>>HELLO
DIRECTOR’S NOTE Festivals are a long time in the making and pass in a fleeting moment. They unfold scripted and unexpected conversations and ideas so rapidly, and ephemeral words and writing with such impact. At NRWC we believe passionately in the importance and power of literature in shaping our lives. And we know that, more and more, there is a need to cultivate and conjure community conversations about the issues that matter, and to explore the creative process. Byron Bay Writers Festival facilitates this conversation, enhancing the cultural life of regional residents in the Northern Rivers and beyond. The 2015 Festival exceeded all expectations with record crowds, perfect winter weather and three days of storytelling, debate, and satire supplied by some of our foremost thinkers and writers that created a stimulating, memorable and happy Festival, generating the best box office and book sales in the Festival’s history. Photo: Angela Kay
Those sales and audience anecdotes indicate that Mexican-based author Jennifer Clement, Nigerian Chigozie Obioma and self-published artist Joshua Yeldham were among the finds of the Festival. One Festival guest told me about Yeldham, “I bought Surrender yesterday and want to carry it around like a bible, my personal inspiration.” Jennifer Byrne commented, “I always think of an interview as a kind of dance. You lead but it is they who must perform - and I thought all the authors I worked with danced beautifully.” It’s such a striking description of the magic that can happen on stage – the entire weekend felt like a dance that we want to return to again and again. As gratifying as it is for the Festival team to surpass all figures from last year, the main satisfaction undoubtedly comes from seeing the audience leave each day with hearts and minds filled with the ideas and extraordinary conversations they imbibed on site. Mark August 5-7, 2016 in your diaries so that we can continue these conversations together in our twentieth year!
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: Nick Couldwell, Nancy Crampton, Cassandra Duell, Paula Flynn, Lynda Hawryluk, Dave Haysom, Angela Kay, Russell Kelly, Jan Mulcahy, Julia Pannell, Celine Safajou, Thea Shields NRWC COMMITTEE CHAIRPERSON Chris Hanley VICE CHAIRPERSON Lynda Dean SECRETARY Russell Eldridge TREASURER Cheryl Bourne MEMBERS Jesse Blackadder, Kate Cameron, Marele Day, Lynda Hawryluk, Anneli Knight, Emerald Moon, Jennifer St George, Adam van Kempen, Teresa Walters. 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
Edwina Johnson Director, NRWC
Forty-eight. That is how many books I have read on the ‘100 Best Novels Written in English’ list recently published by the Guardian. It was more than I anticipated, yet there were a handful of novels that I admit to never having heard of. Such an exercise as this is designed to encourage debate and simply be an entertaining, provocative read, yet how useful are lists as a way to survey and critique literature (or for that matter, any work of art)? Many, with justification, see lists as reductive, populist and subjective, demeaning literature by establishing the ignominy of a hierarchy (even if they are good fun). I thought list-making in the arts had petered out in the mid-noughties, its peak being around the time of the film adaptation of Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity (2000), starring John Cusack playing a record store owner and compulsive listmaker. Clearly that is nonsense: they are still very much with us.
northerly
northerly is the bi-monthly magazine of the Northern Rivers Writers’ Centre. The Writers’ Centre is a resource and information base for writers and readers in the Northern Rivers region. We offer a year-round program of readings, workshops and writer visits as well as the annual production of the Byron Bay Writers Festival. The Centre is a non-profit, incorporated organisation receiving its core funding from Arts NSW.
And maybe they do have a function. In the previous issue of northerly, author Emma Ashmere listed six Australian novels with gardens as a central theme; in this issue, we list six of the best emerging writers from China. For some, at least, they are an effective way of bringing new authors and works to readers’ attention. And it’s the same with the Guardian’s list. If it helps readers discover the more obscure novels included (Party Going by Henry Green and Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner were a couple that had previously eluded me), then it is a valuable project – one that took editor Robert McCrum two years to complete. The highest (and only) Australian novel on the list? Patrick White’s Voss at seventyseven, sandwiched between On The Road and To Kill A Mockingbird. Barnaby Smith Editor, northerly magazine
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. DISCLAIMER The Northern Rivers Writers’ Centre presents northerly in good faith and accepts no responsibility for any misinformation or problems arising from any misinformation. The views expressed by contributors and advertisers are not necessarily the views of the management committee or staff. We reserve the right to edit articles with regard to length. Copyright of the contributed articles is maintained by the named author and northerly. CONNECT WITH US Visit www.nrwc.org.au. 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 image: Cloud Control by Geoffrey Cotton Photo: Julia Pannell The Northern Rivers Writers’ Centre, Byron Bay Writers Festival and northerly magazine acknowledge and pay respect to the traditional custodians of this land.