BOORANGA NEWS
NEWSLETTER FOR BOORANGA WRITERS’ CENTRE OF
WAGGA WAGGA WRITERS WRITERS INC.
JULY - AUGUST 2008
EDITOR: DEREK MOTION
Writer-in-Residence:
Nathan Curnow
Booranga, with the support of the Wagga City Council, Charles Sturt University and Arts NSW, will be soon hosting our third
writer-in-residence for 2008. Nathan Curnow certainly is a writer who has been getting his work out there: his poetry and short fiction have appeared in publications such as Heat, Overland, Space: New Writing, Allnighter (Cardigan Press), Going Down Swinging, Blue Dog, and of course last year’s fourW. In 2004 he won the University of Melbourne Postgraduate Association (UMPA)
prize for poetry for his poem ‘Not Dead Just Gone to Battle’. In 2005 he won a mentorship program with the Australian Society of
Authors. In 2006 his first poetry collection No Other Life But This was published as part of the Five Islands Press New Poets series.
In 2007 he was the recipient of an Australia Council grant which funded the writing of his next manuscript, a collection of ‘ghostpoetry’ based around the most haunted sites in Australia. While in the region Nathan will be giving a poetry reading and a workshop (open to the general public), and also venturing into a number of regional schools.
A new venture for Boornag though will be Nathan’s two-part short-play workshop. These will be held over two days at the Writers’
Centre and should be a great opportunity. Nathan has a wealth of experience with writing short plays and having them produced.
If you are interested, and have a short play you are working on, please send an expression of interest now to [email protected]. The workshops will involve feedback
from not only Nathan Curnow, but also local actors and directors. Places are sure to fill
up fast.
Public Program:
Wednesday 30th July: Short-Play Workshop (Initial Session)
@ Booranga, 6pm onwards
Saturday 2nd August: ‘Writing Poetry for Performance’ - Workshops
@ the Albury Library / Museum, 2pm
(register at http://www.writearoundthe murray.
org/registration/)
Thursday 7th August: Poetry Reading @ the Wagga City Library
5 - 7pm
Saturday 9th August: Writing workshop @ the Historic Council Chambers, 2-4pm
Sunday 10th August: Short-Play Workshop (Final Session)
@ Booranga, 9.30am - 3.30pm
Booranga Writers’ Centre (McKeown Drive) 2008 Office Hours:
Staff will be in every Monday (9am - 3.30pm), Tuesday (9 - 11.30am), Thursday (9 - 11.30am).
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BOORANGA NEWS
JULY - AUGUST 2008
Book launch: David Gilbey’s
Death and the Motorway
David Gilbey, a Senior Lecturer in
Australian Literature and Creative
Writing at Charles Sturt University,
will soon be celebrating the launch
of his first full-length collection of
poems, Death and the Mortorway.
The book will be officially launched
by Fred Goldsworthy at the Wagga
City Library.
David has had a long association with
literary activity in the region: as many
of you will know he has been the
President of the Booranga Writers’
Centre since its inception, and has
edited the annual anthology of poetry
and prose fourW.
Death and the Motorway (published
by IP Press) was completed after David Gilbey travelled to the US, UK,
France, Japan and China on study
leave in 2006.
The Book has already attracted enthusiastic commentary. Kate Llewellyn writes:
‘David Gilbey’s poems are often stories full of wit and tenderness. He writes of
family matters with humour, irony and delicacy. He is always original, sweetly
relishing the world , its absurdities and its richness. A poet of the people, never
pretentious or obscure, he has a clear voice
which goes straight to the heart of the matter.’
2008: Calendar of
Booranga Events
12th July
Monthly Writers’ Meeting
2-4pm - Booranga Writers’ Centre
28th July - 11th August
Writer-in-Residence: Nathan Curnow (Specific dates on front-page)
31st July
Launch of Death and the Motorway, poems by David Gilbey
5pm - Wagga City Library
21st August
Reading / Q&A by Tara June Winch
5pm - Wagga City Library
14th - 28th October
Writer-in-Residence: Alice Pung
15th November
Launch of fourW nineteen (Wagga)
There will be refreshments served, and
copies of Death and the Motorway will be
available for purchase, at the special launch
price of just $20.
22nd November
Launch of fourW nineteen (Sydney)
Date: Thursday 31st July - 5.30pm
Location: Wagga Wagga Cuty Library
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JULY - AUGUST 2007
BOORANGA
NEWS
EDITOR: DEREK MOTION
JULY - AUGUST 2008
Tara June Winch - Reading
This is a special ‘one-off’ event. After two residencies at Booranga in 2007 (both
generating a lot of interest) Tara is returning for a week of research in the area. While
here, she will be giving a reading and Q&A session at the Wagga Library. This is one
not to miss: Tara’s first novel Swallow the Air won a swag of awards, it is currently on
the Library Bookclub list, and it has also just been set as a HSC text for 2009 onwards.
Tara will be reading from this work, but has also promised to read selections from her
new work-in-progress.
Date: Thursday 21st August - 5pm
Location: Wagga Wagga City Library
Booranga Fellow:
Petra White
During May Booranga hosted Petra White for a short-stay. While here Petra
managed to fit in a number of engagements: she oversaw workshops for members in Griffith and also Wagga; she gave readings in Albury and Wagga; she
addressed creative writing students at Charles Sturt University; and she also
managed to mentor Albury writer Phillip Muldoon, who then had his work read
in both Albury and Wagga.
Petra made a very positive impact while in the region. She read her work elegantly, but also had many keen insights to offer the aspiring writers that turned
out for the workshops. Especially encouraging for Booranga was a 30+ turnout
for Petra’s final poetry reading at the Wagga City Library, where she managed
to sell all the copies of her book (The Incoming Tide) she’d brought with her.
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BOORANGA NEWS
JULY - AUGUST 2008
Booranga Monthly Writing Workshops
The monthly writers’ workshops have now become
a fixture on our calendar, and we’ve seen a regular
group turning up every month to share some of their
new work. As many can vouch, this omnthly deadline
of sorts is one of the best ways of making sure you
do have at least one piece of work written per month,
a piece that you are then able to read and share
amonst a group of interested writers. If any of you
are yet to take the opportunity of participating I thoroughly recommend you do so. The workshops will be
held on the second Saturday of every month (unless
rescheduled) and the venue will either be Booranga
or one of the Council Buildings.
At the next meeting our writer-in-residence Nathan
Curnow will be in attendance to offer his advice and
encouragement. The regular format will applly (bring
along some of your own work, of any format, but
not too long). It will be held on Saturday 9th August,
2-4pm, at the Historic Council Chambers.
During May the atendees at the monthly writers’ meeting benefited
from the always insightful opinions of visiting writer Petra White.
And in June our meeting was held at the Wagga City Art Gallery (as
shown in these images) where writers were encouraged to engage
in a writing task - rather than share something they’d brought with
them - and everyone produced a piece of writing that was inspired
by one or more of the installments at the Crossfire exhibition.
Date: 9th August, 2-4pm
Location: Historic Council Chambers
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JULY - AUGUST 2007
BOORANGA
NEWS
EDITOR: DEREK MOTION
JULY - AUGUST 2008
Members’ Work
(Remember: send contributions of creative writing for
Booranga News to [email protected])
Poems by Phillip Muldoon (participant in Booranga
Mentorship Program with Petra White)
Digger Smith
On Schubach street
an FJ Holden
backfires
sending tremors
into every quiet place.
Mad Digger Smith
explodes as if detonated.
Long spindly hands and legs
fast tracking like a spider
thrusting his back
against an old Elm
fangs drawn
disappearing into
the green and brown foliage.
Moment.
Red Wine
unfolds our tongues,
we swim
on the edge of a wine glass smile,
dipping into
a sea of clinking glasses,
we break
the wishbone of the evening,
sucking
fresh marrow from the moment.
We the boys
on Schubach street
gather like a pack of dogs.
Circling
the old Elm
watching Digger squirm
like a worm in sunlight
closing
to put our size six boots
into him.
Fairy Bread and Lemonade.
Waves of cider and cones
washes over our naked bodies,
And in the afterglow
like an open fire on a winters day
I nuzzle into her
As the veil of night
swallows the world and my hardships.
Digger, we don’t see
the Viet Cong
in every rustle of a leaf.
every cry of a bird.
Don’t see your corporal
hanging upside down in a tree
flyblown.
We don’t see too much
as we fly away on our gun ships.
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BOORANGA NEWS
JULY - AUGUST 2008
New Writing Course
Winter is the perfect time to begin a new hobby or pick up an old one and no one knows that better than the staff down at the Riverina Community College. In addition to their usual mix, this coming term they will be offering a new short writing course entitled
‘Memoir Writing’. With the adage being ‘write what you know’, the focus is on using personal experiences as a starting point for
writing. It will be workshop-based and use other published memoirs, travel narratives and pieces of observational humor as springboards for working on individual pieces. This is the first time that RCC has offered a course with this content and it is suitable for
writers of all levels, abilities and genres.
This course will be run by Booranga executive commitee member Kelly Shaw.
The class is schedules to begin mid-August. For a full course description and registration details, course catalogues are available
now from the RCC or on the web at www.rcc.nsw.edu.au. For more information contact the RCC on 6921 7663.
Schedule for POETICA: ABC Radio National
SATURDAY AT 3.05 PM, REPEATED 3.05 PM THURSDAY.
August
2nd
Hopscotch – a feature on the Indo-American poet and translator, A.K Ramanujan.
9th
Seven Songs For Sydney – a cycle of poems by Robert Harris about H.M.A.S Sydney.
16th Fishing in the Devonian – the science-based poems of Carol Jenkins.
23rd audio/file/poets/#8 – English, Australian and American poets working with sound.
30th War is not the Season for Figs – the poetry of Lydia Cvetkovic.
September
NATIONAL POETRY WEEK BECOMES NATIONAL POETRY MONTH ON POETICA.
6th
National Poetry Week – highlights from the Australian Poetry Centre’s Festival at Castlemaine.
13th Thirteen Jesuses – a multi-voiced suite of poems by Garth Madsen.
20th High Country – the high country poems of Douglas Stewart and David Campbell.
27th Gen XY, New Voices – a sample of the work of four new Australian poets: L.K. Holt, Craig Billingham, Josephine Rowe
and Aidan Coleman.
October
4th
Robert Lowell – selected poems by Robert Lowell, with archival readings by the poet himself.
11th An Ear on my Heart – poems of motherhood by Kathryn Lomer and Esther Ottaway.
18th Birds, Beasts and Flowers – the poetry of D.H. Lawrence.
25th
Slammin’ and Jammin’ – a feature on the phenomenon of the “poetry slam” and its vogue in Australia.
www.abc.net.au/rn/arts/poetica/
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JULY - AUGUST 2007
BOORANGA
NEWS
EDITOR: DEREK MOTION
JULY - AUGUST 2008
For more details
check out
the facebook
group, or
the blog...
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=15544743450
http://cutwaterjournl.blogspot.com/
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BOORANGA NEWS
JULY - AUGUST 2008
PUBLISHING, COMPETITIONS and OPPORTUNITIES
Poetry
AWAR D C E R E M O NY
Sunday 24 August 2008 at 5.30pm, Henry Jones Art Hotel,
Hobart
Poet’s Union Poetry Prize
Poems may be on any theme, maximum 100 lines. Winner announced at State of Play: Australian Poetry Now 6th Australian
Poetry Festival on 10th September 2008.
Entry forms downloadable from http://www. islandmag.com
Prizes: $3000
Entry: $15 ($10 for Poets Union Members)
Contact: Poets Union Inc, PO Box 755, Potts Point, NSW
1335
Screen / Play
www.poetsunion.com
Closing Date 25th July
Sydney Theatre Company and Sydney Morning
Herald Young Playwright’s Award
Gwen Harwood Poetry Prize
A single poem or a linked suite of poems not longer than 100
lines
•One entry per person
•Entries must be typed on single-sided A4 paper
•Electronic entries will
not be judged
•Please submit three copies
of your entry
•Please include 2 stamped self-addressed envelopes
•A pseudonym is not necessary, but your name must not appear
on the manuscript page/s
•Pieces published prior to the announcement of the award will
not be eligible
FIRSTPRIZE:$1500
Three minor prizes of $200 each will also be awarded at the
discretion of the judges.
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Open to any NSW or ACT resident 19 years of age or younger.
A one-act play (up to 30 mins) of any subject. Two prize
categories of $1000 each, plus a drama workshop with professionals.
Entry is Free.
http://wwwsydneytheatre.com.au/education/about_playwright_award.asp
JULY - AUGUST 2007
BOORANGA
NEWS
EDITOR: DEREK MOTION
JULY - AUGUST 2008
PUBLISHING, COMPETITIONS and OPPORTUNITIES
Prose
The winner will receive a publishing contract with Text and a
$10,000 advance against royalties.
ABC Short Story Competition
For original short-stories of no more than 800 words. Open to
residents of regional Australia.
For further details go to: http://www.textpublishing.com.au/
Prizes of $700 for ten winners total.
Entry is Free.
http://www.abc.net.au/shortstories
EJ Brady Short-story Competition
Open-theme competition with categories for short stories (2500
words max), and super short stories (700 words max).
Bondoora Literary Awards
Prizes are $1000 and $500
Open short-story competition for Australian residents. Entries
of 2-3000 words - electronic entry only.
Entry fee: Short - $10 Super-short - $7
Prizes: $1500, $500, 250, $50.
Further details at http://www.mallacootaarts.org
Entry Fee is $7
http://www.boroondara.vic.gov.au
General
Young Adult Prize
Tod Hunter Literary Award
Text Publishing is thrilled to announce a new writing prize on
Australia’s literary landscape: THE TEXT YOUNG ADULT
PRIZE.
An annual competition looking for a short-story, essay or play
of literary merit. Entries must be between 3000 - 5000 (spoken)
words.
THE TEXT YOUNG ADULT PRIZE aims to discover more
wonderful new books for Young Adult readers, by Australian
and New Zealand writers.
1st prize is $2000
Entry fee: $15
Both published and unpublished writers are eligible to enter
the prize with works of fiction or non-fiction. Submissions
must be received by 31 July 2008. Judged by a panel of editors
from Text Publishing, the winning book will be announced on
the evening of Saturday 30 August, at the Melbourne Writers’
Festival.
For details and entry forms go to: http://www.woodsidevalleyfoundation.com.au/award.php
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WAGGA WAGGA WRITERS WRITERS
APPLICATION FOR 2008 MEMBERSHIP
Wagga Wagga Writers Writers Inc. was formed in 1987 to assist and promote local authors and their work. The group holds
regular readings at local venues, conducts writing workshops, offers fellowships at Booranga, the Riverina Writers’ Centre at
Charles Sturt University, and published an annual anthology, fourW, under the imprint of fourW press, and is active in promoting writing and writers throughout the Riverina.
MEMBERSHIP PERIOD 1ST JANUARY
- 31ST DECEMBER 2008
ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP ($33) or CONCESSION ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP ($22)
GROUP MEMBERSHIPS ARE AVAILABLE - ENQUIRE
TO BOORANGA FOR DETAILS
MEMBERSHIP ENTITLES YOU TO...
- Copy of fourW nineteen Anthology
- Regular newsletter (bi-monthly) & e-list mailouts
- 10% discount at Book City, Wagga
- 10% Discount at Angus & Robertson Bookworld,
Wagga
- 10% discount to RTC performances
- Member discounts to readings, performances & workshops
- Invitations to writing events & get-togethers
- Access to a network of writers, book enthusiaists &
other writers’ centres for information & friendship
- Use of Booranga Writers’ Centre resources, such as
library and computer
Note: Student Membership ($11) is now also available
for students under 21 years of age. Student members
will receive newsletters & discounted admission to
reading etc. but will not receive a complimentary copy
of fourW nineteen.
Please fill out and send application form to:
Wagga Wagga Writers Writers Inc. Booranga Writers’ Centre,
Charles Sturt University, Locked Bag 588, Wagga Wagga NSW 2678, Phone/Fax (02) 69332688
Name:
Address:
Telephone:
Email:
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Enclosed is: $............. cheque/money order FOR single / concession / student membership (please circle)
undeliverable return to:
POSTAGE PAID AUSTRALIA
Booranga Writers’ Centre
Locked Bag 588
Wagga Wagga, NSW, 2678
POSTAGE PAID
AUSTRALIA
WWWW & the Booranga Writers’ Centre are supported by: