Calligraphy workshop
Get stuck in Don’t be just a spectator, join the fun by attending a workshop, writes HEATHER ZUBEK
T
he DIY ethos goes well beyond the hordes at Bunnings each weekend. People inspired by what they see on stage or read on the page will have their chance to have a go for themselves at one of many workshops on offer over the season. There is everything from the lewd to the literate, from learning how to shake that booty and write calligraphy to overcoming the grammar gremlins, and acting on stage. For those who would like to try their hand at writing poetry, the WA Poetry Festival will run a diverse range of workshops. Festival co-ordinator Karen Murphy says poets such as TT.O, from Melbourne, and Graham Nunn, from Brisbane, will be on hand to share their knowledge. Nunn, a writer of haiku and secretary of the Australian Haiku Society, will lead participants through Queens Gardens for a ginko, a nature-and-
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poetry walk. He will share his knowledge of the Japanese medium and encourage participants to create and perhaps share their own haiku. A ginko, or haiku walk, was encouraged by one of the great early Japanese haiku masters Masaoka Shiki. He thought that haiku poets should develop their powers of observation and description through walking in nature, writing notes about what they saw, heard, smelt and touched. These poets would then create and share the haiku afterwards. This act of observing and responding also is part of being a fiction writer, according to Amanda Curtin, writer, editor and workshop presenter for Writing Fiction — Getting Started. “What I hope to do in my workshop is to get participants writing and thinking like a writer through observing, gathering, responding and then applying the ‘what if ’ questions that turn an idea into a story,” Curtin says. Another Perth writer, Susan Midalia, will conduct a workshop focusing on life’s moments and creating stories that are economical yet evocative. Her short-story writing session will focus on using language in imaginative and intelligent ways to suggest complex meanings in relatively few words. “Every word and every sentence have to count,” Midalia says. “This workshop will focus on the short story as the art of suggestion.” Perth women have the opportunity to learn the art of tease in workshops organised in conjunction with the Perth International Burlesque Festival. Skills such as tassel twirling, booty shaking, fan dancing and striptease will be part of the curriculum. “These festival workshops are special as they are taught by guest artists who have flown in from all over Australia and overseas,” says burlesque festival director Melanie Bruyer, aka A’dora Derriere. “A good example is Miss Indigo Blue’s Tassel Twirling class. She is famous all over the world for her amazing tassel-twirling skills and she will be sharing her tips and secrets with the students at the festival workshop.” More and more women are attending burlesque shows and workshops because it’s a lot of fun and a great way to meet like-minded women. “The workshops are really ‘female’,” says festival co-director Melanie Naumoff, aka Coco Poppin. “The workshops help women of all ages feel sexy and see their body in a positive way. The wonderful thing about burlesque is that you don’t have to have a particular body shape or size or even be able to dance at all. Anyone can do the classes.”