northerly may-june 2016

northerly

May-June 2016

CHRISTOPHER ISHERWOOD · THE ART OF ADAPTATION · NRWC REBRANDING LYNNETTE LOUNSBURY · NEWS & REVIEWS · COMPETITIONS · KENDRICK LAMAR

Cost $1890 (AUD) Included All workshop materials, meals, accommodation (single room), internal transfers.

Does not include airfares. Early bird: $1770 ends 15 May.

Join us in Sanur, Bali for Writing in Paradise

4 28 July–3 August 4

Shelley Kenigsberg & David Leser present a

writing retreat for seasoned writers or those new to it.

In the sublime setting of Villa Sekala, in Sanur, you’ll:

• learn about the power and discipline of writing daily • learn how to tap into your imagination to create memorable and captivating passages of writing

• benefit from support, guidance and feedback from

Shelley is a distinguished freelance editor, writer and trainer in trade and educational publishing.

Shelley has commissioned new titles, mentored authors privately and via the Australian Society of Authors, and edited for Australia’s most respected publishers. She has been Head of Macleay College Book Editing course for 25 years. She presents long and short courses in editing and writing at literary festivals, and writers’ centres in Australia, Indonesia and Singapore.

David is an award-winning journalist and author

two highly-trained writing mentors and editors

whose recent memoir To Begin to Know: Walking in the Shadows of My Father was shortlisted for 2015’s Australian National Biography Award. He has been senior feature writer for The Australian Magazine, The Bulletin, HQ, Good Weekend, the Australian Women’s Weekly, as well as a Middle East, European and North American correspondent. David works as a public interviewer, mentor, guest lecturer and speechwriter.

• enjoy the support of a small group of fellow writers • discover what Hemingway meant when he said the hardest thing about the writing endeavour is ‘getting the words right’.

Past participants said: … “life-changing”. In one

hot, intensive week, I discovered what my real writing strengths and weaknesses were — things clicked into place, and I worked harder and with more focus than I have in a very long time. Inspiring.— Stephanie Goldberg, UK

Email: info@editinginparadise for all details and booking form.

“Don’t change a thing. Thanks so much for a wonderful week. What a journey!“— Fabian Winiger, Oxford

Join us for Jaipur Literature Festival Tour, Jan 11 to Jan 25, 2017 The Jaipur Literature Festival is a brilliant collection of authors (international and local), including Nobel laureates, Man Booker winners and debut novelists, who come together for five days of readings, debates and discussions at the beautiful Diggi Palace in the Rajasthan capital of Jaipur.

The two-week tour includes: • Time in Delhi to enjoy the exotic old spice markets, food and shopping • Day trip to Agra’s Taj Mahal • A leisurely few days in the small Rajasthani desert town of Pushkar Then it’s off to Jaipur for the largest literature festival in the world, with the option to visit the city’s grand palace, paint an elephant, enjoy block printing demos, a Bollywood movie and shopping.

The tour escort, North Coast-based Madeleine Doherty, is a veteran traveller of India, a big fan of the Jaipur Literature Festival and NRWC member.

Places are limited for this leisurely paced tour.

Price: $3,800.00 for twin share (excludes international airfares, visa, travel insurance and some meals) For more details contact Madeleine: Phone: 02 6677 9207 Email: maddwoman49@yahoo.com.au.

All bookings done through Aileen Collins Travel Managers Australia.

CONTENTS

>> THIS ISSUE

MAYJUN2016 002 Director & editor’s notes 003 News

Self-publishing partnership for Festival, Books to Screen moves to next stage, Residential Mentorship authors named and more

6

006 Rebranding rebirth

NRWC and BBWF undergo a facelift

008 Man of his times

Victor Marsh on Christopher Isherwood and queer spirituality

8

011 Poem From Stevi-Lee Alver’s new chapbook, Cactus

012 From page to screen The finest in book-to-film adaptations with a selection of local writers

12

014 SCU showcase

Poetry from Mandy Bartlett

015 Arts round-up

Gustav Klimt and the secrets of undergarments feature at the next ADFAS lectures

016 I’m alright Jack

15

Author Lynnette Lounsbury in conversation with Jarrah Dundler about her Kerouac-inspired new novel

018 Book review

Peter Mitchell reviews Ghost River by Tony Birch

020 Axes to grind

After triumphing at Bluesfest, can we see Kendrick Lamar as among his generation’s greatest bards?

18

021 Workshops & Competitions 024 Writers’ groups

20 northerly | 001

>>HELLO

Director’s Note The pace of our twentieth anniversary year continues to quicken, with only three months until the 2016 Byron Writers Festival, and even less until we announce the exciting celebration program befitting of our significant milestone.

Byron Writers Festival is Australia’s largest regional literary gathering, three-plus days of convivial conversations and stimulating stories by the ocean shore. It is pivotal to the artistic life of the Northern Rivers, and a beacon to increasingly more visitors.

To mark the twentieth anniversary, the board commissioned a vital brand review, of Photo: Angela Kay both the Festival and the Writers’ Centre, ably assisted by Brisbane-based agency TheSumOf. I hope you are as excited as the Festival team about our new (shorter) name and brand identity, which is revealed in this issue of northerly. We look forward to promoting the 2016 Festival to both our loyal and new audiences – heralded by this powerfully simple icon.

Leading up to August are other numerous exciting events commencing with the Sydney Writers’ Festival: Live and Local. Settle into the SAE Auditorium on Ewingsdale Road for digital live-streaming of several keynote sessions, including David Gonski in conversation with Margot Saville, Marlon James and the panel Why Women Should Rule the World featuring Gloria Steinem.

The next Out of Season appearance is award-winning storyteller Kate Tempest who has been described as a young Patti Smith, talking with Anneli Knight about her debut novel The Bricks that Built the Houses. She is delivering the opening address at Sydney Writers’ Festival and is definitely a diary must for May 24 at Byron Theatre.

Then on May 30 we welcome popular commentator and social researcher Hugh Mackay, whose new book Beyond Belief explores our quest for meaningful lives.

Check byronbaywritersfestival.com for event details.

I do hope to see many of our members at these gatherings, intended to whet appetites for the weekend of August 5-7.

FROM THE EDITOR

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LOCATION/CONTACT Level 1 28 Jonson Street, Byron Bay P: 02 6685 5115 F: 02 6685 5166 E: info@nrwc.org.au W: www.nrwc.org.au POSTAL ADDRESS PO Box 1846 Byron Bay NSW 2481 EDITOR: Barnaby Smith, northerly@nrwc.org.au CONTRIBUTORS: Stevi-Lee Alver, Sarah Armstrong, Mandy Bartlett, Jesse Blackadder, Ken Crouch, Jeff Dawson, Jarrah Dundler, Anika Ebner, Marele Day, Russell Eldridge, Lynda Hawryluk, Polly Jude, Angela Kay, Victor Marsh, Peter Mitchell, Luna Wolters BYRON WRITERS FESTIVAL COMMITTEE CHAIRPERSON Chris Hanley VICE CHAIRPERSON Jennifer St George SECRETARY Russell Eldridge TREASURER Cheryl Bourne MEMBERS Jesse Blackadder, Kate Cameron, Marele Day, Lynda Dean, Lynda Hawryluk, Anneli Knight, Adam van Kempen LIFE MEMBERS Jean Bedford, Jeni Caffin, Gayle Cue, Robert Drewe, Jill Eddington, Chris Hanley, John Hertzberg, Fay Knight, Irene O’Brien, Jennifer Regan, Cherrie Sheldrick, Brenda Shero, Heather Wearne MAIL OUT DATES Magazines are sent in JANUARY, MARCH, MAY, JULY, SEPTEMBER and NOVEMBER MAGAZINE DESIGN Kaboo Media PRINTER Quality Plus Printers Ballina 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.

Edwina Johnson Director, Byron Writers Festival

It is a particular pleasure to be able to publish in this autumn issue of northerly an enlightening essay by Victor Marsh on the legacy of Christopher Isherwood, marking the thirtieth anniversary of the author’s death.

I was something of a latecomer to Isherwood, indeed the first exposure I had to his work of any kind was the elegant 2009 adaptation of his novella A Single Man directed by Tom Ford and starring Colin Firth. That film could easily have made its way into our centre-spread feature for this issue, which sees an array of literary personalities from the Northern Rivers select the adaptation of a book to film

northerly northerly is the bi-monthly magazine of the Byron Writers Festival. The Byron Writers Festival offer a yearround program of readings, workshops and writer visits as well as the annual production of the Byron Writers Festival.

Byron Writers Festival is a non-profit, incorporated organisation receiving its core funding from Arts NSW.

that has most resonated with them, to tie in with the Centre’s burgeoning Books to Screen project.

Happy reading and writing as whalewatching season approaches – obviously you all know which spectacularly digressive, wildly multi-layered and distinctly leviathan-like nineteenthcentury American novel it is time to dust off.

DISCLAIMER The Byron Writers Festival 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 contributed articles is maintained by the named author and northerly.

CONNECT WITH US Visit www.byronbaywritersfestival.com.

Sign up for a membership. Stay updated and join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. www.facebook.com/pages/ Northern-Rivers-Writers-Centre twitter.com/bbwritersfest

Cover art: With nimble feet to dance upon the air by Hilary Herrmann (www. hilaryherrmann.com.au)

Barnaby Smith Editor, northerly magazine

Byron Writers Festival and northerly magazine acknowledge and pay respect to the traditional custodians of this land.

>> NEWS

Byron Writers Festival welcomes new Marketing and Communications Manager, Anika Ebner

Anika is a brand and communications strategist with fifteen years of experience developing and implementing successful brand, communications and website projects. She is particularly passionate about user experience (how people interact with a brand or service) and creating compelling experiences aimed at engaging public audiences.

A trained industrial designer, Anika cut her teeth as an accessories designer for Mambo and designing interactive exhibits for the Science Museum of Barcelona.

A stint as an innovation consultant sparked her passion for consumer research, with the last ten years seeing Anika leading and guiding research and communications strategy projects for the Australian Human Rights Commission, the National Centre for Indigenous Excellence, and the ABC and to name a few.

She lives in South Golden Beach with her small family and runs a mobile events business – The Canavan – with her husband on weekends. Anika is thrilled to be joining the team and is already stuck into the rollout of the new brand and website, due to launch to the public in May.

Festival partners with Captain Honey

Byron Writers Festival is delighted to announce a partnership with publishing company Captain Honey to provide a venue at the 2016 Festival exclusively for selfpublished authors. Having debuted at the 2015 Festival, the Self-Published Marquee will feature twenty-eight authors in a bigger space across all three days of the event (as opposed to two days in 2015).

“Self-publishing has seen enormous growth as a launchpad for writers over the past decade,” says

Festival director Edwina Johnson. “Given Byron Writers Festival has a member-base of hundreds of established and aspiring authors, it is fitting that self-publishing is properly represented at the Festival.”

The marquee will be an opportunity for self-published authors to showcase and sell their books, share their experiences and insights with the public and meet other self-published authors.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with the Byron Writers Festival, the first mainstream festival in Australia to dedicate space and attention to the growing area of self-publishing,” said Roz Hopkins, publishing director at Captain Honey. “Recognition by events like Byron Writers Festival provides the profile and prestige that has been missing for self-published authors.”

Applications open on June 13 and close on June 21.

An e-bulletin will be sent to notify members when applications open. If selected, information on the steps required to complete the application process will be emailed to applicants by June 30. This final stage needs to be completed and the fee paid by July 5. For guidelines and further information visit www.byronbaywritersfestival.com

Residential Mentorship writers named Warm congratulations to the four emerging writers selected to spend an intensive week of mentorship with novelist Marele Day. The writers will spend May 9-13 at a Suffolk Park beach house fine-tuning their work. The Residential Mentorship is among the key programs at northerly | 003

>> NEWS

Byron Writers Festival, with judges remarking that the field was particularly strong this year. The 2016 mentees and their manuscripts are: Colleen O’Brien: River People Christine Tondorf: Lure Margot Duell: My Naked Life Sally Colin-James: Cloud Mountains in a Lake of Air

Books to Screen authors selected The inaugural Books to Screen project attracted a strong field of entries and we are delighted to announce that the three winning books are:

Successful Books to Screen authors Kate Veitch and Tristan Bancks with Northern Rivers Screenworks manager Ken Crouch.

Two Wolves by Tristan Bancks Losing Kate by Kylie Kaden Listen by Kate Veitch Books to Screen is a joint initiative between Byron Writers Festival and Northern Rivers Screenworks and is supported by Screen NSW as an industry partner and SAE Creative Media Institute Byron Bay as a venue partner. The program aims to increase the number of Australian books adapted to screen formats.

The three successful books were selected to progress in the program as they were deemed best suited for the opportunities that Books to Screen presents. Each of them demonstrated particular potential and suitability for screen adaptation by a screenwriter.

The project is now inviting screenwriters to apply to work with our three winning authors on creating the material required to pitch these books for screen adaptations.

These teams will pitch their projects to a panel of screen producers and broadcasters at Byron Writers Festival, with the panel of judges selecting a winning pitch.

If the winning adaptation pitch is not optioned by one of the panellists at Byron Writers Festival, Screenworks will include the winning pitch as part of a slate of projects that it will take to the Screen Producers Australia conference in November 2016 with the purpose of seeking market interest.

StoryBoard volunteer call-out Byron Writers Festival is seeking volunteers for the recently launched StoryBoard project, a mobile creative writing program that will connect authors with schools and schoolkids with writing. Volunteer tutors are required to visit schools in the region and assist with workshops; no experience is necessary and some basic training will be provided. There is also no minimum or ongoing commitment. For further information and all enquiries email special projects co-ordinator Coralie Tapper at coralie@nrwc.org.au

Bronnie Ware at Byron Library Author, speaker and songwriter Bronnie Ware will appear at Byron Bay Library to discuss her work and meet readers on Tuesday, June 21 from 5:30pm to 7:30pm.

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>> NEWS

Ware’s first book, The Top Five Regrets of the Dying (2011), has been published in twenty-eight languages with her follow-up, Your Year For Change (2014) also an international success. The Top Five Regrets of the Dying has also been optioned for adaptation to film. The event is free for Byron Writers Festival members and $10 for non-members.

Pitch Perfect at Byron Writers Festival 2016 Byron Writers Festival’s Pitch Perfect initiative has been the launchpad for a number of successful publications, including Russell Eldridge’s Harry Mac, published in 2015. Byron Writers Festival is now seeking submissions for Pitch Perfect 2016.

Pitch Perfect allows emerging authors to submit their manuscripts for the chance to pitch their idea ‘live’ to a panel of publishers at Byron Writers Festival on Saturday August 7. The top three submissions will be selected, with pitches limited to five minutes each. A short pitching workshop to prepare successful applicants will be arranged prior to the festival. The deadline for submissions is 2pm on Wednesday, June 29. For further details and to apply visit www.nrwc.org.au

Publishing success for former NRWC mentee M.J. Tjia, who took part in NRWC’s Residential Mentorship in 2013, is celebrating a publishing deal with Legend Press (UK) for her latest novel and the next in its series. Tjia, whose real name is Mirandi Riwoe, writes the Heloise Chancey crime novels, with first instalment She Be Damned to be published in 2017, and the followup in 2018. She Be Damned is set in 1860s London, with Heloise Chancey a famous courtesan who investigates the disappearance of prostitutes. Congratulations to M.J from northerly and Byron Writers Festival.

Tempest a-brewing Byron Theatre plays host to award-winning poet, spokenword artist and, now, novelist Kate Tempest on May 24.

The British performer/author will be in conversation with Anneli Knight about her debut novel, The Bricks That Built The House, along with the rest of her oeuvre, which includes the Mercury-nominated album of hiphop, Everybody Down, while in 2013 she won the Ted Hughes Award for her dramatic poem, ‘Brand New Ancients’. Tickets range between $16.45 and $26.85. More information can be found at www.nrwc.org.au

Byron launch for Jagtenberg Mary Ryan’s bookshop in Byron Bay will play host to the launch of Byron Writers Festival member Tom Jagtenberg’s new book, Beyond The Limits: A Planet in Crisis. The event starts at 6pm on Thursday May 19. Speakers will include MC David Heilpern, Jan Barham, Ian Cohen and Jagtenberg himself. The book offers an Australian-focussed analysis of Green politics and philosophy, and is for anyone interested in interdisciplinary approaches to contemporary global ecology. To make a booking phone 02 6685 8183.

OBITUARIES RAFIQ AZAD Bangladeshi poet; February 14, 1942 – March 12, 2016 ANITA BROOKNER British novelist and historian; July 16, 1928 – March 10, 2016 PAT CONROY American novelist; October 26, 1945 – March 4, 2016 MARCEL DUBÉ Canadian playwright; January 3, 1930 – April 7, 2016 BOB ELLIS Australian writer and journalist; May 10, 1942 – April 3, 2016 LARS GUSTAFSSON Swedish poet and novelist; May 17, 1936 – April 2, 2016 ROWLEY HABIB New Zealand writer and poet; April 24, 1933 – April 3, 2016 JIM HARRISON American author; December 11, 1937 – March 26, 2016 IMRE KERTÉSZ Hungarian novelist; November 9, 1929 – March 31, 2016 DAME LEONIE KRAMER Australian author and academic; October 1, 1924 – April 20, 2016 MICHELLE MCNAMARA American crime writer; 1969 – April 22, 2016 AHARON MEGGED Israeli writer; August 10, 1920 – March 23, 2016 SHIZUKO NATSUKI Japanese novelist; December 21, 1938 – March 19, 2016 MARION PATRICK JONES Trinidadian author; August 16, 1931 – March 2, 2016 HOWARD MARKS Welsh author; August 13, 1945 – April 10, 2016 RAFAEL SQUIRRU Argentine poet and critic; March 23, 1925 – March 5, 2016 GWYN THOMAS Welsh poet; September 2, 1936 – April 13, 2016 ARNOLD WESKER British playwright; May 24, 1932 – April 12, 2016

QUOTAT ION CORNER

“The truth is always something that is told, not something that is known. If there were no speaking or writing, there would be no truth about anything. There would only be what is.”

— Susan Sontag, The Benefactor (1963) northerly | 005

>>FEATURE

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>>FEATURE

The road to rebranding Northern Rivers Writers’ Centre’s rebranding marks a new name, new look and an even greater purpose. Here, Marketing and Communications Manager Anika Ebner offers a guide through the rebranding process.

For twenty years, the Northern Rivers Writers’ Our new positioning Centre and Byron Bay Writers Festival have A brand embodies what we stand for, what we do, coexisted harmoniously - the Centre as our what we believe and how we behave. It’s our reason hub of year-round programs and support for for being. Our positioning, ‘Where Stories Take our local writing community, the Festival as a You’, is all of these things and more. celebration of ideas In breaking it apart, we can each and literature find our own connection to it.

Stories have the power to change that is renowned for its inspiring our position on something, to redirect us, Where: Byron (and its surrounding region) is a curation and relaxed or to take us to a different place, destination brand, a place that atmosphere. whether that is through imagination or balances an international culture In recent years, the journalistic fact. The identity seeks to with a down-to-earth, friendly staff and board have reflect this physical, emotional and attitude. been focussing on psychological affect stories have on us, Stories: We have a passion for our future strategic conveyed in a strong but simple visualisation stories, whether fact or fiction. direction and exploring means of of the positioning - Where Stories Take You. Stories and ideas can move us, whether by informing us, providing more value Kevin Finn, TheSumOf inspiring us or challenging us. to members. This has seen our team grow, Take: Stories are social. They take our annual programs broaden and inspired a us to places and put us in situations that expand strategic initiative to strengthen our organisation and enrich our networks, our ideas, and for many, for the next decade. Aligned to this initiative our lives. Our Festival brings the world of debate is our rebrand: a new name, positioning and and ideas to Byron, but it also takes regional and look that we are very excited to share with our national ideas to the world. members and readers prior to its public launch.

You: This is where it becomes about you – our members, our Festival patrons, our community, our partners. Is it professional development, Probing research mentoring and guidance you are seeking? Or is it a Kevin Finn of TheSumOf was engaged to assist more personal, transformational journey? us with the rebrand project. With previous successes including the rebrand of the Brisbane Festival, State Library of Queensland and SBS, Our new look it was with confidence and anticipation that we Accompanying our positioning is our new brand embarked on this journey. A series of interviews marque. With its simplicity, Kevin managed to with Centre and Festival stakeholders revealed convey a wide range of qualities and associations. enlightening insights into our organisation, our The upward, triangular point of the b’s ascender brand and our potential for growth. reflects our pioneering attitude, positivity, leadership and aspiration, whilst unequivocally linking Byron Bay and its iconic lighthouse to the What we discovered act of writing.

Research uncovered an overarching desire to The encircling nature of the b’s bowl represents merge the two entities under one name: Byron community, the journey of ideas, and the crashing Writers Festival. Whilst many names and waves of our beautiful bay. And of course the light, iterations were pondered over, we were after a cheerful blue represents our location – by the name that was simple, distinctive and emotive. ocean with the fresh air feeding our creativity.

Research also revealed that the Centre’s core strengths and operational activities would Moving forwards be bolstered by this new, more recognisable name. The Festival, with its incredibly broad The new brand will be publicly launched in line reach, strong brand recognition and positive with early bird ticket sales and our new website in experiential associations would serve to attract mid-May. We invite you to join us in celebrating new and diverse members and audiences. It everything that is brilliant about our organisation would also increase our capacity to deliver a with the upcoming public rollout and look forward high-quality program of out-of-season events to continuing the journey of sharing ideas, stories, and workshops. and writing together. northerly | 007

>> FEATURE

Isherwood and me This year marks the thirtieth anniversary of the death of English writer Christopher Isherwood. In celebration of his life and work, Northern Rivers author and Isherwood scholar Victor Marsh offers a personal reflection on his legacy, and looks at the often overlooked second half of his career in which he embraced Eastern spirituality and Vedanta whilst living in the United States.

Christopher Isherwood was initially famous for a series of stories set in Berlin during the rise of the Nazis.

He and his friends W.H. Auden and Stephen Spender had a wonderful time in their twenties throwing off the stuffy values of Edwardian Britain in favour of the sexual freedoms available in the wildest city in Europe. Decades later the louche Berlin nightlife would be reflected in the stage musical and film Cabaret, but few among its fans know that it was based on the play I Am a Camera, adapted by Carl Van Druten from the characters in those Berlin stories, especially Goodbye to Berlin.

Some of Isherwood’s early books had been published

by Virginia and Leonard Woolf ’s Hogarth Press.

Somerset Maugham called him the most promising novelist of his generation. But Isherwood dropped off the radar of the ‘Brit-lit crits’ when, on the eve of World War Two, he declared himself a pacifist and decamped to America with Auden. Together they had written three plays and an account of their travels in China, Journey to a War, to report on the Sino-Japanese conflict.

To the political and literary establishment in Britain the two writers were virtual traitors who had abandoned their homeland in its hour of need. Questions were asked in the House of Commons and they were lampooned by Evelyn Waugh as the ‘two despicable poets, Parsnip and Pimpernel’ in his novel Put Out More Flags.

Isherwood’s revulsion towards warmongering had deep roots and was compounded by several factors. He had been traumatised when his father was killed, near Ypres, in World War One when Isherwood was ten years old and at boarding school. Reflecting on those early years and his subsequent dislocation from a stable sense of security, Isherwood would write, ‘It is not home that one is searching for, but one’s home self.’

He was repulsed by jingoistic tub-thumping and crude indoctrinations urging young men to prepare themselves as warriors. So with war stalking Europe in the 1930s he found himself profoundly unsettled. Five years of trying everything he could to keep his German lover Heinz out of the hands of the Nazis – including twice trying to get him into Britain – came to naught, when Heinz was forced out of Luxembourg in 1937 as an ‘undesirable alien’, convicted of ‘reciprocal onanism’ and sentenced to 008 | northerly

>> FEATURE

Christopher Isherwood (left) with W.H. Auden in 1939. Photo: Carl Van Vechten.

six months in prison, a year of state labour and two years of military service. Rejecting a combatant role in a war that would pit him against his own lover, Isherwood was heading for a nervous breakdown, with circumstances forcing him to seek out an alternative way to live.

Reaching the United States in 1938, Auden stayed on the East Coast but Isherwood headed west, hoping to garner some intellectual support for his pacifist stance from California-based Aldous Huxley, with whom he had been corresponding. When he applied for U.S. citizenship he stated in his application that he would defend his country in non-combatant roles only, and he did volunteer work with the Quakers, re-settling European émigrés. He found work writing for the Hollywood movie studios, but back in England the literati lamented that he was publishing little of note.

Worse, there were rumours of him taking up an exotic religion. So, while the literary critics lamented the period in the 1950s when Isherwood’s writing ‘went to seed’ they were content to ignore what Isherwood had been working on: he was reaching out to a new readership as a cross-cultural translator of Vedanta for Western readers.

As he noted, ruefully, in an interview with Carolyn Heilbrun, ‘People get a wonderful view of my lack of production by blissfully ignoring two-thirds of my work.

I only produced, I don’t know, what was it – three, four books related to Vedanta in one way or another.’

Although the sincerity and effectiveness of his spiritual practice would be shown scant respect by the literati for many years, Isherwood found very practical guidance from a Swami in the Ramakrishna Order of Monks, one Swami Prabhavananda, who had a Temple on N. Ivar Avenue in Hollywood. That relationship continued for forty years and while writing novels, movie scripts and the memoirs and diaries for which he would again become famous, he was also writing about Vedanta for readership in the Western world. This included a biography of Sri Ramakrishna, in whose memory the Order had been founded, as well as translations with the Swami of major texts from the non-dual Advaita tradition such as The Bhagavad Gita, Shankara’s Crest Jewel of Discrimination, and the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.

That is how Isherwood registered most clearly on

my radar, at least initially. I was working in TV in Hollywood, coincidentally only a few miles from N. Ivar Avenue, and I had started working slowly on my memoir, The Boy in the Yellow Dress, which would take me twenty years to bring to publication. That text falls into two parts, really, the first part largely concerned with my deeply felt marginalisation as a gay man growing up in the 1950s, and my odyssey through drugs, madness and gender confusion in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

My search brought me into contact with a young guru, in 1972. He showed me that what I had been looking for could only be found within! That’s fine, I thought, but my internal geography was as confusing as my rootless peregrinations around Australia had been. I had given up drugs after a rather dramatic comedown from a wild acid trip, and reading everything I could lay my hands on, about – you guessed it – spirituality and comparative religion.

So when I picked up Isherwood’s late autobiography, My Guru and His Disciple, I was struck that there had been other queer men who had been wounded by encounters with official religion but who had gained access, nonetheless, to the divinity that resides within the heart; men assisted by guides who did not see their primary responsibility as the policing of gender boundaries. This was what characterised the non-dual teachings of the so-called ‘Eastern’ traditions: they relied less on codes of exclusion and inclusion or separating out the bad from the good, and insisted instead on a holistic vision of unity, underpinned by the meditation practices that brought this order of reality into focus.

I was thrilled especially to follow the four decades of Isherwood’s deepening relationship with his guru and guide, which in many ways parallels my own. Later, when I was researching written testimony of such writers’ journeys for a PhD, I discovered a whole new sub-genre of literature: ‘spiritual autobiographies by queer men’.

Someone in Ohio (my grandparents’ home state) had even written a dissertation about it.

‘But there can’t be too many of those!’ exclaimed my more cynical friends, when I talked with them about my research. Of all things that queer men are about, it couldn’t possibly be religion or spirituality; they’re all northerly | 009

>> FEATURE

about sex, aren’t they? In conventional thinking, religion and sexuality are seen as mutually opposed, with homosexuality officially labelled as an abomination in the churches, synagogues and mosques, no?

For many people, even where it’s sincere, celibacy can be an unstable basis for the spiritual life. It might be more wholesome to acknowledge one’s sexuality and integrate the reality of that as part of one’s nature into one’s practice rather than struggle to suppress or deny it.

While we are all, wittingly or unwittingly, part of larger movements in the evolution of politics and culture, we are sometimes so enmeshed in our own personal psychodramas as to miss the bigger picture. But there are pioneers – men and women who can read the changes, or to put it another way, whose personal dramas epitomise in some ways the shifts taking place across the culture. Isherwood represents

that for me. He tried the monastic lifestyle for a couple of years; I tried it for a decade. Sex or no sex is not the question, but to hope to ignore it risks the possibility that it might come back and bite you.

While many still read him as perhaps the first well-known writer to ‘out’ himself as queer (in Christopher and His Kind (1976)), it was with the last of his autobiographies, My Guru and His Disciple, that he put paid to the toxic representation of queer men as religious pariahs. Isherwood found his grounding in a religious praxis that was not based on dualities in the Advaita, or non-dual form of Vedanta, and recognised that we are all, already, members of The Club. Like me, Isherwood pursued his spiritual inquiry beyond the oppressive confines of the Abrahamic traditions, in a so-called ‘Eastern’ tradition translated through a one-onone relationship with a truly compassionate, living guide. For the hostility of official religions towards us pariahs has real teeth, doesn’t it? I need not dwell on the centuries of exclusion and persecution, the spirit of which still lingers in some quarters today.

Teachings that overcome the us/them divide, and assist us in accessing conscious awareness of the ‘eternal ground of being’ underlying all life forms, are ultimately great healers of the divisions ignorantly promulgated by so-called ‘authorities’ who may or may not be abiding in the conscious, loving awareness of this underlying unity. Men and women who see their religious duty almost exclusively as policing gender boundaries.

Isherwood found that certain meditation practices facilitated this shift in awareness deep within the psyche, re-aligning the self with the realisation of its source in this ‘eternal ground of being’, the one ‘Self ’ residing in all. I liken it to a cosmic docking procedure and for me as practitioner; it is experienced as a profound homecoming, the ultimate, loving antidote to alienation and to the various forms of confusion that might otherwise range all the way to self-hatred and suicide. The reunion of the personal self with the Ground of All Being is profoundly redemptive.

For real ‘gay liberation’, then, it isn’t enough to act out some form of ‘gay pride’, thumbing the nose in disrespectful protest at external agencies, if that pride, or at least self-respect and healthy regard for the value of one’s life, isn’t sourced from the deeply realised awareness of the whole being. I repeat: at this deepest level, we are all already members of The Club, and ‘queer spirituality’ should be understood, ultimately, as a reconciliation rather than a setting apart. That’s how the odyssey has unfolded for me, over more than four decades of journeying homeward.

Victor Marsh (photo by Luna Wolters) is the author of Mr Isherwood Changes Trains: Christopher Isherwood and the Search for the ‘home-self ’ (Clouds of Magellan Press, 2010) and the memoir The Boy in the Yellow Dress (Clouds of Magellan Press, 2014). He also edited Speak Now (Clouds of Magellan Press, 2011), a collection of essays on issues surrounding same-sex marriage.

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>> POEM

From Cactus Stevi-Lee Alver

We wax surfboards, watch each other take steep drops and catch waves that run like glass across the entirety of the bay. We pretend we aren’t scared. We wear wetsuits and zinc and ignore shadows passing underneath. We laugh at getting wiped-out. We become familiar with the seals swimming and playing in the line-up. We can no longer feel where our own skin ends and the ocean’s skin begins. We watch the surf at sunrise. We check the surf until sunset. We learn with haste not to surf when onshore seals congregate.

Based in the Northern Rivers, Stevi-Lee Alver has had her fiction, poetry, and reviews published across Australia and the United States. In 2014 she received the University of Massachusetts Class of 1940 Creative Writing Award for poetry and the Questions Short Story Writing Prize. In 2015, she was presented with the Southern Cross University award for Excellence in the Arts and was the winner of the 2015 FAW National Literary Awards category Angelo B. Natoli Short Story Prize. Cactus is her first chapbook.

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>> FEATURE

Screen test: the triumphs of adaptation

One of Byron Writers Festival’s major programs of 2016 is the unique Books to Screen initiative in partnership with Northern Rivers Screenworks, which will see three carefully selected authors team up with screenwriters for the chance to have their book adapted to screen. To mark this special project, northerly asked some of the region’s authors and other literary players to pay tribute to their favourite example of a book’s transformation into film.

The Big Sleep Novel by Raymond Chandler, 1939 Film directed by Howard Hawks, 1946 ‘I was wearing my powder-blue suit, with dark blue shirt... I was everything the welldressed private detective ought to be. I was calling on four million dollars.’

Long before I read those lines from Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep, or considered writing crime fiction myself, I saw Humphrey Bogart as that well-dressed private detective, Philip Marlowe, knocking on the door of the Sternwood mansion in the film adaptation directed by Howard Hawks. It was shot in black and white, with the long dark shadows of film noir, so you couldn’t actually tell if the suit was powder-blue.

But Bogart was perfectly cast as the existential protagonist in a morally corrupt world.

The book-to-screen journey of The Big Sleep is a study in what gets added, changed and lost in translation, and why. Because of censorship restrictions, the allusions to nudity, pornography and homosexuality became more cryptic. Warner Bros asked for the director’s cut to be substantially reworked to give Lauren Bacall more screen time. A scene Hawks added to explain some of the plot anomalies in the book was replaced with suggestive scenes focussing on Bogie and Bacall, who by then were having an off-screen romance that ensured huge box-office appeal.

Despite these differences, the movie remains true to the essence of Chandler’s wisecracking hard-boiled private eye. ‘My, my. Such a lot of guns around town and so few brains,’ is one famous line added by screenwriters William Faulkner, Leigh Brackett and Jules Furthman – it would have fitted seamlessly into Chandler’s book.

Marele Day, award-winning novelist and writing mentor.

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American Psycho Novel by Bret Easton Ellis, 1991 Film directed by Mary Harron, 2000 In 1991, Bret Easton Ellis’ American Psycho was released after a legal wrangle between two publishers who respectively baulked at the ferocious, stomach churning content, and capitalised on the then unread novel’s notoriety. The book became a bestseller, but not without significant criticism, much of it directed towards Ellis himself. Banned, berated and belittled by most reviewers, American Psycho saw Ellis receive death threats in lieu of party invites. Derided as literary gore, the book was regarded as ‘unfilmable’.

Enter director Mary Harron, who mercifully focussed on the satirical aspects of the novel without sanitising the horror and vacuousness of 1980s Manhattan. Released in 2000, Harron’s adaptation of what was by then a cult novel achieved the impossible: it brought to light the underlying dark humour of Psycho, gave Patrick Bateman life via a buff Christian Bale, and redeemed Ellis’ work for what it was: a moralistic tome about consumerism in all its forms.

The opening credits alone tease fans of Ellis and the book, splattering an enormous white plate with what appears to be blood. It is instead raspberry sauce, and the first of many clever sleight of hand moves by the director. The excess of the 1980s are personified by the successful, hollow characters Bateman associates with, and the movie captures everything bright and shiny and morally vacant about the era. As an adaptation, it succeeds by highlighting Ellis’ themes without being didactic about the horrors at the heart of capitalism.

Lynda Hawryluk, Senior Lecturer in Writing, Southern Cross University.

The English Patient Novel by Michael Ondjaate, 1992 Film directed by Anthony Minghella, 1996 I am often reluctant to see film adaptations of favourite books.

So I held off seeing the film version of Michael Ondaatje’s The English Patient, worried that the film might overlay or replace the beautiful, tender images and feelings that remained after reading the book. And I wondered how it would be possible to translate the complex, fragmentary, non-linear structure that is so central to the experience of the novel. Not to mention the various points of view.

But somehow, somehow, director Anthony Minghella pulled it off. The screenplay of The English Patient undoubtedly truncated and telescoped the novel, changed some aspects, and magnified others, but Minghella managed to convey the fluid nature of the book, and I left the cinema with the same dreamy, pensive, slightly disoriented feeling I had after finishing the book.

I do wonder, however, if I would have felt as satisfied by the film if I hadn’t also read the book. Perhaps the film simply added another layer to my experience of The English Patient. One aspect of the film did write over the images left by the book: the patient will always be Ralph Fiennes in my mind, and Katharine will always be Kristin Scott Thomas. But I can handle that.

Sarah Armstrong’s new novel, Promise, is published on June 28 by Pan MacMillan.

>> FEATURE

No Country For Old Men Novel by Cormac McCarthy, 2005 Film directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, 2007 There are so many stunning examples of book adaptations that have resonated strongly with me – Silver Linings Playbook, Mystic River, The Talented Mr Ripley and The Shawshank Redemption, just to name a few.

More recently, Australian-made Holding the Man was an important adaptation for me, having been a longtime favourite novel. Looking ahead, I am already excited about the adaptation of Jasper Jones, which will be released this year, starring Hugo Weaving and Toni Collette.

When pressed for my favourite adaptation though, I simply couldn’t go past No Country For Old Men by the Coen Brothers.

Like any creative process, bringing stories to life is not easy. For many authors, it is a challenging proposition to hand over your story to be adapted for the screen. That’s why Screenworks is proud to be participating in Books to Screen, helping authors get a better understanding of the challenges and the process.

Ken Crouch, general manager of Northern Rivers Screenworks.

Adaptation Non-fiction book The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean, 1998 Adaptation film directed by Spike Jonze, 2002 The classic adaptation is, of course, Adaptation, a movie written by the wonderful Charlie Kaufman. Kaufman was employed to write a screenplay adaptation of non-fiction book The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean. Apparently he was so stumped by the book that instead he wrote a screenplay about his struggle to adapt it, starring himself. Only a writer of his extraordinary imagination could pull this off.

Kaufman mashed up fact, fiction and fantasy with selected bits of the book, interwoven with screenwriting theory presented by screenwriting guru Robert McKee. Charlie’s character in the film has (fantasy) sex with the book’s author, watches his twin brother (his alter-ego) win a six-figure deal for his first screenplay, gets caught up in a drug deal, and finds himself in a gunfight/car chase/alligator-infested swamp scene in the end.

Although McKee has warned Charlie against the temptation to use ‘deus ex machina’ (a character or object that appears abruptly in a film to save the day or the narrative), the author’s lover is suddenly killed by an alligator before he can shoot Charlie.

It does your head in, but you can learn a lot about the pitfalls of adaptation by watching it.

Jesse Blackadder is currently adapting her junior novel Paruku The Desert Brumby into a screenplay.

Les Enfants Terribles Novel by Jean Cocteau, 1929 Film directed by Jean-Pierre Melville, 1950 Les Enfants Terribles is somewhat unusual among adaptations in that the book’s author, Jean Cocteau, also wrote the film’s screenplay. The original text is a profoundly disquieting tale of the intense relationship between an adolescent brother and sister who share what becomes a sacred bedroom as they go about playing ‘the Game’, a constant back and forth of bickering and semi-serious emotional abuse. Grim undertones of incest run throughout.

Melville’s film tones that element down a bit, while Cocteau, who also provides narration, was apparently constantly interfering with directorial decisions during shooting as the two men each fought for their own vision of this bizarre novella. The result is a film that is hypnotic, eerie, and deeply, fascinatingly, flawed. There are poor casting choices, some wooden acting and several underwhelming visual set-pieces, yet it is still a spectacular adaption that was an influential forerunner of French New Wave. Its success is testament to the ethereally disturbing mood that defines Cocteau’s book, and his screenplay.

Barnaby Smith, northerly editor

The James Bond series Original novels by Ian Fleming Twenty-six films starting with Dr No (Dir. Terence Young), 1962 The warm Rajasthani evening settles over Udaipur. Out on the lake, the Taj Palace glitters like a diamond.

In the dark waters, James Bond, disguised as a crocodile, swims up... okay it’s silly. Damn silly. But this is Bond... James Bond, a book-to-film franchise that has endured for more than half a century and grossed a record A$8 billion.

Even now, Bond is killing it.

The latest film, Spectre, has already grossed more than A$1 billion in the five months since its release.

And much of this modern audience, entranced by Daniel Craig’s depilated pecs and sensitive lip pout, have no idea that they can thank one man for the ongoing phenomenon. For there was and is only one James Bond. Hairy-chested and cruel-mouthed Sean Connery.

When Connery first silked his way onto our screens in 1962’s Dr No, we were hooked (and, I might add, when Ursula Andress emerged from the Caribbean in that bikini, twelveyear-old boys around the world over were never the same again). Fiftyfour years later, it is estimated that one in four of the world’s population have seen a Bond movie.

But such was Connery’s personal impact that author Ian Fleming himself was moved to write the remaining Bond books with his hero as a Scot and with that wicked sense of humour. Before Connery, Fleming had envisaged Bond as ‘a dull man to whom things happened’. All seven of the Connery Bonds were underpinned by a crucial message – not to be taken seriously.

But times change, and just as Bond’s gadgets have been modernised, so too has his persona.

Our Cold War warrior dispensing death with a twist of the lip and a wink at Moneypenny has been updated to a troubled man tortured by grief and doubts.

But in Udaipur, where Octopussy was shot, tradition dies hard. As the lake below your hotel rooftop terrace grows dark, courtyards and walls all around the city flicker to life as the projectors switch on and James Bond, disguised as a crocodile, swims up to the walls of the Lake Palace...

Russell Eldridge, author of Harry Mac (Allen & Unwin). northerly | 013

>> SCU

A showcase of SCU student work, compiled by Dr Lynda Hawryluk

The Haunting Mandy Bartlett

Her presence lingers between drops of summer rain Reaching with desperate hands, she slips through my fingers Stinging shards of emptiness land in her place I ache for her.

Her laughter falls upon me in a deluge of scarlet leaves Withering branches claw at the dusk where she hides Drowning me in the echo of her absence I ache for her.

Her breath on winter mist casts shadows I cannot escape Searching hard against the darkness, she eludes me Yawning voids of loneliness swallow me whole I ache for her.

Her hollow stare flickers in morning dew on loamy paths Wending her way through a wiry tangle of memories Imprisoning me in her crystal expanse I ache for her.

Her essence floats out of reach along the edge of forever Mirroring the ghostly orb, she haunts the nightmare sky Concealing me beneath a veil of oblivion Still, I ache for her.

Based in Melbourne, Mandy is best known for daydreaming, procrastinating and disappearing into books for extended periods. By day she works for the Victorian State Government, and by night she unleashes her creative superpowers whilst tackling an Associate Degree of Creative Writing.

Mandy writes across a range of genres and themes, taking inspiration from dreams and daily life, and enjoys following ideas to wherever they lead.

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Klimt & corsets

Arts round-up...

>> ARTS

Oksana Waterfall at Tweed Regional Gallery

Oksana Waterfall’s Object of Affection is a series of drawings with elements of embroidery that explores the theme of individuals and their favourite possessions. Object plus memory, attached to others or to an experience, equals a favourite thing. What people deem valuable is a curious mixture of the exotic and the mundane.

These things may have monetary value, or be intrinsically worthless – but are priceless to their owners. They are revealing of their owner’s inner life and the force of individual memory.

It is the unexpected and the inexplicable in which patterns often start to emerge. That these subjective, beloved objects will find their way into the hands of others eventually, or end up discarded, makes their selection all the more poignant.

Object of Affection runs May 6 – July 10 at Tweed Regional Gallery, Murwillumbah. www.artgallery.tweed.nsw.gov.au

The 52-Storey Treehouse at Lismore City Hall

A section of the Beethoven Frieze, a painting by Gustav Klimt on display in the Secession Building in Vienna. It was painted in 1901 for the 14th Vienna Secessionist exhibition in celebration of the composer.

Gustav Klimt An illustrated lecture by by Tim Stimson, Monday May 16.

ADFAS Byron Bay’s May lecture will feature the works of Austrian artist Gustav Klimt, presented by Tim Stimson.

Tim, a professional painter and ceramicist in Scotland and Wales, studied literature and history of art and was a freelance cultural historian for thirty years specialising in the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. He now lectures widely in the UK and presents residential study courses in Britain and Europe.

Gustav Klimt (1862 –1918) was the leader of the Vienna secession and learned his skills adorning new buildings in the Ringstrasse with elegant murals. His images of the ‘femme fatale’ are definitive encapsulations of fin de siecle decadence and sensuality. His works are gloriously decorative and exuberantly pre-Art Deco.

Bodies of Fashion An illustrated lecture by Glenda King, Monday June 20.

ADFAS Byron Bay’s June lecture, Bodies of Fashion, will be presented by Australian lecturer Glenda King, who will talk on the history of fashion and costume.

The history of costume can be divided into ardent followers of fashion and those for whom costume is worn out of necessity. Throughout history, human beings have reshaped their bodies to emulate current desirable standards of beauty. Sometimes painful and deleterious to health, the methods used have often been

This NORPA production is a play by Richard Tulloch, adapted from the book by Byron Writers Festival favourites Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton. Andy and Terry’s beloved treehouse is now 52 storeys high, but there’s no time to play. Mr Big Nose has mysteriously disappeared, Jill has fallen into a deep sleep and Andy and Terry just can’t wake her up. Can they solve the mysteries and survive the dangers that test even their ingenuity? This bestseller comes to life on the stage as the team behind the hit adaptations of The 13-Storey Treehouse and The 26-Storey Treehouse return with this unique play under the creative direction of NORPA’s artistic director, Julian Louis. For ages 6-12 and their families.

The 52-Storey Treehouse runs May 31 – June 1 at Lismore City Hall. Tickets are $22 - $42 and can be purchased at NORPA.org.au.

controversial. This presentation provides a fascinating introduction to the use of undergarments to create desirable shapes, and traces their transformation from underwear to outerwear.

Glenda has worked in the cultural and museum sector in Australia and internationally for thirty-five years.

She writes and lectures regularly on Australian and international design, and is highly experienced in the field of Australian decorative arts and design, including Indigenous art. She was a member and advisor on the federal government’s Return of Indigenous Cultural Property Advisory Committee.

Both ADFAS lectures will take place at The A&I Hall, Bangalow.

Members and guests are invited to drinks at 6pm prior to the lecture at 6:30pm, followed by a light supper afterwards. Guests are welcome at $25 per person. For general enquiries contact Anni Abbink on 02 6684 3249 or anne.abbink@yahoo.com.au, or Denise Willis on 02 6687 1724 or denisewillis50@gmail.com.

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>> FEATURE

One for the road: Lynnette Lounsbury and the ghost of Kerouac

Sydney-based author Lynnette Lounsbury grew up in the Northern Rivers and published her first YA book, Afterworld, in 2014. Her first novel for adults is the Beat-infused We Ate The Road Like Vultures, published in April. In this interview, local writer Jarrah Dundler discovers more about the book’s germination and Lounsbury’s literary background.

Tell us more about Lulu. Who is she and how did she come to arrive on the doorstep of a hacienda looking for Jack Kerouac?

Lulu is probably the teenager that is every parent’s nightmare – intelligent, brave and completely devoid of pragmatism or fear. She won’t believe anything she can’t see for herself. At the same time, in true teenage style, she believes things that make no sense in the cold light of day. She grew up on a cattle farm in Chillingham, the daughter of a tough realist and a whimsical hippy and she has more of all of those traits than she would like to believe. She comes to conclusions based only on her own experiences with the world and so if she wants to know something, she sees no problem in leaving home and travelling half way around the world to find it out. She finds herself in Mexico because she believes Jack Kerouac is still alive and living out his days as a recluse. Lulu’s read and loves all his work, and after reading stories from a writer named James Carousel – that seem as though they could only have been written by Kerouac – she tracks Carousel down to Mexico.

‘I knew it was the right place as soon as I saw the giant bull-moose up to its hairy, antique haunches in a semiinflated children’s swimming pool.’

This is how Lulu, our sixteen-year-old narrator, lands us on the first page of We Ate The Road Like Vultures.

She has arrived at a crumbling hacienda in Mexico, one that you might ‘expect Zorro to ride through on his stallion at any moment’. As well as the moose (Capote), a landmine, and a suicidal elephant, Lulu comes across two old geezers – Chicco and Carousel – and announces the purpose of her visit to them. ‘I’m looking for Jack,’ she says ‘does he live here?’

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And how did you arrive at that doorstep?

I discovered Kerouac when I was sixteen. I had never read anything like it. I was used to the very small library at my very small school. It was a Christian school so the books tended to shy away from the sort of debauched chaos of the beatniks. I fell in love with On The Road from the first page, not just the travel – that idea of going and then finding out where you are going somewhere down the road – but also the language, the words falling all over each other and pulling you along.

I wrote Vultures over a couple of months a few years ago. I only had the beginning in my head – a girl who was looking for Kerouac. I knew it would be Mexico because of Kerouac’s history with the place and I knew there would be a moose. I saw a photo online of moose in a kid’s swimming pool and I knew how that moose was feeling. He needed to be in my story. The rest fell out as I wrote.

>> FEATURE

Another visitor arrives at the hacienda, Adolf, a young German backpacker with a penchant for naked yoga who is ‘travelling the world following the footsteps of Jesus Christ’. How did Adolf find his way into Vultures?

I sent Lulu to the door and had no idea who would be there when she opened it. Adolf wrote himself – what is the most ridiculous thing you could find at the door?

Someone so beautiful they make you uncomfortable, and so sincerely ridiculous that you forget they are beautiful.

Plus I had a very thorough religious education and so the idea of being told exactly who ‘Jesus Christ’ was is very familiar to me. I wanted to explore what it would mean to someone who was told a different story about him.

Religion, personal beliefs and a quest for truth are themes explored throughout Vultures. How closely do Lulu’s beliefs parallel your own?

I grew up in a Christian family, so my heritage was quite a conservative take on religion. It never worked very well for me – the religion part of it. I’m not very good with rules. My instincts are to question and fight and break them, whether they are of value or not. Lulu echoes this part of me. She doesn’t want to be told what to believe – she wants to believe on her own terms. Adolf is one of those wonderful people – and I know many of these – who so genuinely believe the things they are told, that these things really are true for them. Spirituality is a completely different thing – I have a very strong spiritual side and I like learning about what people believe. My beliefs evolve all the time and while I love the idea of truth and the idea of finding truth, I’ve learned that truth is different for different people and Vultures explores the idea that belief trumps truth in the end.

time-consuming things like grammar and punctuation, it doesn’t always read the way you thought that it did going down. Fortunately I had some insightful and adventurous people who helped with the final edit to make it readable.

The novel ends with the prospect of a new quest for Lulu. Are you planning a follow-up? And, if so, can readers expect to meet Jack again, or was meeting him once enough for Lulu (and you)?

I’ve already started a follow-up. While it begins with Lulu digging up a grave (something very much inspired

by Jack) I don’t really know whether he will make an appearance or not. I suspect that itch has been scratched.

Lulu needs to find out what happened to her mother – spoiler alert right there. And I have a feeling it might have something to do with pirates, because Adolf has yet to follow the path of Christ through the Caribbean.

It’s not any sort of series. It’s just a character I haven’t finished with yet. I like her too much.

We Ate The Road Like Vultures is published by Inkerman & Blunt.

In Vultures, one outrageous event is followed by another. It’s a wild ride, but one that I went along with as a reader. Was the suspension of disbelief hard to achieve? Did you have to rein the narrative in at times?

The plot is just what fell onto the page. I didn’t contrive any of it to fit together, I just let it fall into place as it would. This sounds quite esoteric, but most writers will understand that you only have a tenuous grasp on your characters, particularly if you build them wild and strong-willed. Yes, it’s magical realism and it’s full of coincidence, but what can you honestly expect from a beatnik road trip?

And did you employ any of Kerouac’s techniques when writing Vultures? Any mad rushes of spontaneous prose, for example, or minimal revision?

There were definitely mad rushes of prose. Each chapter was written in one sitting. It started as a short story. Then a blog of interrelated stories and then, as soon as Lulu found the Barracuda in the stables, it just became one whole adventure. There was no revision to the plot or the characters but of course, plenty to the prose. When you write like that, without pausing to worry about craft or northerly | 017

>>BOOK REVIEW

Mysterious waters GHOST RIVER

By TONY BIRCH Review by Peter Mitchell

This is a story written in elegant realist prose about a river as a sentient being with its own moods and desires, its own histories and mythologies. As part of the river’s subjectivity, it has tolerated the presence of human beings since time immemorial, even enacting roles as a garbage dump accepting ‘human refuse’ or as ‘the favoured dumping ground for dead bodies when a gang war kicked off ’ and the graveyard for ‘the jumpers’, individuals who committed suicide by jumping off the bridges that cross it.

It is such that ‘Stories about the river are told across the city’.

Two teenage boys, Charlie Renwick (‘Ren’) and Sonny Brewer enter the river’s life. Living in a blighted working class suburb, Ren lives in ‘a row of terraces opposite the towering red-brick wall of the cotton mill’ with his mother, Loretta Renwick and her de facto, Archie Kemp.

Sonny moves in next door to them with his father, a hopeless alcoholic. Immediately, Archie is suspicious of Sonny and his ‘fuck-you’ attitude.

The boys are in the same class at the local state high school. One lunchtime, Sonny saves Ren from a beating by the class bully, a ‘mound’ of a kid nicknamed ‘Milton the Monster’. Immediately, a lasting affinity is kindled between them. Several weeks into the friendship, ‘Ren decided it was time to share the river with him. The water was not easy to find and local knowledge was vital’. This sharing solidifies their closeness as the river’s stories wind through their lives.

Loss of significant figures in their young lives marks each of them. Ren’s natural father got ‘Loretta pregnant in the darkness of the backstalls of the local picture theatre and hadn’t been seen since’. Sonny’s mother, appalled by her husband’s constant drunkenness and neglect, leaves the family, taking Sonny’s younger brother with her. The river’s constancy and companionship is solace in the face of these traumas.

The river introduces ‘the river men’ into the boys’ lives.

Although the men’s collective subjectivity is derived from the river, their individual lives are hardened journeys through the vicissitudes of life. Yet, ‘The river took such 018 | northerly

good care of the men that Tex [the group’s leader] called it their mother.’ The river men provide the boys with an alternative education, regaling them with ‘prison stories, drinking stories, lost dog stories and tales of their years on the road’. Ren listens to them intently, noting the ‘strict rules governing how a story was told’ and observes the ethos of solidarity and respectful awe as each teller tells his tale, the river yet again providing the site (the men’s camp on the riverbank) for these unfolding dioramas. ‘Other stories were sacred, recited in hushed tones and observed in silence, except for the crack and groan of the fire.’

Indigenous stories of the river are also described, including the following passage, an example of storytelling that is pivotal in the novel’s trajectory, and gave it its name.

‘This is a story from another time when the river did not end where she is today. There weren’t no boats for travel back then. And there weren’t no bay at the end of the river. The land was full and the river was a giant. Then one time more water come and stayed. Years and years of rain. The land filled up and there was the bay that come, drowning the old river.’

He [Tex] stomped the ground again. ‘But she’s still there under this one. The old ghost river.’ He poked the stick into the ground and drew a swirling snake. ‘This is here. And when a body dies on the river, it goes down, down, to the ghost river.

Waiting. If the spirit of the dead one is true, the ghost river, she holds the body to her heart. If the spirit is no good, or weak, she spews it back. Body come up. Simple as that.’

Sonny is expelled from school after attacking a teacher who harasses and bullies him. Prior to this, his father suddenly disappears. Sonny is employed by the local shopkeeper selling newspapers; he employs Ren as a subcontractor. Life somewhat settles for the two boys, who are working regularly and saving money, Sonny for the unknown future (‘I got to look after myself ’) and Ren for a camera to photograph birds. The river structures much

>>BOOK REVIEW

of the boys’ adventures and interactions. They explore the bank with its tangles of vegetation, climb bridges and reconnoitre the old mill. They also have occasional conversations with Della, the daughter of the born-again Christians who move in on the other side of Sonny’s house.

One day, they encounter surveyors from the Road Transit Authority, surveying the river’s bank for a future freeway. Knowing that their stretch of river will change irrevocably, they are determined to stop it, with Sonny asserting, ‘Nobody’s touching our river’. Yet the question of how they can ensure this remains unanswered.

For a while, Ren’s parents take care of Sonny until his Uncle Rory suddenly arrives, moves in and looks after him. Between work and school, the river reveals continuing secrets to the boys, some of them generating whole new adventures. Later in the novel, their lives become more complex through their inadvertent involvement with the suburb’s ‘colourful characters’, while the river becomes an avenging and redemptive serpent, intervening in their lives and changing the fictional climax in an unexpected way.

The ravages of class deprivation and racism background these stories and are shown as the diminishing pressures that they are. Popular culture also features with the Ronald Ryan hanging placing the narrative in the late 1960s. Returning to my own childhood through Birch’s seamless prose was a dream, reading about such things as Milton the Monster, an American cartoon series, and Pick a Box with Barry Jones.

In a recent article for Meanjin entitled ‘Writing Ghost River’, Birch writes, ‘I didn’t know it at the time, but I had fallen in love with a place [the Yarra River] that has remained central to my imaginative thinking, driving much of my writing, both fiction and non-fiction’. In each of his collections of short stories, Shadowboxing (2006), Father’s Day (2009) and The Promise (2011), he devotes at least one story to his beloved river. His deep attachments to these river places are rendered through his lyrical writing, crafting a beautifully evocative time capsule.

In reading Ghost River, an atmosphere seeps around the reader as if an atonement, as if a calm and slow serenity. It is as if the river, with its stories, wraps it restorative water around your imagination as you travel back and immerse yourself in the life of this fictional suburb.

UQP / 304pp / RRP $29.99

What YA Reading?

YELLOW

By MEGAN JACOBSON Review by Polly Jude

Don’t you just love it when the nerd, in this case the unknowingly beautiful and smart Kirra, fights back against the oppressive reign of the cool girls and wins? Oh, and hooks up with the local surf spunk while she’s at it?

Kirra thinks she’s going crazy when the disused payphone starts ringing. She answers and on the other end of the line is the ghost of a murdered boy, Boogie. He leads her down a dangerous path to find out the truth about his death and helps Kirra get her life back.

First time author and north coast local, Megan Jacobson, has written a fast-paced and interesting story. Set to a 1990s grunge soundtrack, Yellow will appeal to YA readers who like their contemporary fiction fresh. northerly | 019

Kendrick Lamar performs at Bluesfest on March 24, 2016. Photo: Jeff Dawson

>> FEATURE

The butterfly effect: Kendrick Lamar as literary icon Kendrick Lamar’s 2015 album To Pimp a Butterfly saw the Compton hip-hop phenomenon reach an unprecedented level of acclaim thanks to its highly charged personal narratives and political consciousness. In the wake of his performance at Byron Bay’s Bluesfest, Barnaby Smith considers Lamar’s credentials as one of the most important literary voices of his era.

“Music must reflect the thoughts and aspirations of the people and the time. My people are American. My time is today.” – George Gershwin There was a definite edge on the air on the Thursday night of this year’s Bluesfest, one that was noticeably absent during the following four days at the festival. A number of fights broke out amid the throngs.

A specific demographic populated Bluesfest on its opening night because of the presence of one Kendrick Lamar. A young and decidedly boisterous crowd under the influence of a variety of substances defined this first day (though most of these fans seemed not to return for the Friday, as the baby-boomers took over for the rest of the Easter weekend).

However, Lamar’s huge fanbase is not limited to merely wide-eyed Millennials in thrall to his most catchy, thudding and funk-driven tracks such as ‘King Kunta’ and ‘Alright’. Kendrick Lamar is regarded, with increasing fervour, as a genuine literary talent in both critical and academic circles.

Some of his most obvious influences include some of the most poetically powerful forces in rap: when Lamar assumes the role of politically charged exhorter against a free-jazz backdrop, he is pure Gil Scott Heron. At his more socially analytical he is Black Thought from The Roots. Lamar has been passionate about his ideological and linguistic debt to Tupac Shakur.

But perhaps more than any of his hip-hop forebears, Lamar, particularly with albums To Pimp A Butterfly (2015) and good kid, M.A.A.D city (2012), presents a compelling range of literary credentials. Even before considering any analysis of his music, his intentions towards aligning himself with literature are clear with his explicit references: To Pimp a Butterfly’s track ‘The Blacker the Berry’ takes its name from the 1929 novel

by Harlem Renaissance author Wallace Thurman, while some critics have aligned the ‘yams’ referred to in ‘King Kunta’ with Ralph Ellison’s 1952 novel Invisible Man and Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart (1958), both of which employ yams as a symbolic device. The album’s very title appears to be a play on To Kill a Mockingbird (1960).

More pertinently, To Pimp a Butterfly is brimming with other references – some obscure, veiled and cryptic – to countless realms of wider culture. Joycean, someone brave might call it. But instead of Dublin in the 1900s, 020 | northerly

Lamar’s universe is a twentieth-century urban America blighted by both structural and explicit racism. Lamar has courted controversy with comments on black culture’s role in instances of police brutality such as that involving Michael Brown, while cutting lines addressing Trayvon Martin emerge in ‘The Blacker the Berry’.

That’s not to say that Lamar expresses any clearly defined point of view on To Pimp A Butterfly. On this album, Lamar, with stunning studiousness and imagination, assumes multiple characters and voices.

Adam Diehl, who teaches a course on Kendrick Lamar at Augusta University, Georgia, told Slate.com, ‘I was trying to keep track in my head of how many voices he uses on the album; if he uses maybe seven or eight voices on the last album, he used ten to twelve on this. He has such a vision for knowing how to change his voice to make you think, “Wait, is this Kendrick talking or someone else?”

That’s one of the main things that Kanye [West] could never do.’

It is this dazzling multiplicity that led Casey Michael Henry of LA Review of Books to propose that To Pimp a Butterfly is in the tradition of the novels of Thomas Pynchon, Ishmael Reed and even Herman Melville. That is, the ‘encyclopaedic’ or ‘systems’ novel, defined by ‘a multiplicity of languages, literary styles, and knowledge fields – a telling and almost archaeological slice of the artistic and cultural temperament of one’s nation or national culture.’

Indeed, good kid, M.A.A.D city has been described as a ‘black Ulysses’. Such labels are complex and somewhat troublesome for a variety of reasons, but the alignment with Joyce’s novel does suggest the degree to which Lamar’s albums can be an endless source of interpretation and polymathic cultural instruction.

Even on the somewhat less grandiose level of pure storytelling, Lamar is simply a purveyor of captivating narratives. As Diehl said of the literary qualities of To Pimp a Butterfly, “It’s a story, it’s got characters, themes, drama and climaxes, everything that makes us love printed material.”

Amid a couple of thousand drunken teenagers and probably a few bruises, a generation’s most coruscating literary talent brought something elemental, essential and inclusive to the Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm Bluesfest site in late March.

Workshop

How to get yourself on the front page of the SMH Build a dynamic author platform before and after you publish your book. Stand out amid the noise and grow your reader base. Hear how Susanna came to be featured on the front page of the Sydney Morning Herald (with her clothes on) and how she maximised the reach of her book through writing, social media and unusual publicity routes. Learn how to: • Use your words to promote your book • Write blogs, articles and columns that tie in with your book • Be a go-to person for interviews • Be out there online and bring readers to your work • Use social media to your advantage before and after you publish your book This workshop is for: • Writers already published but wanting to broaden the reach of their book • Self-published authors who need to know and do more to publicise their books • Writers with a work-in-progress who can build an audience before they publish You will take home: • The belief it can be done and courage to put yourself out there • Practical tips to brand yourself and your work in the form of a fact sheet • The inside story on how media works and the loopholes for you to exploit Susanna Freymark published Losing February in 2013. Her second book Drowning on the Way Home is currently under offer and she is working on her third book, Not Your Home. She is a journalist and social media consultant. More info at www.susannafreymark.com Presenter: Susanna Freymark When: Saturday May 28, 10am-1pm Where: Byron Community College, 107 Jonson St, Byron Bay (Across the road from Woolworths carpark) Cost: $45 Byron Writers Festival Members or $55 non-members

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Competitions

GRIFFITH REVIEW 54: THE NOVELLA PROJECT IV COMPETITION

Submissions are now open for Griffith Review’s The Novella Project IV competition. Winning novellas will share in a $25,000 prize pool and will be published in Griffith Review 54: The Novella Project IV (October 2016). Submissions close on May 13, with a maximum word-count of 35,000. There is a $50 entry fee for Griffith Review non-subscribers, and $35 for subscribers. For full details visit www.griffithreview.submittable. com/submit/48310

BOREE LOG AWARD FOR BUSH VERSE The Boree Log Award invites entries of bush verse that are in perfect rhyme and metre, at a maximum of eighty lines and have an Australian bush theme. Entry is $5 per poem, with first prize receiving $100 plus a trophy and certificate. Closing date is May 31. For full details go to www.hillsfaw.wordpress.com/ competitions/eastwoodhills-annualliterary-competition/

FUTURE LEADERS WRITING PRIZE

The Future Leaders Writing Prize is designed to recognise and reward talented young writers and aims to encourage expressive and creative writing. Year 11 and 12 students in Australian secondary schools are invited to submit a piece of writing of between 800 and 1,000 words. The writing can be fiction or non-fiction and on any topic. The award winner will receive $1,000. Where there is more than one winner the prize money will be shared. The winners of the Future Leaders Writing Prize will also have their work published.

Entry is free, the deadline for entries 022 | northerly

is June 1 and more information can be found at www.futureleaders.com. au/awards/index.php

THE JOYCE PARKES WOMEN’S WRITERS’ PRIZE

Sponsored by the Australian Irish Heritage Association, this competition honours the Western Australian poet Joyce Parkes. As patron of the prize, she aims to promote and encourage women writers in Australia. Fiction or non-fiction prose pieces of between 1,000 and 2,000 words are invited on the topic of ‘reflection’. Entrance fee is $10, with prize money of $500 available. Entries close on June 30.

For full entry details visit http://www. irishheritage.net/prizewinners.html

NEWCASTLE POETRY PRIZE 2016

The Newcastle Poetry Prize is seeking entries of no more than 200 lines, with first prize taking out $15,000. There is a second and third prize along with a local prize and the Harri Jones Memorial Prize for poets aged under thirty-five. One of Australia’s most prestigious poetry prizes, 2016 marks the thirty-fifth running of the award. Entries close on June 17, while there is an entry fee of $34. More information at http://www.hunterwriterscentre.org/ newcastle-poetry-prize.html

EPIC! SHORT STORY COMPETITION

The Footpath Library has announced the EPIC! Short Story Competition for primary and secondary students across Australia.

The competition opens on the first day of the third school term in each state or territory, closing on September 30. There are two age categories, primary and secondary, with students able to submit

stories of up to 300 words, while more information can be found at https://www.footpathlibrary.org/ competition/2016-short-storycompetition/

UNIVERSITY OF CANBERRA VICE-CHANCELLOR’S INTERNATIONAL POETRY PRIZE

This prize celebrates the enduring significance of poetry to cultures everywhere in the world, and its ongoing and often seminal importance to world literatures. As one of Australia’s most prestigious poetry awards, the winner will receive $15,000 with the runnerup receiving $5,000. Poems should have a maximum length of fifty lines, with an entry fee for each poem of $20. Closing date is June 30. Full entry requirements can be found at www.canberra.edu.au/ about-uc/competitions-and-awards/ vcpoetryprize

2016 WALTER STONE AWARD FOR LIFE WRITING

This award defines ‘life writing’ as biography, autobiography, memoir, monograph and bibliography.

Biography and autobiography may be extracts in order to meet wordcount requirements of a minimum of 10,000 and a maximum of 25,000.

The winner will be invited to an awards ceremony at the end of the year. The award is organised by the Fellowship of Australian Writers and offers a first prize of $1,500 and publication in Writers Voice. Closing date for submissions is September 30. More details at http://fawnsw. org.au/walter-stone-award-2016-forlife-writing/

THE HEYWIRE COMPETITION

The Heywire Competition is open to those aged between sixteen and twenty-two who live outside of the

big cities. Stories should be inspired by the area the author lives in, with a deadline for entries of September 16. Prize-winners will have the chance to have their story developed for ABC Radio and will enjoy an all-expenses-paid trip to Canberra to attend the Heywire Summit, to develop ideas to make regional Australia a better place for young people. Further details are available at www.abc.net.au/heywire/ competition/

HUNTER WRITERS CENTRE GRIEVE PROJECT 2016

The Grieve Project is a national prose and poetry competition on the subject of grief, inviting people to submit essays or stories of up to 500 words and poems of up to thirty-six lines. The competition closes on June 26. First prize is $1,500, second prize $1,000 and there is over $1,500 in additional prizes. More than 100 winning pieces will be published in the 2016 Grieve Anthology. An awards ceremony and live reading will be held in Newcastle this August, National Grief Awareness Month.

More information can be found at http://www.hunterwriterscentre.org/ grieve-project.html

POETRY D’AMOUR

WA Poets Inc. is inviting poets to submit poems to this competition, which offers $300 as a first prize and $200 for second. The winner and runner-up will both read at the launch of the Poetry d’Amour anthology in Perth in November.

Additional prize categories include one for poets under twenty-one years old and one for living in remote and regional Western Australia. Deadline for entries is May 27, visit http:// www.wapoets.net.au/love-poetry-

eventpoetry-damour-2014/2015love-poetry-contest/

SHOALHAVEN LITERARY AWARD FOR POETRY First prize for the Shoalhaven Literary Award is $1,000 along with a two-week artist residency at Arthur Boyd’s Bundanon on the Shoalhaven coast. There is $300 for second, $100 for third, and $200 for the winning entry from a Shoalhaven resident. Deadline for submissions is June 3 and there is an entry fee of $10 per poem.

The judge this year is Sydney poet Brooke Emery. More details at http://www.fawnswshoalhaven.org. au/Our_Competitions/SLA_entry_ form2016.pdf

ELYNE MITCHELL WRITING AWARDS The theme of this competition is ‘Australasian Rural experience: A New Perspective’ and is open to writers of both fiction and nonfiction. Entries should not be more than 2,500 in length, while there is an entry fee of $15. First prize takes $1,000, while there is a special $500 prize for entrants local to Towang, Tumbarumba and Indigo Shires in Victoria. http://www.elynemitchell. com.au/

MiNDFOOD SHORT STORY

The MiNDFOOD Short Story Competition is open to Australian and New Zealand resident over the age of eighteen, with a word limit of 2,000. First prize is awarded for both Australians and New Zealanders and is a prepaid gift card worth $1,000. There is no fee for entries, and a deadline of July 30.

More information at http://www. mindfood.com/competition/callingall-writers-have-your-short-storypublished-in-mindfood/

BETTY OLLE POETRY AWARD

The Betty Olle Poetry Award is awarded for traditional Australian bush poetry (with rhyme, rhythm and metre). There is an entry fee of $10 with a maximum of two poems. Entry is free for the junior section. The winner receives $500 with second prize taking $200; the winning junior poet wins $100. The closing date is August 15, with further details about the competition available at http:// www.abpa.org.au/Files/event_2016_ TheBettyOllePoetryAwardEntryForm.pdf

AHWA FLASH FICTION AND SHORT STORY COMPETITION

There are two categories in this competition for horror fiction. The first is for flash fiction of up to 1,000 words, the second for short stories of between 1,001 and 8,000 words.

The winning authors will receive paid publication in Midnight Echo, published by the Australian Horror Writing Association (AHWA). Entry is free for AHWA members, while for non-members the fee is $5 for flash fiction and $10 for short stories.

The deadline for entries is May 31.

For further details visit http://www. trostlibrary.blogspot.com.au/p/ahwastory-competition.html

HBCA ANNUAL ADULTS WRITING COMPETITIONS The Hervey Bay Council for the Arts Annual Writing Competition has an open theme and is $5 per entry. For short stories, competition entries should not exceed 1,000 words. All entries must be fiction, with first prize taking $150, and more information at http://www. herveybayartscouncil.com.au/hbac/ images/applicationforms/2016f/adult_ writing_Competition2016.pdf

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>> WRITERS’ GROUPS

>> Alstonville Plateau Writers Group

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Meets second Friday of each month, 10am - 12pm. All genres welcome, contact Kerry on 66285662 or email alstonvilleplateauwriters@outlook.com Meets every second Wednesday at 12pm, Fripp Oval, Ballina. Contact Jan on 0404007586 or janmulcahy@ bigpond.com Meets Thursdays at 9:15am at Bangalow Scout Hall.

Contact Simone on 0407749288

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Meets monthly at Sunrise Beach, Byron Bay. Contact Diana on 0420282938 or diana.burstall@gmail.com

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Meets every third Thursday of the month at 4pm at Casino Library. Contact Brian on 0266282636 or email briancostin129@hotmail.com

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Share your memoir writing for critique. Monthly meetings, contact 0409824803 or email costalmermaid@ gmail.com

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Meets every Thursday at 10:30am, venue varies, mainly in Yamba. Contact Pauline on 66458715 or email kitesway@westnet.com.au

>> Dangerously Poetic Writing Circle

Meets first Saturday of each month at 1.30pm at Federal. Contact Susanna Freymark on 6688 4457 or susannafreymark@gmail.com Meets 1pm on last Saturday of each month, Maritime Museum, Port Macquarie. Contact Joie on 65843520 or email Bessie on befrank@tsn.cc Meets third Saturday of each month, 1:30pm for 2pm start, at Fradgley Hall, Burleigh Heads Library, Park Avenue, Burleigh Heads. Contact 0431443385 or email info@goldcoast-writers.org.au

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Meets first Tuesday of each month, 10:30am at Kyogle Bowling Club. Contact Brian on 66242636 or email briancostin129@hotmail.com

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Meets each month at Sunrise Beach, Byron Bay. Contact Diana on 66855387 or 0420282938 or email diana. burstall@gmail.com

>> Middle Grade / Young Adult Fiction Writers’ Group

Meets monthly at 2pm on Sundays in Bangalow. Contact Carolyn Bishop at carolyncbishop@gmail.com or 0431161104

>> Nambucca Valley Writers Group

Meets fourth Saturday of each month, 1:30pm, Nambucca. Contact 65689648 or nambuccawriters@ gmail.com

>> Taree-Manning River Scribblers

Meets second Wednesday of the month, 9am-11:30am, Taree. Call first to check venue. Contact Bob Winston on 65532829 or email rrw1939@hotmail.com

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Meets weekly at the Coolangatta Senior Citizens Centre on Tuesdays from 1:30 to 3:30pm, NSW time.

Poets, novelists, playwrights, short story writers are all welcome. Phone Lorraine 0755248035 or Pauline 0755245062.

>> WordsFlow Writing

Meets second Wednesday of each month, 2pm-4pm at Brunswick Valley Community Centre. Contact Laura on 66801976 or visit www.dangerouslypoetic.com

Group meets Fridays during school term, 12:30pm-3pm, Pottsville Beach Neighbourhood Centre, 12a Elizabeth St, Pottsville Beach. Contact Cheryl on 0412455707 or visit www.wordsflowwriters.blogspot.com

>> Dorrigo Writers Group

>> Writing for Wellbeing

Meets every second Wednesday from 10am-2pm.

Contact Iris on 66575274 or email an_lomall@bigpond. com or contact Nell on 66574089

>> Dunoon Writers Group

Writers on the Block. Meets second Tuesday of each month, 6:30pm – 8:30pm at Dunoon Sports Club.

Contact Helga on 66202994 (W), 0401405178 (M) or email heg.j@telstra.com 024 | northerly

Writing for Wellbeing workshops meet monthly on a Thursday from 10:30am to 1pm at Richmond Hill.

Focus is on expressive writing, support and feedback from facilitators Jan Mulcahy and Sally Archer. Phone 0404 007 586 or email janmulcahy@bigpond.com or visit the Facebook page

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