.

YOUR STORY IN THE MARKETPLACE An agent or editor wants to know that you are aware of the business of

publishing and understand where your work might fit into the marketplace.

Make sure you mention the genre and word length. Mention how your style aligns with published writers (successful ones, of course) or your topic to other books available. You only need one sentence on this. For non-narrative nonfiction (such as a book on diet, personal development, business) you will need a detailed marketing proposal in addition to the synopsis – but that’s another story. Be careful about pushing your work as unlike anything else published.

On the one hand publishers are looking for new voices, but on the other, there may be a good reason why work like that hasn’t ever made it to the shelves!

KEEP IT SIMPLE Your synopsis is not a sample of your prose style, it is a working document to enable an agent or editor to decide whether to look at more of the work, or not. Trim away adverbs and adjectives where possible. Keep it simple and direct. And don’t, under any circumstances, write how wonderful the book is. A synopsis is not a review and the agent or editor is certainly not looking for your judgment of the work, you are looking for theirs.

& Bonsai (HarperCollins 2013) begins: ‘Dumped by text message, Edie flees Sydney for the refuge of her childhood home, taking only a wilting bonsai as a reminder of her failure.’ This sentence survived not only numerous drafts of the synopsis, but is on the back cover blurb and opens the description of the book on the HarperCollins website.

A good synopsis can be the key to publishing success. Go on, give it a go!

LAUREL COHN is an editor and mentor passionate about communication and the power of narrative to engage, inspire and challenge. She often helps writers hone their synopses in preparation for submitting work to an agent or publisher.

Visit www.laurelcohn.com.au for tips and information about writing and publishing.

EVERY STORY IS DIFFERENT There is no one way to write the perfect synopsis. Every story is different. There’s lots of advice online – check out the UKbased The Literary Consultancy’s piece: http://www.literaryconsultancy.co.uk/ about-tlc/press-publicity/how-to-writea-synopsis/.

Like writing the manuscript itself, the only way to arrive at a great synopsis is to practise: hone, rewrite, revise, and do it all again. You may end up with dozens of versions of your synopsis written at different stages of the manuscript’s development. That’s okay.

The challenge of distilling your work into 500 words is an important part of the process of understanding and shaping your manuscript. And when you get it right, the synopsis can play an important role in your published work. Lisa Walker’s synopsis for Sex, Lies 21 - northerly magazine | january - february 2013

WORKSHOP

MEMBERS NEWS

Writing a Novella with Jim Hearn Why does everyone’s list of favourite books contain at least one novella? What is it about The Old Man and the Sea, Heart of Darkness, Of Mice and Men, Death in Venice, A Clockwork Orange, Breakfast at Tiffiany’s, A Christmas Carol, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and Metamorphosis, which evoke such admiration?

In this full day workshop, we will spend the first hour learning and talking about the history and form of the novella, before beginning work on our ‘idea’. Ideas form a central spine of most novellas. In that sense, novellas are generally ‘about something’ other than just character and plot. Even if all we end up remembering about the story is just that! Novellas are also expert at putting characters in stressful situations.

In that way, novellas are often quite intense narratives.

Part of what we aim to achieve during the course of this daylong workshop, is to bring some clarity to what it is you want to explore through your writing. We will also develop an understanding about, how the form of the novella, can provide you with the ideal structure to unpack you idea in relation to character, plot, and setting.

Please bring a few examples of your other writing to this workshop. No one is expected to have written a novella prior to the day, or even have much of an idea about the history of the novella. One the most exciting things we will discover about the form of the novella during this workshop, is that its time has come again.

Publishers are on the lookout for compelling shorter works of fiction beeause they are considered an ideal format for e-readers. So... bring your pencil sharpener and a bunch of paper (or your laptop) and get set to write.

In this workshop, we will explore: . What is a novella? . How is a novella different to a novel? . How is a novella structured? . Understand why ‘ideas’ are central to writing a novella. . What is the relationship between an allegory and a novella? . Participants will work on creating an outline for their novella during this workshop. . Participants will be required to start writing on the day, as well as read out parts of what they have written. . Participants are encouraged to give each other feedback on their work, much like in a university tutorial setting. . Participants are responsible for helping to create a collegial, creative, constructively critical, and open-minded session.

When: Saturday 16 February, 10am - 4pm Where: SCU Room, Byron Community Centre,

69 Jonson St, Byron Bay Cost: $75 memb / $95 non-members. Please call 02 6685 5115 to book Jim Hearn Bio: Jim had his memoir High Season published this year by Allen & Unwin. As well, he had a novella, River Street, published as part of the Griffith REVIEW Novella Project.

River Street is available as part of the Griffith REVIEW Annual Fiction Edition, or as an e-novella on the Text website. As a screenwriter, Jim worked on the script for Chopper, did an adaptation of Andrew McGahan’s novel Last Drink, and had four short films he wrote, screen on SBS. Currently, Jim works as a lecturer and tutor in creative writing at Southern Cross University.

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CONGRATULATIONS Congratulations to Kathryn Lister who, like fellow pitcher from the BBWF 2012 Pitching Sessions, David Roland, has now been signed by Harlequin Publications.

HAIKU – SUMMER GINKO Cloudcatchers’ summer ginko (haiku walk) will take place at Ballina on Thursday, 31 January; contact quendrythyoung@bigpond.com for particulars.

Their spring ginko was held at Meldrum Park in Ballina – overcast sky, river at low tide, oyster shells on basalt rocks, seabirds on sand flats, off-leash dogs, foreshore pines.

This haiku, subsequently published in Paper Wasp magazine, was composed on the day:

tidal puddle a rock surrounded by cloud Grace Mckenna

BOOK CLUB REQUEST We have members looking to join a book club in the Ballina/Byron area.

If you have a space in yours or are thinking of starting a club please email: info@nrwc.org.au

EVENTS

EVENTS

Call out for TEDxByronBay 2013 TEDxByronBay 2013 is calling out for outstanding speakers to apply to next year’s event under the theme “Agents of Change”.

The series of talks will be an all-day event on 20 April 2013, at the Byron Bay Community Centre and broadcast globally via TED.com.

The TED.com website is home to talks by writers, philosophers, inventors, comedians, artists and scientists that are accessed by millions of viewers worldwide. TEDx are independent events supported by TED, a non-profit organization devoted to “ideas worth spreading”.

As well as a call out for speakers, TEDxByronBay is seeking volunteers with skills in stage production, set design, event logistics, photography, filming and post-production to be part of the team and contribute their creative flair to this world-class TEDx event.

The event is also seeking sponsorship partners who would like to align themselves with this prestigious not-for-profit TED.com brand, synonymous with big ideas that challenge and inspire.

For more information please see www.tedxbyronbay.com, join the facebook page at www.facebook.com/tedxbyronbay or contact info@tedxbyronbay.com.

Flickerfest 2013 - Byron All Shorts + ABC Open & FlickerLab Flickerfest, Australia’s premiere short film festival, back in Byron for our 15th year showcasing the most innovative & entertaining shorts from home & the world. Come early, enjoy chilled sounds, organic food & drinks. Fri 25 Jan 7.30pm - Opening drinks & Best of Int 1 $20/17 Sat 26 Jan 2.30pm - FlickerLab $10/8 Sat 26 Jan 4.30pm - Byron All Shorts & ABC Open $10/8 Sat 26 Jan 7.30pm - Best of Int 2 Shorts $15/12 Sun 27 Jan 7.30pm - BAS Awards & Best of Aust $15/12 Further information: www.iQ.org.au Adaptation with Jocelyn Moorhouse 2 -3 February 2013 Internationally renowned writer, producer and director Jocelyn Moorhouse (Proof, Muriel’s Wedding) examines the genre of adaptation.

Screenplay. For more information go to: www.open.aftrs.edu.au/course/ W562 “What Happens Next?”

The screenwriters’ journey 20 -22 February 2013 Mornington Peninsula, Victoria The National Screenwriters Conference has just announced an amazing line-up for 2013!

Discounted Earlybird Registrations are now open, with limited places available to Masterclasses (including Paul Abbott, creator of Shameless) and Micro-Mentorship sessions. It only comes around once every two years, so check out the latest news and get in quick: www.awg.com.au/nsc

From the earliest days of cinema, adaptation of text to screen has been as popular as the development of original screenplays.

Adaptations account for a large number If you and your work are at the stage where a of Oscar and awardprofessional evaluation would be a prudent winning films, next step, take a look at our website today. regularly generating Our assessors are industry professionals who will successful box office take the time and care to give you a detailed, returns. Many experts objective assessment of your work. Our clients believe that at least a range from first-time writers to established, third of the projects successful multi-book authors, and we work with on a producer’s manuscripts in a range of categories, from popular slate should be adult fiction, literary fiction and children’s books to adaptations. biography, autobiography and most other areas of Adaptation presents narrative non-fiction. many unique In today’s fast-changing market, an MAA appraisal challenges to a makes sense. screenwriter and Visit our website for details or this workshop will contact Brian Cook today. examine the styles Ph: (02) 4384 4466 of adaptation and Postal: PO Box 577, Terrigal NSW 2260 provide practitioners Email: briancook@manuscriptagency.com.au with tools to assist them in repackaging narratives into a Working with the publishing industry since 1996

PROFESSIONAL ASSESSMENT MAKES SENSE

23 - northerly magazine | january - february 2013

Opportunities BLACK & WHITE! INDIGENOUS WRITING FELLOWSHIPS Wanted: two new stars for 2013 Enter State Library of Queensland’s national black&write! writing competition with your novel, short stories, poetry or children’s book.

Two winners will each receive •$10,000 prize money •Manuscript development with black&write!’s Indigenous editors at SLQ •Publication by prestigious Indigenous publisher Magabala Books Published and unpublished Indigenous writers – this is your chance to be a part of a growing community of deadly writers, illustrators and editors •2011 Fellow Ali Cobby-Eckermann won a 2012 Deadly Award for Ruby Moonlight •2011 Fellow Sue McPherson’s first novel Grace Beside Me was also a Deadly Award finalist. indigenous. writing@slq.qld.gov.au or 07 3842 9985 for more information Download guidelines and entry form at: http://www.slq.qld.gov.au/whatson/awards/blackwrite/fellowships Closing date: 31 January EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST INVITED Queensland Poetry Festival invites proposals from poets, spoken word artists, and performers interested in being part of the 17th annual festival. QPF 2013 runs from 23 - 25 August at the Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane.

QPF would like to hear from individuals and groups interested in performing at the three-day festival spoken in one strange word. We are looking for submissions that embrace the wide possibilities of poetic expression – page poetry, readings, slam, spoken word, performance,music, ekphrastic poetry, collaborations, installations, cross-platform creations, and more.

While all projects must have a relationship to poetic language, we

encourage submissions from artists wishing to explore the relationship between poetry and other art forms.

Please Send Us • A detailed outline of no more than two (2) A4 pages of your proposed reading/performance/project. This should include: o reading/performance details inc. proposed length o detailed list of technical requirements o bios of all persons participating • A CV no longer than one A4 page outlining relevant performances/ publications.

• A sample copy of your work – this must either be a published collection, examples of your written poetry, or a CD/DVD of your work.

Any blog/youtube/myspace links should be included with your CV • Your full contact details inc. postal address, phone, and email contact Expressions of Interest must be received by COB, Tuesday 19 February 2013. Emailed submissions will not be considered unless the applicant lives outside of Australia.

Mailing Address: Queensland Poetry Festival PO Box 3488, South Brisbane, QLD 4101 If you have any questions regarding your submission please don’t hesitate in contacting festival director Sarah Gory at sarah. qldpoetry@gmail.com. For more information about QPF visit queenslandpoetryfestival.com.

Closing date: 19 February THE CHILDREN’S PICTURE BOOK ILLUSTRATORS’ INITIATIVE The Children’s Picture Book Illustrators’ Initiative will be presented in 2013 by the Australian Society of Authors, with the support of the Australia Council for the Arts.

This Initiative was launched as a pilot program earlier this year, funded by the Literature Board under its New Work grant category.

In 2013, grants of up to $15,000 are available for emerging, developing and established illustrators who

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Opportunities have a specific project they’d like to develop. Both illustrators and author/illustrators with some publication history and a workin-progress are welcome to apply.

Applications open 4 February 2013 and close 5 March 2013. For more information and to download the Guidelines, visit the ASA’s website.

Applicants should ensure they read the eligibility criteria and the Frequently Asked Questions before they prepare their application. www.asauthors.org Closing date: 5 March LENDING RIGHTS TITLE CLAIMS Lending Rights would like to advise that new claimants are now able to lodge registrations and submit their first title claim online. Australian creators and publishers are invited to submit title claims for the 2013–14 Public Lending Right and Educational Lending Right programs.

The Public and Educational Lending Right programs make payments to creators and publishers in recognition that income is lost through the free multiple use of their books in public and educational lending libraries.

The quickest way to make a claim is through Lending Rights onlineor for more information visit www.arts.gov. au/literature/lending_rights All claims must be lodged by 31 March 2013.

OVER THE RED LINE MAGAZINE Each issue is essentially a shortlist of submissions, from which a winner is picked by a changing panel of judges. The judges will mainly be international reading groups however, for particular themes, the publisher may invite interested groups. There is a small cash prize for the winner of each issue.

This is new, so only online at the moment, but the internet address is www.overtheredline.com and the site will tell you any additional details.

Competitions

WILDCARE TASMANIA International Nature Writing Prize 2013 tenth anniversary An international literary prose competition in the genre of nature writing, open to entries in both fiction and nonfiction with a first prize of $A5000 and a wilderness residency in Tasmania.

The Prize will be awarded in March 2013 and presented during the Tasmanian Writers’ Festival, March 21–24, 2013. The place and date of the announcement of the Prize will be advertised in advance on the Tasmanian Writers Centre website: www.tasmanianwriters.org and on the WILDCARE for conditions and an entry form go to their website: www.wildcaretas.org.au Closing date: 31 January 2013 DEBUT DAGGER COMPETITION This is an opportunity for aspiring crime writers to have their work read by professionals, potentially catching the interest of editors and agents. While there is no guarantee of publication, the track record of the competition is positive. The competition is open to anyone who has not had a novel published commercially. Entrants should submit the opening of their novel, up to 3000 words, and the synopsis of the remainder. http://www.thecwa.co.uk/daggers/ debut/index.html Closing date: 2 February CASTAWAYS POETRY PRIZE The City of Rockingham is pleased to announce that submissions are now open for the 2013 Castaways Poetry Prize, with $400 in prizes.

The 2012 Castaways Poetry prize attracted more than 150 entries from across Australia, as well as the US and Canada, making the Castaways Poetry Prize a truly international competition.

To enter: Visit the Castaways Web Gallery at http://www.rockingham.wa.gov.

Competitions

au/Leisure-and-recreation/Art-andcraft/Castaways/Castaways-GalleryOriginal.aspx and view the images of entries from the 2012 Castaways exhibition. All entered poems must be inspired by, drawn upon, or using the theme of, images in the Castaways Web gallery Send a maximum of 3 poems, attached to an email in rtf or doc format, to castaways@rockingham. wa.gov.au with “POETRY SUBMISSION: Your Title” as the subject line.

The body of your email must include your name, address, phone/mobile number, email address, and the title & line counts of your poems. To ensure anonymity, do not include your details on your entered poems themselves.

Do not post entries. Only entries received via email will be accepted.

Each poem must be no longer than 24 lines.

Poems must be original, unpublished, not have received an award in another competition, and not be under consideration elsewhere from the time of entry in the awards until the official announcement of the winners.

To ensure anonymity no writers names to appear on MS. Winners able to attend will be invited to read their poem at the Castaways 2013 Opening Night Awards presentation on Saturday 11 May 2013.

The judges’ decisions are final, and no correspondence will be entered into. Any attempt to lobby judges or City of Rockingham employees, or influence decisions, may result in disqualification.

For further information contact Lee Battersby, Community Development Officer (Culture & Arts) on 9528 0386 or lee.battersby@rockingham. wa.gov.au Closing date: 22 March THE TEXT PRIZE Text is searching for talented writers of young adult and children’s books.

Every year the Text prize attracts hundreds of great manuscripts from

across Australia and NZ. One lucky winner receives a Text Publishing contract worth $10,000. Why not apply yourself, and send us that novel you’ve been meaning to finish?

Submissions open: 4 March 2013 The Text Prize is open to published and unpublished Australian and New Zealand writers of all ages.

For more information go to: http://textpublishing.com.au/abouttext/the-text-prize Closing date: 29 March 2013 MONTREAL INTERNATIONAL POETRY PRIZE Get your poems ready! The not-forprofit Montreal International Poetry Prize is offering $20,000 for one original, unpublished poem of no longer than 40 lines written in any English dialect. Competition open from 15 January to 15 May, 2013.

Online entries only. Entry fees vary.

Please see montrealprize.com for details.

Selection & Judging: As editors of the Global Poetry Anthology, 10 poets from across the globe sort through submissions blindly (without seeing author names) and select poems for the collection. The prize judge then reads a blind copy of the manuscript of the anthology and selects the $20,000 poem. The 2013 Prize Judge is Don Paterson.

History of the Competition: The Montreal Prize launched its first poetry competition in March 2011 and awarded $50,000 to Australian poet Mark Tredinnick. The 2011 Global Poetry Anthology is a solid collection that garnered positive reviews. It includes unknown voices alongside celebrated poets from around the world. Internationally acclaimed American artist Eric Fischl responded to one poem in the anthology with a watercolour painting.

To find out more about the competition and more about who the 2013 editors are, please visit montrealprize.com.

Closing date: 15 May

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WRITERS’ GROUPS

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 Simone Hogan on 6629 1838 (email Simone; coolingsolutions@westnet.com.au) or James Hudson on 6628 5061. 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 lmprojec@tpg.com.au. Meets 1st and 3rd Thursday of month, 10.00am– 12.00noon.

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 Wednesday of every month 1.00pm-3.00pm, at The Wheel of Life in Brunswick Heads (behind the Anglican Church on Fingal Street). 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 Lisa MacKenzie on 02 6684 4387 ah or email llatmac28@gmail.com. Meets fortnightly on Tuesdays, 7.30pm.

Nambucca Valley Writers Group Contact 02 6568 9648, or email nvwg@live. com.au. 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.

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 | january - february 2013

NORTHERN RIVERS WRITERS’ CENTRE 2013 MEMBERSHIP DISCOUNTS BOOK WAREHOUSE 107-109 Keen Street Lismore 02 6621 4204 BOOK WAREHOUSE Shop 41 Lismore Square Lismore 02 6622 2688 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

VOLUNTEERS REQUIRED FOR DESEXING Byron Shire Animal Welfare Volunteers will be making a submission to our Council during 2013 petitioning for the reintroduction of a subsidised Desexing Program for domestic cats and dogs. We need your help.

When domestic animal owners fail to desex their pets the carnage to our wildlife, the suffering of dumped newborns and distress that local volunteer rescuers and vets who face an uphill battle in dealing with this escalating problem is enormous. The consequence of not desexing is the destruction of our local habitat and much more.

If you cherish our wildlife, the rights of those abandoned waifs who have no choice or voice of their own and are prepared to spend a few minutes to help correct this situation... please help us by phoning 0411 032 905.

We will post or deliver a Petition Form for you, your family and neighbours to add your voice to our submission to make this Shire a better place for not only us... but for all creatures great and small.

Don’t breed distress... Desex.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BECOME A CARE/FOSTER VOLUNTEER PLEASE PHONE THE NUMBER ABOVE

NRWC Early Bird Membership 2013 All current 2012 memberships are due for renewal by end of February, 2013.

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

$50.00

INDIVIDUAL

$40.00 CONCESSION (Govt Pension cards only) CRN #

$30.00 STUDENT (Proof must be shown) Student #

$110.00 ORGANISATION

$80.00

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

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

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

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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: