BOORANGA NEWS
NEWSLETTER FOR BOORANGA WRITERS’ CENTRE OF
WAGGA WAGGA WRITERS WRITERS INC.
JULY - AUGUST 2012
EDITOR: DEREK MOTION
Writer-in-residence: Andrew Daddo
Andrew Daddo is of course well known as one of Australia’s most popular television personalities. But he is possibly even more well-known these days as a
successful children’s author. Andrew began writing for children in 2001, when his
first collection of stories, Sprung!, was published. Since then, Andrew has written
18 best-selling books, including the hugely successful picture book collaboration
with Emma Quay, Good Night, Me. Andrew lives on Sydney’s northern beaches
with his wife and three children.
While in Wagga Andrew Daddo will be speaking to Children’s Literature students
at Charles Sturt University, as well as visiting
a local primary school. He will also be speaking at one open-to-the-public event at the
Wagga City Library. This is to be a free event,
and all are welcome. Andrew will be reading
selections of his work, as well as taking questions about writing for children.
Andrew Daddo public appearance: Tuesday 14th August, 5pm, Wagga City Library
(Please note that this event has been rescheduled for the Tuesday evening, NOT Thursday
16th August, as previously advertised in the Booranga News.)
Booranga Writers’ Centre (McKeown Drive) 2011 Office Hours:
Staff will be in every Monday (9am - 3.30pm), Tuesday (9 - 11.30am), Thursday (9 - 11.30am).
For enquiries (with a quick response) email us: [email protected]
Or alternatively email our director directly: [email protected]
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BOORANGA NEWS
JULY - AUGUST 2012
2012 writers-in-residence
2012 Calendar of Booranga Events
Fiona Wright: 1st - 15th October
August
Fiona is a Sydney poet, whose work has been published journals and anthologies in Australia, Asia
14th: Andrew Daddo, 5pm,
Wagga City Library
and the USA. Her work was included in Best Australian Poems 2008, 2009, 2010 (Black Ink). Fiona
was runner-up in the 2008 John Marsden National
Young Writers Award. In 2007, she was awarded
an Island of Residencies placement at the Tasmania
Writers’ Centre, developing a sequence of poems
about Australians in Sri Lanka. Fiona’s poetry has
featured in journals such as Going Down Swinging, Overland, Heat and the Australian Literary
Review.
September
5th-9th: Albury Write Around
the Murray Festival
13th: Wagga heat of the Australian National Poetry Slam, 7pm,
The Black Swan.
Knuckled (pictured right), her first collection of poems, (Giramondo Press) was published in 2011 and in 2012
she was named winner of
the Mary Gilmore Poetry
Prize (for best Australian
first collection of poetry
2010-11).
Fiona will be reading at
the Wagga City Library
Thursday 11th October,
5pm.
She will also be running
a poetry workshop at
Booranga (date to be confirmed in the next edition
of the Booranga News).
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October
1st-15th: Writer-in-residence,
Fiona Wright.
November
24th: fourW twenty-three, Sydney
launch. 3pm, Gleebooks.
December
1st: fourW twenty-three, Wagga
Launch. 2pm, Wagga City
Library (launched by Les Murray).
2nd: fourW twenty-three, Melbourne launch. 2pm, The Butterfly Club (launched by Les
Murray).
JULY - AUGUST 2007
BOORANGA
NEWS
EDITOR: DEREK MOTION
JULY-AUGUST 2012
Booranga Events Gallery
Clockwise, from top-left: Kit Kelen, Claire Baker,
Heather Shaw, and Jennifer Mills.
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BOORANGA NEWS
JULY - AUGUST 2012
Wagga Vibrations – Writing more than text
Contributed by Booranga member Claire Baker.
As a writing centre, one of Booranga’s aims is to nurture and promote writing. But this does not have to be limited to what has
traditionally been termed “writing”. Writing is not something that is limited to just the coherent assemblage of words on a page, a
physical thing if you like, within a book, magazine or sheet of paper. It can also be applied to the communication of one’s ideas by
mediums other than text, such visual arts, film and sound projects where an artist draws on text to produce a representation of the
text and broadens the concepts contained within that piece of writing and evolving it to a greater experience.
Several opportunities have presented themselves in Wagga over the past six months for members of Booranga to participate in
projects which stretch the ideas of story-telling from writing-as-text to these other forms of writing. One of these was the ABC
Open workshops run by Sonya Gee where participants were asked to bring in several photographs of some memorable moments
in their lives and then were recorded telling the stories behind the photos. Both the photo and the audio were then uploaded on the
ABC Riverina website. By using the combination of visual and sound, the stories come alive as the emotions and intonations in the
speaker’s voice helps to convey why these events are memorable for the author/storyteller. I know from the reaction from some of
my friends and family who live away how much they enjoyed hearing my stories and that they could tell from my voice how much
these memories mean to me.
The most recent chance to broaden the exposure of writing occurred in May this year when Artist-in-Residence at the Wagga
Wagga Art Gallery, Ms Duke Albada, spent several weeks in our area recording sounds for her project Wagga Vibrations. This
project uses audio recordings of a diverse range of events and everyday sounds to communicate the Wagga
experience. An invitation was extended to Booranga members to participate by submitting poems to Duke for her selection, the
criteria being that the writing be about Wagga. I was pleased and felt privileged to have had two poems chosen for recording – one
‘Hairy Panic’, which adorns one of the bus shelters in Wagga, and the other, ‘Painting on Rocky Hill’ which
describes how an artist (a dear friend of mine) used her talents to transform her canvas into a depiction of the landscape of Rocky
Hill at Kooringal.
Duke organised to come to my home to make the recording and the whole process only took about 30 minutes – several readings
of each poem. Background noise had to be minimal because of the sensitive nature of the recording equipment, so my husband was
banished to the other end of our house while recording was taking place. [Just as well, because he’d noted that it was John (The
Duke) Wayne’s birthday that day and was preparing for some teasing – but that’s another story!] The blending and editing of this
sound project should be completed next month, and will be utilised at Wagga Wagga Art Gallery later this year.
To find out more about Duke Albada please check out her website:
http://www.duke-albada.com.au/
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JULY - AUGUST 2007
BOORANGA
NEWS
EDITOR: DEREK MOTION
JULY-AUGUST 2012
Painting on Rocky Hill
A gum tree grows out of split granite
up on Rocky Hill
but it’s not alone;
A woman paints there
capturing the light thrown over the scene
dawn of another claustrophobic day.
Her work takes shape:
canvas bisected by an almost-steep incline
sky scumbled into an azure triangle
grasses drying into feathers
and boulders hippopotami emerging from a straw lake
bruised from the struggle.
While that tree,
branches straining for the sun
foliage in multi-toned flecks of green
trunk shaped and thickened in aubergine and mauve
its shadow hints of movement in the morning air
a blurred projection on the granite breeding ground.
Almost satisfied
the woman packs up her instruments of alchemy
and strolls back home
leaving the gum tree to keep its vigil
up there on Rocky Hill.
© Claire Baker 2012
Footnote to Vibrations Article:
Wagga Wagga City Council has announced that the launch for “The World of Wagga Wagga” sound installation will be Friday
10th August from 5pm to 6.30pm at the Sister City Walk Arcade 104 Baylis St. The installation will be in place for the next three
months so there is plenty of time to have a walk through this arcade and experience a Wagga you may never have noticed before.
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BOORANGA NEWS
JULY - AUGUST 2012
Australian Nation Poetry Slam: Wagga Heat
There will be more details about this event in the next Booranga News, but now is the time to start thinking about your material
and honing your performance skills. The Wagga Heat of the Australian National Poetry Slam will be hosted by Booranga Director Derek Motion. Entry is open to anyone: the performance must be your own work, and you need to keep it to under 2 minutes.
That’s all. Turn up early on the night to register if you are entering.
We’ve had some great poetry slam heats here over the past few years and there are some great prizes on offer. Last year Wagga heat
winner Zohab Khan went all the way to the National Final.
(Please note the venue has been changed from previous years.)
7pm, Friday 13th September, The Black Swan Hotel (in North Wagga)
2011 National slam finalist
Zohab Khan, performing at the
MultiStory launch in Wagga
earlier this year.
Booranga on the Web
Homepage: http://www.csu.edu.au/faculty/arts/humss/booranga/
‘Like’ our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Booranga-Writers-Centre/198309036885917
Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/Booranga
Check-in via Foursquare when at the centre: https://foursquare.com/venue/17176180
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JULY - AUGUST 2007
BOORANGA
NEWS
EDITOR: DEREK MOTION
JULY-AUGUST 2012
The Albury writers’ festival is on again in 2012, with events running between 5th - 9th September 2012.
This year’s festival is sure to be a great one, featuring Fiona O’Loughlin, Jane Caro, and Jason Steger, featured novelists Charlotte
Wood and Elliot Perlman, plus many more.
The full program can be downloaded here: http://www.writearoundthemurray.org.au
The selected events below may be of particular interest as they feature Booranga writers. (Please contact Booranga if you are
interested in travelling from Wagga to Albury for these events, as we may have room for you in in a vehicle).
* Book Launches: Midnight Empire and The Only Constant
You are invited to celebrate two great local talents (of course we want to claim them!) on their latest releases. Locally-raised Andrew Croome was awarded a Vogel for his first novel Document Z. We welcome him back to Albury and to the festival to launch
his new novel, Midnight Empire. Robyne Young has been a driving force behind several WAM festivals, so it’s with great pleasure
that we welcome her back to launch her latest collection of short stories, The Only Constant. Book sales and signings will follow.
Friday 7 September, 5:00pm, LibraryMuseum
Cost: Free
RSVP: 02 6023 8333 or www.writearoundthemurray.org.au
* The Poet’s Loft:
The Loft, upstairs at The Lounge, provides the perfect ambience for performance poetry from featured poets including Andy Jackson, slam poetry champion Emilie Zoey Baker, Derek Motion and more, with an open mic session for those who would like to get
up and read their favourite piece. Come for tapas, a glass of wine and inspired poetry.
Friday 7 September, 7:30pm, The Loft, upstairs at The Lounge, Dean Street, Albury
Cost: Free (tapas menu and drinks available upstairs at own expense; book ahead at The Lounge if wanting to order a meal)
RSVP: 02 6023 8333 or www.writearoundthemurray.org.au
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BOORANGA NEWS
JULY - AUGUST 2012
PUBLISHING, COMPETITIONS and OPPORTUNITIES
General Submissions
Remember to keep in mind those literary journals that are
open for submissions all year. A good place to start researching the major Australian ones is here:
http://www.litmags.com.au
(Booranga receives copies of the NSW based journal Southerly, and issues are available to borrow for Booranga Members)
Aesthetica Creative Writing Competition
The Aesthetica Creative Writing Competition celebrates
and champions creative writing, nurturing talent and bringing work to international attention. Aesthetica is inviting all
writers and poets to submit to the Aesthetica Creative Writing
Competition 2012. There are two categories for entry, Poetry
and Short Fiction, and a selection of fantastic prizes including:
- £500 prize money – Poetry winner
- £500 prize money – Short Fiction winner
- Publication in the Aesthetica Creative Writing Annual
- Complimentary copy of the Aesthetica Creative Writing Annual
- A selection of books from our competition partners
For more information and to enter please visit: http://www.
aestheticamagazine.com/submission_guide.htm
Submissions previously published elsewhere are accepted.
The Sleepers Almanac No. 8 submissions
One of Australia’s best venues for new writing is open for submissions. Emerging and young, established and old, betwixt
and between – all writers are encouraged to submit. Sleepers
accepts submissions up to 10,000 words. Only one submission
per author.
For more information and to submit, be sure to download the
SleepersAlmanacNo8 CoverSheet: http://sleeperspublishing.
com/submissions/
Closes: 12th August 2012
Poetry
Janice M Bostok Haiku Prize
All entries in Haiku form. Entry fee $10. First prize $350,
second prize $100, third prize $50.
Closes: 15th September
Entry is £10 and allows for the entry of two works into any
one category.
Details at: www.haikuoz.org
Closes: 31st August 2012
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JULY - AUGUST 2007
BOORANGA
NEWS
EDITOR: DEREK MOTION
JULY-AUGUST 2012
The Martha Richardson Poetry Prize
Winning and shortlisted entrants will be considered for inclusion
in the SPINELESSWONDERS Long Shorts e-stories series.
The Martha Richardson Poetry Prize is a bi-annual prize run by
Ballarat Writers Inc. In 2012 the Judge will be Nathan Curnow.
Closing date: 31 August
Poetry to 40 lines, open theme. First prize: $1000 AUD
Further info at www.shortaustralianstories.com.au
Results announced online December 2012
Visit: http://www.ballaratwriters.com/?page_id=467
The EJ Brady Short Story Competition
Closes: 15th October 2012
Two categories: the Major Short Story, for stories of 2,500
words or less and the Very Short Story, for stories under 700
words. Writers can enter one or both categories with as many
stories as they like. Monetary prizes. This year also features the
EJ Brady Youth Award.
The Peter Porter Poetry Prize
The Peter Porter Poetry Prize, which honours the great Australian poet Peter Porter (1929–2010), is one of Australia’s most lucrative and respected awards for poetry, and guarantees winners
wide exposure through publication in Australian Book Review.
Information and entry details: http://www.artsmallacoota.org/
Closes: 30th November
First Prize: $4000
All information: www.australianbookreview.com.au
The Best of Times Short Story competition.
Closes: 30th November 2012.
For humorous short stories (any theme) up to 2500 words.
First prize: $200, second prize: $50. No entry form is required.
Include a cover sheet with your name and address, story title
and word count, and where you heard about the competition.
Prose
Entry fee is $6 per story. Send a cheque or money order made
out to Chris Broadribb or use Paypal to pay [email protected]. Post your entry to PO Box 55, Blaxcell NSW 2142
(including a large SSAE for results) or email it to cabbook-14@
yahoo.com.au
The Carmel Bird Short Fiction Award 2012
Long Story Competition judged by Amanda Lohrey
First prize: $500
Open only to women writers. 4,000 – 10,000 words.
Competition website: http://spiky_one.tripod.com/comp14.
html
Closes: 31st October 2012.
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BOORANGA WRITERS’ CENTRE
APPLICATION FOR 2012 MEMBERSHIP
Booranga (trading as 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 to 31st
December 2012
Group membership (including one copy of fourW)
$55.00
Single membership (including one copy of fourW)
$36.00
Single membership (not including anthology)
$25.00
Concessional membership (one copy of fourW)
$26.00
Concessional membership (not including anthology)
$15.00
Student membership (under 21 years) not including
anthology$11.00
MEMBERSHIP ENTITLES YOU TO...
- Copy of fourW twenty-one 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
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:
.............................. (home).............................. (work) .............................. (mobile)
Email:
..............................................................................
Enclosed is: $............. cheque/money order FOR:
(please indicate membership type required)
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: