Northerly Sept-Oct 2014

Inside:

BBWF 2014 • NON-FICTION WRITING • PUBLISHING OPTIONS

in this issue ...

01 Noticeboard 03 A Word From the Director 04 The Writing Process and the Ethics of Investigative Nonfiction | Virginia Peters 05 On The Road with Kids |John Ahern 06 Five Go On the Road | Zacharey Jane 07 Blogging the Five Writers’ Road Trip |

Angela Meyers 08 Writing the Coast | Ian Hoskins 10 Extract from the Thea Astley Lecture |Sophie Cunningham 11 On Publishing |Roz Hopkins 13 The Susie Warrick Young Writers Award: Unforgiven | Allie Mackenzie 15 SCU page 16 Book reviews 17 Poetry from Byron Bay and beyond 18 Kids’ page | Tristan Bancks 19 From the Reading Chair: On creative

nonfiction | Amanda Webster

20 Workshops & Events 21 Opportunities 22 Competitions 24 Writers’ Groups and Member Discounts

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. LOCATION Level 1 28 Jonson Street, Byron Bay POSTAL ADDRESS PO Box 1846 Byron Bay NSW 2481 PHONE 02 6685 5115 FAX 02 6685 5166 EMAIL info@nrwc.org.au WEB www.nrwc.org.au NRWC COMMITTEE CHAIRPERSON Chris Hanley VICE CHAIRPERSON Lynda Dean SECRETARY Russell Eldridge TREASURER Cheryl Bourne MEMBERS Jesse Blackadder, Fay Burstin, Marele Day, Lynda Hawryluk, Anneli Knight, Cathy Tobin, 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, Heather Wearne CONTACT EMAIL: northerly@nrwc.org.au PRINTING: Quality Plus Printers Ballina MAIL OUT DATES: Magazines are sent in JANUARY, MARCH, MAY, JULY, SEPTEMBER and NOVEMBER 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.

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.

THANK Y

U to all the #2014O vo lunteers!

We couldn’t do #thankyou #bbitw without you. f2014 #claps

Noticeboard

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Committee Report

I

n the excitement and afterglow of the Byron Bay Writers Festival, it’s easy to forget that the festival is just one activity among many run by a tiny organisation whose work continues all year round.

The BBWF of course gobbles up most of our time and resources. But even while the marquee flags are fluttering and the golden words pouring, behind the scenes there are workshops being planned, newsletters in preparation, mentorships being organised and so on.

The BBWF itself is a cover for many centre activities and if you look closely, you’ll see writers being stalked for future engagements, or clipboard-wielding volunteers bailing up festival punters to pick their brains on how we can do things better next time.

It’s a busy and sometimes fraught time for emerging writers, too. The pitching session is fun for the audience but nerve-wracking for someone trying to grab the elusive attention of a publisher.

And speaking of publishers, you may notice tense little one-on-ones near the Green Room, under a tree or in a coffee shop. These could be writers from the NRWC residential mentorship receiving publisher feedback on their work done at the annual mentorship.

You’ll also see the same publishers in earnest conversation with other writers, who are waiting for the good or bad news on submitted manuscripts.

And when the food stalls and booksellers have packed up and Mic Deacon and his crew have struck the tents and reeled in the cables, the work goes on. There are at least four debriefs to see what went right, what went wrong and what can be improved next year.

And then, after a short break, the NRWC team get back into paying the bills, organising the rest of the year’s events, acquitting grants, approaching sponsors, finding guest speakers. On and on it goes. It’s a funfair ride and no one wants to hit the stop button.

A word (well several) from the Director

D

eyes when pearls were dropped into our laps.

We woke up to rainbows over Byron Shire the day after the 2014 Byron Bay Writers Festival drew to a close. The success at the box office and book shop and the growth in audience numbers were all gratifying but the real joy was found in the days and weeks after the Festival when we (the team and committee) came across people sharing their stories wherever we went so that the event lived on and reverberated from one community to the next.

Delta Kay gave one of the most stirring welcome to country addresses we have ever heard and it seems fitting that our Festival charity, the Indigenous Literacy Foundation,now has an additional $6243 for their literacy programs thanks to the generous support of our audience and Chairs in particular.

ear members,

The appeal and success of the 18th Festival surely lay in the calibre of the writers and the diversity and depth the program, so well received by the local and wider community. The whole event ran incredibly smoothly, our wonderful volunteers once again doing Byron proud.

We have been inundated with emails from happy authors and festival-goers - this one captured the mood well: We laughed, we cried, we scribbled notes & looked at each other with wide hungry

We have previously mentioned the special Australia Council grant, which enabled us to take the Festival out into the towns and communities of the Northern Rivers region with the Five Writers, Five Towns in Five Days tour. It’s very satisfying to be able to share the spirit and its myriad stories as widely as possible.

in that magnificent space, jump in the car and go now! It is a delight beyond belief to look in through the windows of her life and see the things that she took daily comfort in; the books, the tea cups, the radio tuned to Classic FM, the smells, the flowers, the art.

And if you are pining for more Festival action then check out the exciting lineup for the Mullumbimby Music Festival – Glenn Wright has pulled together another brilliant cast of musicians for 4 days in Mullum: 20-23 November 2014. I hope to see you there.

Stay tuned for out of season events in the NRWC pipeline.

Until next time…

Edwina Johnson

If you weren’t able to join us this year, please consider coming next year – the Festival will take place from 7-9 August 2015.

A few weeks before the Festival, I finally managed to visit the stunning Tweed Regional Gallery and if you haven’t been to see Margaret Olley’s home recreated

northerly magazine | september - october 2014 - 5

THE WRITING PROCESS AND THE ETHICS OF INVESTIGATIVE NONFICTION

By Virginia Peters

I

s it the role of a writer to provide information, or should they simply observe? As a nonfiction novice this was a question I’d never considered until the moment I was sitting in the Strobels living room, eighteen months after Simone’s body was found. They seemed to know nothing of the circumstances, not even the likely cause of her death.

In contrast, I’d attended the inquest and had since been given access to the evidence by the coroner. For the last month I’d been sitting in the police station, reading the files. Gustl Strobel was shocked to hear this— he asked me to tell them everything I knew. On one hand, I sensed a moral obligation, and a distinct urge, to do exactly that. On the other, I realised that what I’d have to say would probably have a devastating impact, as I had suspicions about the very people they were reliant on for emotional support

that so little of what I was doing even involved writing. That solitary, quiet space was now populated with people, files, reports, emails, and in the background, a constant hum of worry.

All the crime books I’d reached for in the months leading up to my trip to Germany tended to tell a story in a disembodied voice— the authors seemed authoritative and uninvolved—no one inserted themselves in other people’s lives, changed the course of events, and ultimately directed the narrative.

But for better or worse, that’s kind of what I did. In a way, I had no choice.

I’d stumbled into their lives. There was no reversing out.

Thankfully I had ‘K’ by my side throughout the journey. She was my interpreter in Germany, and someone who was just as fascinated as me with Simone’s case. We became a pair, shouldering one another through the more hairy experiences, and at times clashing. You don’t know how difficult it is sometimes to have say someone else’s words, she once said.

I remember looking at her blankly, thinking why? Stupidly, I thought our arrangement was like ventriloquism.

Up until then, I’d been writing short stories that peered behind the curtain of domestic life. To go from this quiet material into a murder investigation on the other side of the world required developing a completely new sense of writing self. I lacked confidence. For a long while I felt like an imposter with my briefcase, calling cards and Dictaphone. I had to carry prescription pills in my pockets for nerves. I was amazed to discover

Finally getting to write the story, as opposed to ‘doing it’, turned out to be just as confronting. To this day no one has been charged with Simone’s murder, although opinions as to who the most likely offender is have been publically offered by the authorities. Most true crime writing, I would come to realise, deals with evidence that has been processed by our adversarial system—that is, two

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competing narratives are presented in court, and as Janet Malcolm says, the best story wins. The writer then has at their fingertips qualified opinions, and a summary from the judge, to agree or disagree with. I wondered how I could write about untested evidence in the absence of a trial to guide me. Wouldn’t what I wrote be a one sided account of a many sided story? Was it ethical to attempt this? Was it even legal to write about people who’d not been charged? Many times I had cause to wonder if there might be such things as untellable stories, and that a suspect’s right to effective silence should be all pervading and have the power to gag us all.

In the end, despite the best efforts of others to prevent this book seeing the light of day, I resolved that equal to the right to silence is the right to be heard, especially when speaking for the dead. What resulted is a story that illuminates the unusual circumstances surrounding Simone’s death and gives insight into the lives of all those involved.

Virginia Peters is the author of Have You Seen Simone? Her short stories have appeared in Sleepers, Overland, New Australian Stories and Kill Your Darlings.

ON THE ROAD

WITH KIDS

By John Ahern

T

he first writing idea I ever pitched was from the point of view of a chicken. I had just returned from Africa where chickens were always sharing my space. They were above me on luggage racks, tied by the feet and draped over women’s arms like handbags or just free-ranging as fellow bus passengers. Inspired by their plight for survival, I wrote a series of letters from the ponderous mindset of an adventurous travelling chicken. It was to the editor of a UK travel magazine that I enthusiastically suggested a series of articles titled On the Road… with Jack Chickenrac.

After being marched out of the Earls Court building by security, I buried my writing ambitions. But it was another series of letters that would resurrect these dreams and eventually lead to the publishing of my book On the Road…with Kids.

These sprawling diatribes were sent to my mother,written in various states of sobriety and included whatever theories or musings that took my fancy at the time.They were of a similar formulato the African scribblings, except the public transport was superseded by a motorhome and the chickens had been replaced with other annoying squawking animals…kids.

They described the messy tale of the year my wife Mandy and I chucked our careers, packed up our two kids aged 4 and 2, and took off in an old campervan around Europe. Yet as sensational as that rolling setting was, romping through 30 countries from the North Pole to Africa and back, it was what was going on inside the van between me, my wife and the kids, that became the real story.

When we eventually returned I discovered that my mum and all her friends had been sitting around each of my arriving letters like they were a campfire, reading, laughing and crying at our adventures. They loved the

stories. They related to our parenting challenges after a lifetime of their own, and insisted I must write a book.

It is a known fact that you can’t argue with a group of retired ladies, and so I did what I was told. And in starting the writing romp, I had these letters as secret memoir weapons. Words smashed down with no conscious thought or editing, the perfect trigger to beam me back to what I was really thinking, feeling or experiencing at any given point in time. They were passionate, ugly, introspective and sometimes plain stupid; more than I ever would have wanted a group of unknown ladies to read.

180,000 mashed words followed, always scribbled, later computerised, and eventually whittled to 80,000. Five years of giving up, starting again and feeling like a writing pretender. But I was driven by the thought of sharing life-changing lessons from our time on the road. Being a good provider did not make me a good father. We had to disconnect to truly connect. Never unwrap a sandwich in front of an ape.

Things that would be of critical help to people in everyday life.

In one revelation I almost stamped my pen through the paper and the desk under it. ‘We complicate things by clamping on balls and chains to our aspirations and freedom in the form of big loans for unneeded ‘things’. And then we row hard in the bowels of the slave ship, doing lots of stuff we don’t want to, dreaming of the day we can afford to do what we really want. And when that day comes, we wonder why we didn’t wake up to the fact that life is short and that we should have chased our real dreams earlier.’

When these words ripped across the page one day, I wondered why I had given up so easily on my writing dream

years earlier, just because one editor couldn’t see the genius in my chicken scribe concept. So I got serious. If I wanted to be a writer I had to start acting like one. I stopped wearing PJs while writing. Workshops, writer’s festivals and manuscript assessments followed. I attacked them all to hone the craft, many through the Northern Rivers Writers’ Centre. Over time I had a few articles published, received a small award, and was long listed for a Varuna development award, all giving me tiny turbo boosts to dare to believe the retired ladies were right.

When the big meeting occurred and I had the chance to pitch my book to the publishers at Pan Macmillan, I had learnt many things since my first appearance at the UK travel magazine.

First and foremost, I did not mention chickens.

John Ahern is the author of of On The Road With Kids published

by Pan Macmillan on 1 August.

northerly magazine | september - october 2014 - 7

Five Go

ON THE ROAD

F

ive writers, five towns, in five days: the catch-cry of the inaugural Five Writers Road Trip, an initiative of the Byron Bay Writers Festival and the Australia Council. On-board were Ashley Hay, Nick Earls, Samuel Wagan Watson, Craig Sherborne, blogger Angela Meyer, film-maker Tim Eddy and me.

It sounds simple enough: put five writers in a van and send them out into the world, like a boy on a raft, beatniks on buses or a girl on a yellow brick road.

And like these classic picaresque novels we found people and places along the way that reminded us of why we love storytelling.

Day 1: Tweed Heads. At the Tweed Heads Library, Craig met a woman raised in the environment of his beautiful new novel Tree Palace. She thanked him for capturing so vividly the windswept landscape of her childhood, then joined us for our evening gig where we played Story Stick with the audience.

Craig also found the best sandwiches ever, he claimed, in the lavish morning tea provided. This was the first of much delicious hospitality shown us by appreciative readers.

Day 2: Lismore. For the first of many times Nick Earls performed his Word Hunt…game?

Lecture?

Stand-up routine? Word Hunt is all of these things. I watched his library audience grow as fascinated tweens and adults alike drifted in to find out what all the laughter was about. If we could only clone Nick and send him into the world en masse etymology would give Minecraft a run for its money.

That night the New Tattersall’s pub witnessed the first round of Tag-team Storytelling (patent pending) and the emergence of our beautiful blogger

by Zacharey Jane

Angela Meyer as MC. Or should I say referee? Tag-team Storytelling was not envisaged as a contact sport, but writers are passionate people. It finished 1-0 to the Hay/Earls team against Sherborne/ Jane − we was robbed.

Day 3: Coffs Harbour, Angela’s home town. Samuel and Ashley gave a workshop at the SCU campus while Nick, Craig and I visited the hospital. I was forced to give a ‘dangerous humour’ warning to cardiac patients before the reading of Nick’s hilarious new novel Analogue Men. That night at the Coast Hotel Angela chaired the panel discussion and resumed her duties as Tag-team ref, inveigling her mother to play on the Hay/Earls team.

Tag-team rules allow audience members to disrupt the storytelling and Angela’s father was an enthusiastic participant.

Most of us laughed. Again, the Earls/Hay team were victorious, but I believe that this was in sympathy for Angela’s now traumatised mother.

Day 4: The next morning Coffs Library enjoyed Craig and Angela’s panel about poetry, Kafka and the catalysts for creativity, while Ashley spoke at SCU about her award winning novel The Railwayman’s Wife.

Day 5: Lennox Head. Another library full of delightful librarians and enthusiastic readers, including 140 school children busting to play Word Hunt.

Samuel and I discussed our books, Love Poems and Death Threats and The Lifeboat, with our quieter audience, one of whom revealed that Samuel’s reading reminded her that poetry should always be performed. As we did that night at Club Lennox, to a packed house. I don’t remember who won the night−I don’t think literature was the winner, but laughter certainly was.

It was a quiet van the next morning as we returned to Byron. We had taken our stories out to the readers and been welcomed with open arms, minds and sandwiches. The sum total of five writers, a blogger and a film maker is bigger than the towns we visited, the audiences we met and the stories we told. Ashley, with her ever present lyricism said: ‘there was a sense for all of us that there were a thousand other conversations we might have had.’ And so the story goes on…

For Road Trip highlights visit byronbaywritersfestival.com.au and watch Tim’s film.

Then on the road again, to Grafton High.

Audiences at writers’ festivals are discerning, but rarely frightening. An auditorium full of Years 9-11 is however, terrifying. Luckily Craig read a section from Tree Palace concerned with breast feeding, mentioning nipples several times, so we were in.

That night at the Clocktower Hotel saw the Sherborne/Jane team win, so it was all on for the decider at Lennox. We were also asked the best question of the trip by an eight year old girl: ‘What’s it like to be a writer?’

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Zacharey Jane is the author of the acclaimed novel The Lifeboat and the children’s picture book Tobias Blow. She lives with her family by the sea.

Blogging the Five Writers’ Road Trip

by Angela Meyers

M

y task: go on the road with five writers and a filmmaker in Northern NSW; blog about it. It was as fun and as exhausting as you can imagine it would be.

The writers were Zacharey Jane, Craig Sherborne, Ashley Hay, Nick Earls and Samuel Wagan Watson. The filmmaker was Tim Eddy. The towns were Tweed Heads (and Kingscliff ), Lismore, Coffs Harbour, Grafton and Lennox Head.

We toured libraries, schools, a hospital, and pubs and clubs. We met readers, took detours, and ate our fair share of pub food. Here are some lightly edited extracts from the blog (find the rest on literaryminded.com.au, search #555writers).

-----------------------------------------------------27 July 2014 I invited the five writers Zac, Craig, Ash, Sam and Nick, and filmmaker Tim, into my parents’ home in Coffs. They needed a good feed, and I knew Dad’s homemade bread and pesto would suffice.

There was quite a spread, and the red wine flowed. As we were arriving in Coffs, I began to shake, which I think nobody noticed. I always get a bit shaky here. Nothing very bad ever happened, but I was often in a bad place when I lived here, and I had wanted to leave, but remained for a variety of reasons.

Let me just say that this had nothing to do with my folks, they’re great people; it was more my own psychological ‘stuff’.

One way I dealt with it was to start this blog more than seven years ago.

Here we were. Old worlds and new, colliding on the back veranda. And it was lovely.

Memory and the past can be fuel for writing. Craig Sherborne has spoken a lot about his mother on the trip (and you would be familiar with her if you’ve read his memoirs Hoi Polloi and Muck).

He has described her as ‘big, loud, intimidating and proper’. She both pressured and smothered him, and for him there was deep love and deep antagonism.

Ashley Hay’s grandfather was killed on

the railway, and her grandmother was employed as a librarian for the railway, which made Ashley think about what it would be like for her grandmother to hear the noise of the trains, constantly; to be reminded of her husband’s death over and over. This was part of the impetus for writing The Railwayman’s Wife.

The past is layered through Samuel Wagan Watson’s work. In Lismore, when the topic of literary influences came up, Sam went to childhood and Saturday mornings: Scooby Doo, Land of the Lost, and Cheech and Chong (with a perfect impression). The poem ‘Hallowed Ground’ opens on Saturday morning on Logan Road in Brisbane.

Dinosaurs are buried here with the remains of their tracks; this place was one only known as Central.

This place was where my mum and dad had their first kiss on the tram!

At the end the poet is moving across the table to attempt a kiss, sealing past and present together, ‘safe from chaos for the time being’.

The Lifeboat came out of experiences in Zacharey Jane’s past. She didn’t realise until years later that seeing an old couple at various times on a holiday, and then seeing the old man die in a storm, had had such an effect on her. When she was leaving Mexico, the whole novel came to her.

gate the world on our own. When Nick tells his anecdote about the smartphone and the clicking hip for the 80th time tonight I will think, simultaneously: thank god I never have to hear that again, and I’m gonna miss that guy.

----------------------------------------------------I do miss them all. The tour ended on a very high note – a packed session at Club Lennox, and finally an engaged audience for our ‘reunion’ on stage at the Byron Bay Writers Festival. Much hand sanitiser was passed around. (You had to be there.)

Thanks a bunch to the Australia Council, Byron Bay Writers Festival, the Co-op Bookshop (Luke in particular!), all the wonderful venues that have hosted us, and all the people who came along to see us ‘on the road’.

So stories arise from the past. And in the present, a writer collects (knowingly and unknowingly) images, moments, bits of dialogue and anecdotes which may become story sparks. Craig aptly summed up this process in Tweed Heads: ‘As a writer, you’re a parasite.’

I’m sure this trip will result in many more stories.

-----------------------------------------------------29 July 2014 I think by the time we separate we will be both relieved and terrified to navi-

Angela Meyer is a Melbournebased author, editor and literary journalist. Her books are Captives (Inkerman & Blunt) and The Great Unknown (as editor, Spineless Wonders). literaryminded.com.au

northerly magazine | september - october 2014 - 9

t s a o c e h t writing

S

ome years ago I turned up a vintage postcard at a collector’s stall, showing a mass of people surf bathing at Manly. Whereas most cards from the early 1900s featured buildings or landscapes with tiny figures or no people at all, the humans in this photograph were close - so close you could see the faces, and the smiles.

But even better was the inscription which referred to the picture – another rarity. The sender, it seems, had chosen the image carefully, indeed appeared in the photo: ‘find me’ was the challenge to the reader, ‘but don’t laugh at my short clothes when you do’. My guess is that the writer was a he, and he is standing arms crossed, mid-shot and centre.

I knew it was an interesting artefact and stored it carefully with a view to future use. But the significance of the image and the rest of inscription, which referred to the ‘hundreds of men and women all mixed up together’ in the surf – a ‘common sight at Manly’, was not really apparent until I started researching the history of our relationship to the coast, the New South Wales coast to be specific. That research became my book Coast: a history of the New South Wales edge.

I estimate that the card was written upon and sent around 1910. It shows, therefore, a people in the midst of a social revolution. Then, the embrace of the surf was hardly

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by Ian Hoskins

more than a generation old. Before that white Australians swam in ‘still’ water – baths in Sydney Harbour or pools cut out into the rock base of coastal headlands elsewhere.

Before we ventured en masse into the waves, ours’ was an English sea culture, albeit one with a long heritage that went back to the 18th century resorts of Brighton and Scarborough.

The revelation that then emerged was how recent is the beach culture that we now regard as quintessentially Australian. Other questions followed. Why was it so difficult to find literary or artistic references to the coast before the surf bathing revolution? The answer was bound up with the national identity that had been created up to the 1890s – one of drovers, shearers and squatters, timber cutters and miners. Wealth and drama was created in the interior and that was where our sense of self was made before we became bronzed Aussies and board-riders.

How did white Australians relate to the coast before they rode the waves? They did so routinely, out of necessity, to make a living. Cedar getters penetrated the coastal forests to find ‘red gold’ and in doing so they opened those ‘outlands’ up to dairy farmers and sugar cane plantations. Fishers braved the rivers and the narrow continental shelf where the schools never approached the size of those in colder seas. The whalers of Twofold Bay continued to use hand-held lances well after the

time of Ahab had given way to that of exploding harpoons. Dozens of coastal steamers linked the outports and rivers to the metropolis. The first lighthouse was built in 1818 but it was not until after the 1860s and hundreds of shipwrecks that a string of towers were built to illuminate the coastal highway. Marine villas were built on sheltered waters, for beachfront was exposed and dangerous.

their ancestors – to drive humpbacks and right whales to shore to provide food. Those stories and beliefs are kept alive today by elders such as Max Dulumunmun Harrison: ‘Imagine a beautiful beach that you’re standing upon and looking along its shores.

Imagine one of those great mammals coming into the shore. Hearing the noise they make, communicating with some of the Elders on the shore….’

The truth, then, is that white Australia’s ‘love affair’ with the coast is barely a century old. The same can’t be said for Indigenous Australians. Their ancestors were here for millennia – as many as 20,000 years. That is a span that extends back before the current coastline was formed after the last glacial thaw. Landforms took on meaning and embodied creation beings for Bundjalung, the Wodi Wodi, the Yuin and others. The first coast peoples fashioned watercraft from bark and fished with shell hooks and barbed spears. To the south they called to orcas – the incarnation of

Our relationship to the coast is about so much more than riding waves.

-----------------------------------------------------

Ian Hoskins’ Sydney Harbour: a history won the 2010 Queensland Premier’s Literary Prize for History.

Coast: a history of the NSW edge was published

Detail: Joseph Lycett, ‘Aborigines spearing fish...’, watercolour, 1817, National Library of Australia Photo: Cristina Smith

northerly magazine | september - october 2014 - 11

EXTRACT FROM THE THEA ASTLEY LECTURE

by Sophie Cunningham

researching and writing a book about Cyclone Tracy – but what happened on the night, and what happened in the days, weeks, months and years thereafter. Images often begin books to me and they started this book. On Boxing Day 1974, which was my eleventh birthday, I walked down the drive- way of my suburban Melbourne home to pick up the paper. Then I stood trying to make sense of the photo before me: an image, from almost four thousand kilometres to the north, of flattened piles of rubble and twisted pieces of corrugated iron.

F

irst let me say what an honor it is to be speaking in the name of Thea Astley and hopefully, by doing so, pay my respect to her fine writing, her tough, courageous, unwavering eye. Her novel A Kindness Cup is the inspiration for much of what I want to say today. That novel is set in Queensland. Lieutenant Freddie Buckmaster takes a band of men to ‘disperse the natives’ from Mandarana, an outback town. A massacre is the result. Two decades after the massacre, a man who’d been very distressed by these events, Tom Dorahy, returns to his hometown for a reunion. He attempts to reclaim justice for the victims of that night but finds no one wants to hear what he has to say, and that even some of the victims of the crime would rather he kept his mouth shut – with reason, as it turns out. Secrets are active, not passive. They take a lot of work to keep in place. It’s a writer’s job to ferret these secrets out. Sometimes this may seem to be misguided, or naive, or a mistake. We have to do it anyway.

I have spent the last few years

But despite the powerful effect that image had on me, when I returned to those newspapers—on microfiche, in Victoria’s State Library—some thirtyeight years later, I found that my recollection was incorrect. The cover of the Age that Boxing Day was not a photo but an illustration of a map of Australia with a satellite photo laid over it, so we could see Cyclone Tracy’s dense swirls hovering off Australia’s northern coast. The photo that I remember was on the cover of the Age three days later, on Saturday 28 December 1974. Memory is a slippery thing.

And so it was for survivors of the cyclone. Chronology frayed. People remember the devastation they awoke to, but after that things blur.

many, much younger than him. ‘I’ve got, I must admit a very confused memory, whether this is a result of the shock at that time, or whether it’s a case of old age affecting memory, I wouldn’t like to hazard a guess.’ The way in which people spoke of what they endured had a liturgical quality.

Elizabeth Carroll: ‘I honestly don’t remember what we did, how we did it. I remember just these specific things: the rubbish bins, washing my hair. I remember the fear.’ Several men interviewed struggled to remember when their family was evacuated, and when they got to see them again. Often they ended up confessing to whoever interviewed them, that they simply had no idea.

Even General Stretton, who didn’t arrive until late that first night, wrote that he quickly ‘lost all track of time’.

By 27 December, ‘It seemed months ago since I had left my family sitting down to Christmas dinner at home in Canberra.’

There was the slippage caused by the shock of the night itself, and more was caused by what was to come. Constable G. Townsend: ‘I was placed in the armory section and the station and was also the pet destroyer...My hours of duty are not possible to calculate.’ Many people, after that first sleepless night, were to go another night, or even five nights, without sleep. Oral historian

“Memory is a slippery thing “

Beth Harvey describes that first day, and many thereafter, as like ‘a dream’. Harry Giese was concerned that age was getting to him though his memory was no worse than

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Alessandro Portelli has observed that chronology is more likely to get blurry if events are endured as one continuous occurrence rather than a series of discrete episodes.

Given this, some might question the point of even recounting people’s memories of events, but I’m with oral historian Studs Terkel, who has argued that the impact of time and memory on personal narratives is not a flaw, but rather one of the things that make them interesting. I have absolutely no doubt than some of the people I quote in the book have misremembered what happened to them. Exaggerated or underestimated their trauma. Embroidered details. I let that stand. My book is intended as testimony to their understanding of their experiences

as well as to the facts, which were, there is no doubt, cold and hard.

And while there isn’t really a job description for writers, other than spending too much time at a desk and becoming overly self involved, I’d say this is what the job is: to tell stories, to try and tell the right ones and to find the right words. And to make sure we don’t forget.

Sophie delivered the Thea Astley Lecture at the 2014 Byron Bay Writers Festival, Saturday 2 August.

Sophie Cunningham has been on the publishing scene in Australia for 30 years. The Story Of Cyclone Tracy is her most recent book.

On Publishing I

t might’ve taken 45 minutes to get around the room for the intros at my ‘Brave New World of Publishing’ workshop (held as part of this year’s Byron Bay Writers Festival), but it was a highlight of the day for me. I can’t spill the beans on secret writing business, but let’s just say there were surfers, yogis, mums, dads, lawyers, teachers, marketers and all sorts of other day jobbers writing books about adventure, business, survival, health challenges, men’s stuff,

women’s stuff, stories for kids and memoirs. What a great reminder it was of the stories we have to tell and the drive we have to commit those stories to paper, or screen. And for me as a publishing professional it was also a reminder of the importance of tailoring a publishing approach to an individual project. It’s not so much a question of if an author can get published these days, but rather how.

‘Real Books’

Data recently released from the ABA shows an increase of 12% in sales of children’s books through the bookshops this year, and they now comprise an amazing 31% of overall book sales, up 25% from 5 years ago. A great result for kids books and reinforcement, if it were needed, of the reluctance of that market to switch to the digital tablet format. Kids books on a tablet? It’s just not the same. To quote Mem Fox who put it plainly in the in the

SMH recently “I’m ecstatic to tell you that e-book picture books do not sell”. People want to have and hold picture books and reading to their kids is something to share.

The other niche where printed books retain their staying power is when they are used as a promotional tool, perhaps as part of a marketing strategy for a business.

There’s nothing like a physical book to press into the hand of a valued friend or client, whilst you gently slide the $20-bill from their other hand.

For us at Captain Honey, the other part of the ‘real book’ market which is holding up is the gift market.

Last year, we published a gorgeous hardcover coffee table book , The 50 Book (www.the50book.com) aimed at women turning 50. It’s been a successful gift, which we’ve been able to sell effectively via bookshops and gift shops, both bricks and mortar and online.

Text-based books, be they fiction,

northerly magazine | september - october 2014 - 13

non-fiction or memoir can more easily translate to a digital format.

Ebooks are easier to produce and if you listen to everything Amazon says they are cheaper too. You do still have to pay for the same expert editors and designers to help craft the book, but yes, you save on printing and the crippling costs of posting books around the country.

And you save on the heartbreak of staring at boxes of unsold books in your living room – that’s true too.

But at least with print books, you can haul around your box of books, brandish them in the faces of unsuspecting relatives, hoick them around to bookshops, sell them at local fairs and markets –

ever read them. That’s one school of thought, anyway. It certainly seems to be the view of many independent authors vocal on the topic in internet forums on self publishing. Their advice is to cooperate with Kindle’s KDP Select program (by which the nice people at Amazon allow you to giveaway your book for free in exchange for a period of exclusivity in their store) or, for the uber-serious discoverer, give it away far and wide online via free ebook reading sites. The idea is that you build up an appetite for your writing among your fans who will then buy your next book, or dip into your backlist.

It’s not so much a question of if an author can get published these days, but rather how. all that good old-fashioned stuff.

And don’t forget that you can sell physical books online too, as long as you have some place to sell them – your own website is a good start, but there are plenty of other shops online that you can do business with on a commission basis.

Ebooks

The challenges of selling books online are perhaps even greater than selling physical books. The buzz word in online book retail is ‘discoverability’, which is a nice way of saying give your books away for free otherwise nobody will

Print-on-Demand

And then there’s print on demand, which is a great way to avoid upfront investment in print costs, and the quality of books printed this way is definitely improving.

Amazon’s CreateSpace offers an easy-to-use and affordable option, although you still need to work out how to get potential readers to the store to buy your book, so the discoverability challenge exists here too.

So, what’s the answer? You need to consider what’s right for your book – format-wise, does it suit print or

BBWF 2014 PICS

14 - northerly magazine | september - october 2014

Roz Hopkins has worked in book publishing for over 20 years. She was most recently non-fiction publisher at HarperCollins and currently runs her own small publishing house, Captain Honey.

ebook? And also what’s right for you - are you a great self-promoter, a marketing genius (or wannabe genius) or the shy, retiring type?

Be honest about that and then set yourself some realistic objectives and a plan to meet them. Don’t get distracted by all the possibilities out there. Can you sell 1000 copies of your book to your local network and via a simple website? If yes, why not start there. _____________________________

For advice on your publishing options, give us a call or drop us an email at Captain Honey. www.captainhoney.com.au

THE SUSIE WARRICK YOUNG WRITERS AWARD

UNFORGIVEN F

or a while now, there’s been two of us: the one who’s me and the one who isn’t.Her name is Zilla. I’m Ashna. We share an apartmenton a dead end road. You know, the tumbledown nest in the middle of nothing that was once only mine.

She’s a demanding sort of person, Zilla –the type that runs her words down herfront and has never once looked at anybody over her nose rather than down it.

Next to her, I’m a bit of a mouse, I s’pose. I prefer the dark.

The photos dangle along the line like dead things,dripping the blood of chemicals from their downturned corners. I hold one between my fingertips, tilting it towards the reddened glow from the bulb on the ceiling.The fainteddies of the plants in our back gardenflash black amongst thegrey.

I don’t remember taking this one.

(Red I was red she wasblack she had to go.)

I unpeg the photo from the line and balance it on my fingers,shuffling through the darkness until I’m standing beneath the red light. Maybe Zilla took it.

I’ve told her before not to touch my camera but does she ever listen?

The photo clears grain by grain. I see the frangipani treeZilla’s been fantasising about felling for months.

And in the corner, something that is not a flower.

Something that is not usually there at all.

(Black I never could stand black she had to go.)

At first I think it’s a log.It’s not.

did to make us feel like that they were just words on a screen but they were unforgivable.)

I turn back towards the red light and, gripping the photo until the surface trembles, I walk over to the line.

(I knew where she would be I made sure I knew.)

The photos are arranged along the line like dead things, dribbling blood from downturned corners.

I bring the first image up to the light. My wrist is shaking.The first shape to form is the white of a cluster of frangipanis. The garden is empty.

(I followed her.)

There.She’s in the third photo along. Standing in our back garden as if it’s hers. She’s talking to someone.

(She saw me but I pretended I was there for other reasons.)

I rip the fourth photo from the line. The peg pings from its place and clatters onto the floor. If Zilla took these photos she must have seen. But Zilla isn’t here yet.

A hand pokes out from behind the frangipani tree, held splayed as if offering something. I squint at it, trying to place the miniscule curve of the fingers. In the movies, the murderer is always the quiet one, the one you’d never expect. So maybe it’s that boy who sits far from the crowd and stares at everyone who passes. He’s like a mouse in the dark. Nobody pays him attention except to kick at his scabby knees. He’s a lot like me, except people kick me through a computer screen.

It’s Ciara’s foot.

But the hand isn’t his. It’s too soft. It’s a girl’s.

(Hated her we both hated her because of what she northerly magazine | september - october 2014 - 15

(She asked me why I was standing in the garden I told her I was decidinghow to chop the frangipani and offered my hand to help her in.)

it’s going to burst open and the girl will know that I’ve caught her and she’ll end me too…

I need to find Zilla. The next photo shows Ciara stepping back. The frangipani tree hasn’t been exposed properly. The white flowers are going grey.

I glance down at the photo in my hand. Ciara is on the ground. Residual chemicals trickle off the corner of the photo. The figure is standing over her.

She’s smiling.

(But not for long.)

(She stared at me like she thought I was mad maybe I was.)

Zilla’s smiling.

I need to find Zilla

The picture falls and settles on the floor.

A hooded figure stands behind the tree.

I sink to my knees. Zilla. How could she? We hated Ciara but she deserved better than a back garden and a dead frangipani.

I cannot fix this. I cannot undo what I have already done.

A HAND POKES OUT FROM BEHIND THE FRANGIPANI TREE,

HELD SPLAYED AS IF OFFERING SOMETHING. (I reached for her.)

A shroud of hair ruffles beneath the hood. It’s dark, I can tell that much, but exactly which shade… I’m not sure. Who has long dark hair?

There’s the popular girl in our photography lecture, the one I’m certain has somehow super-glued herself to Ciara’s shoulder.It would explain the strange looks she’s been giving her Siamese twin of late.Maybe she snapped. Maybe Ciara was bullying her too.

(The camera I left it to take photos one a minute to catch every beautiful momentI should not have this alone it should be Ashna’s too but she never remembers what I have done it’s as if we’re two separate people.)

I see my own face beneath the hood. I see my own hand clutching the knife.

Multiple personality disorder, they called it.

What I see when I riseis the final photo. It hasn’t quite developed yet. In front of Ciara’s foot lie a pair of frangipanis, each black and shrivelled in the grass.

(She screamed when she saw the knife.)

Something catches my eye. The photos are all I can see amongst the gloom. That’s what I’ve always liked about my dark room. I can focus. It’s just my photos and me. My photos don’t laugh and type and kick at scabby knees. They tell the truth.

Allie Mackenzie is the winner of the Susie Warrick Young Writer’s Award, a short story competition for our local young writers aged between 14 and 25 years is now open.

As I take the nearest image off the line, my camera clicks in a room overhead. A single snap in the dark and the silence and it sounds like a gunshot. Who’s there, I try to say, but nothing comes out. I take a step back, eyes fixed on the door. Someone is going to come through it any second, any second

The competition is generously sponsored by Byron and Districts ADFAS and the Bangalow Lions, and is open to all residents of the Northern Rivers area (from Tweed Heads in the north, to Taree in the south, and west to Kyogle).

16 - northerly magazine | september - october 2014

• SCU Showcase •

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

The Apple She stumbled around in the dark, not knowing where she was or who was near. All feeling in her legs had begun to fade and a subtle numbness started to take over. It was freezing tonight, she guessed most people had gone straight home at the end of their day to hot showers, burning fires and warm beds. She knew this because on warmer days they would linger around shops, grabbing snacks and end up throwing most of it away when they realized their eyes were bigger than their bellies.

Still she searched. It was no good, she has been up and down this alley countless times tonight and she was beginning to lose hope. She sank down into her pile of cardboard, her stomach growling louder than ever, about to close her eyes and pray for sleep to take the pain away when she heard something.

One of the doors at the other end of the alley flew open, letting free a burst of light. She blinked furiously trying to shade her eyes from the burning light, which she was not used to. A man appeared in the doorway with a bag slug over his shoulder and something in his left hand. As he drew the hand to his mouth she heard a crunch and then a moan. She watched as his arm fell to his side, the object falling from his grasp as he slammed the door and continued down the alley.

She waited until he was completely gone from her sight and hurried over to where he dropped it. Knowing exactly where it was because she didn’t dare take her eyes off it, she felt around in the darkness until she found it.

The divine piece of fruit, it was hers. Moving to stand under the streetlight, she noticed a bite mark and a small soft, brown patch. Though unlike the man she wasn’t in a position to be fussy.

One man’s trash… She thought.

Closing her eyes she brought the apple to her mouth, bit down hard, and felt the relief fill her.

Her savior.

by Tyler Budden

Waiting Emily Brand sat and waited for sons to come home from war. In a small country town her vigilance did not go unnoticed.

‘Doesn’t she know the war is long over?’ asked Mrs Pinkerton.

‘I believe she does,’ said Harold Wharton, pulling his hat down over his eyes. He glanced at his grandson playing in the corner of the family hardware store. The boy’s father hadn’t come home either.

‘I want an outdoor setting, Harold. A long grand table,’ said Mrs Pinkerton.

Harold’s eyes narrowed. He reached under the counter and handed her a catalogue. ‘I think you’ll find something to suit your particular taste, Mrs Pinkerton,’ he said.

Emily Brand had a white-slatted reclining chair under the May bush in her front yard. She painted it carefully every year. Beside it, she kept an ancient toolbox with gardening bibs and bobs. A circular garden held price of place nearby.

It was said to have been quite grand, once. Emily had torn everything out the day the last telegram came.

She watched busy neighbours coming and going, living. Deliveries came. Wishes were granted. New things arrived, especially when houses sold and bright new people came with shiny hopes. Emily toiled over the circular garden, but it didn’t come to much.

‘What are you growing?’ asked a passerby.

‘Oh, this and that.’

John Brand came to visit his sister, years before.

‘People are talking, Emily,’ He stood poised, hat in hand.

‘Of course,’ she said, ‘it’s their way.’

They found her in the white-slatted chair, with her gardening gloves still on, lips blue, body soft and breathless. The funeral was a small, discrete, simple affair. A FOR SALE sign appeared.

‘Oh my,’ said a new wife, with babe in arms. ‘What a gorgeous cottage, let’s buy it Eddie.’

Her fresh faced husband smiled and shrugged at the realtor, who grinned like a Cheshire cat.

‘The garden is lovely,’ he said.

There, where Emily Brand sat waiting for sons to come home from war, Flanders poppies grew.

by Linda Brooks northerly magazine | september - october 2014 - 17

• Book reviews •

Telling True Stories:

Navigating the Challenges of

Writing Narrative Non-fiction

by Matthew Ricketson | Reviewed by Geoff Whyte

They say that truth is stranger than fiction, and it’s certainly true that the world is constantly throwing up amazing stories that, well, you couldn’t make up. In his latest book, Telling True Stories: Navigating the Challenges of Writing Narrative Non-fiction, Matthew Ricketson explores the issues that arise when we set out to write about events that, as opposed to being products of our imagination, actually happened, and involved real people.

The author is currently Professor of Journalism at the University of Canberra and has a background as a working journalist, so it’s probably no surprise that the book appears to be striving to appease two audiences, indeed it mentions at one point that ‘it is practitioners, as much as the academy, at which the book is aimed.’

Further, in using the term ‘practitioners’,

it seems clear that the author is assuming that those who embark on book-length works of narrative nonfiction will do so by way of an extension of their journalistic work.

The first part of the book probably spends a little longer than non-academics need or want on discussing what to call the genre, and then uses the examples of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein’s account of the resignation of Richard Nixon The Final Days and Truman Capote’s account of a multiple murder In Cold Blood to illustrate in detail some of the problems that writers face, and indeed can create, as a result of their chosen approach.

The perennial problem of gaining and maintaining the trust of principal sources while retaining an independent view is addressed at length using Janet Malcolm’s The Journalist and the Murderer as a reference point. Other key issues that are explored include the narrator’s voice and the challenges of reconstructing scenes and dialogue and the use of interior monologues (is an omniscient narrator plausible?), and how much detail to reveal while taking into account the feelings of those who were involved in some way but are

still alive. A useful checklist for writers of narrative non-fiction is provided, most of which will hopefully appeal as common sense to anyone with a fully functional ethical compass.

I would be surprised if this book doesn’t find its way onto the reading list for journalism courses at universities around Australia and possibly beyond.

The book is meticulously referenced (which doesn’t do a lot for the flow of the story for those who aren’t reading it in an academic context), and features an extensive bibliography and index, so as a text book, it probably ticks all the boxes. Anyone who is contemplating writing anything that deals with real events and real people could do a lot worse than read Telling True Stories: Navigating the Challenges of Writing Narrative Non-fiction to alert them to the potential pitfalls they need to remain aware of at all times.

Geoff Whyte (www.whyteink.com.au) is an editor and manuscript assessor who lives in Uki. He is the co-author, with internationally acclaimed poet and writer Mark Tredinnick, of The Little Black Book of Business Writing.

Love and Terror on the Howling Plains to Nowhere

by Poe Ballantine | Reviewed by Jeni Caffin Poe Ballantine. The wonderful Barry Scott of Transit Lounge, a brave and innovative independent Australianpublisher, introduced me to this American writer of fiction and non-fiction. While celebrated amongst his peers in the US, I had not stumbled upon his work before. Consequently, I had no expectations when I opened the pages of Love & Terror on the Howling Plains to Nowhere, despite registering that the fulsome praise offered by American memoirist du jour, Cheryl Strayed. And then, I was hooked.

It’s all about story. When all else is stripped away, story is what remains. This is a great 18 - northerly magazine | september - october 2014

story. I cannot imagine it being told in any other way, by any other writer, than Poe Ballantine. For this is a true story stranger than fiction, told with great humour, with great love and with breath-taking skill by a masterly raconteur. Little wonder that he is compared to Kerouac and Bukowski, but this is no pastiche or imitation. Ballantine has been nominated for numerous literary awards and is published in The Best American Short Stories 1998 and The Best American Essays 2006 and 2013. I have a fascination with small town America: addicted to Garrison Keillor’s Lake Wobegon

• Book reviews • stories. In the tiniest communities live the most eccentric residents. None more so than in Chadron, Nebraska, where Poe Ballantine came to settle, at the age of 46, twenty years of wandering under his belt, challenged by a prickly marriage and a possibly autistic son to raise.

Chadron is on the high plains of Nebraska, scorched by summer fires and whipped by freezing winter winds. A brutal environment, where the community is tight knit and everybody knows each other’s business. Ballantine landed there in 1994: no reason. It was cheap, he worked, he left. After teaching English in Mexico, meeting his partner, struggling to eke out a subsistence living, in 1999, Ballantine returned. He wrote, he was published, he was poor, he found humour, he cut to the bone.

In 2006, his neighbour, Steven Haaja, a maths professor from the state college

nearby, vanished. Not a trace. Theories and gossip abounded: small town, huge interest. Then, 3 months after his disappearance, Steven Haaja reappeared, behind the campus where he taught: tied to a tree, burned to death, empty bottle of alcohol close by. He didn’t drink. The police called it suicide.

Haaja’s family called it suicide. Ballantine took it on.

For 6 years, Poe Ballantine investigated, painstakingly trod the ground over and over, aided by his young son, and discovered how small a small community can be when you become not just the story teller, but part of the story.

According to Ballantine, he never set out to become a true crime writer, and indeed this book plays out as a memoir.

A memoir with a shocking and arresting barb at its core, but a memoir none the less. What has lived with me since

reluctantly closing its pages, apart from the seemingly preposterous response of Haaja’s family to Ballantine’s work and the bizarre findings of the police, is the theme of alienation and lack of belonging that pervades the narrative.

This is rare: we celebrate belonging and most writers are eager to claim it.

Ballantine does not and admits that for both he and his wife, having a standing in a community does not mean that they belong to it. Certainly publishing this unflinchingly clear sighted depiction of Chadron life will not make their existence in its midst peaceful.

Readers: Love & Terror on the Howling Plains of Nowhere has been made into a documentary and screened at the Byron Bay Writers Festival as part of the feature events. This writer, this book, this film: what a treat. Poe Ballantine makes the ordinary extraordinary.

• Poetry from BBWF Volunteers • LANGUAGE/SLANGUAGE Words and words and words and words, So much said, so much unsaid, so much unread, Writers Fest, the best, the rest.

Language/slanguage Festering philology.

Ever changing, faltering, failing, Seeks to explain. Another refrain, As we sing our life stories, The glories, the wonder, Lives torn asunder.

This slanguage sleeks to slay the unsled, Delete, refresh, repeat….. repeat, repeat, repeat , repeat, ..teat,..teat….teat,….teat,…t…t…..t…t……..

Never to meet.

My word! your word, Foreword….forward!

Seeking to say, finding a way to…

Communicate.

Touch, see, feel, Ever creating new ways, new words To reach.….. each.….other.

Language/slanguage Ever so mean…

…ing full

by Sahaj

THE DAY BEGINS IN SUCH A FLUSTER

The day begins in such a fluster coffee for our thoughts to muster Then begins the trickle thin the eager we welcome in next there comes an avalanche as the big stars make their splash People going everywhere Feeling relaxed as we handle all their cares Problems crop up but we take it in our stride More people come a growing tide New friends we meet as people we greet So many ideas for us later to repeat Inspired just by being here The written word we hold so dear We love the crew and all they do to make our day go smooth To serve and share is how we care It’s all a part of our groove A volunteers manifesto is to always be on the go to create the best Writer’s Festival in the world is something that with us can continue to grow

by Louise Moriarty northerly magazine | september - october 2014 - 19

• Kids’ page •

the next

great book

Children/teen author, Tristan Bancks, tracks down the books you should be reading next, according to some people who might know a thing or two

As a reader, it’s an enormous challenge to find the next great book. Sometimes it can be weeks or months between truly great reads. So I have asked some of Australia’s top writers of Children’s and Young Adult books to share their favourite novels for young people. They’re a mix of teenage and children’s book recommendations. I hope you find some gems here.

9. How to Make a Bird - Martine Murray 10. A Small Free Kiss in the Dark - Glenda Millard 11. Graffiti Moon - Cath Crowley 12. The First Third - Will Kostakis 13. By The River - Steven Herrick 14. Black Juice - Margo Lanagan 15. Jasper Jones - Craig Silvey 16. Feeling Sorry for Celia - Jaclyn Moriarty 17. One Foot Wrong - Sofie Laguna 18. One Whole and Perfect Day - Judith Clarke 19. The Whole Business with Kiffo and the Pitbull - Barry Jonsberg

20. Big River Little Fish - Belinda Jeffrey

Top Ten Books for Young People

Top 10 Books For Young People

by Wendy Orr (Author of Nim’s Island)

Barry Jonsberg (Author of Children’s Book Council 2014 Honour Book My Life as an Alphabet)

1. Because of Winn Dixie, Kate DiCamillo, 2. Matilda, Roald Dahl 3. Divine Wind, Garry Disher 4. Museum of Mary Child, Cassandra Golds 5. Sea Hearts, Margo Lanagan 6. Northern Lights, Philip Pullman 7. Counting by 7s, Holly Goldberg Sloan 8. The Eagle of the Ninth, Rosemary Sutcliff 9. Museum of Thieves, Lian Tanner 10. The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper

1. Holes - Louis Sachar 2. Just A Dog - Michael Gerard Bauer 3. The Messenger - Markus Zusak 4. The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins 5. Deadly Unna - Phillip Gwynne 6. Mice - Gordon Reece 7. Liar - Justine Larbalestier 8. Happy As Larry - Scot Gardner 9. The Abhorsen trilogy - Garth Nix 10. The Uglies trilogy - Scott Westerfeld

Top 20 Australian Young Adult Novels Michael Gerard Bauer (Author of Don’t Call Me Ishmael and Just a Dog)

1. The Messenger - Markus Zusak 2. Dust - Christine Bongers 3. The Dead I Know - Scot Gardner 4. Beatle Meets Destiny - Gabrielle Williams 5. The Shiny Guys - Doug MacLeod 6. Are You Seeing Me? - Darren Groth 7. Saving Francesca - Melina Marchetta 8. Queen Kat, Carmel and St Jude Get a Life - Maureen McCarthy

20 - northerly magazine | september - october 2014

Byron Bay Writers Fest

I vote the 2014 festival the best ever. Once again the Sunday kids’ sessions proved to be the best celebration of children’s literature on the Australian festival calendar. Early on, illustrator Martin Chatterton went head to head with Mem Fox on who works harder on a picture book - author or illustrator. Session chair, author Jesse Blackadder, managed to calm the furore. In the kids’ tent Asphyxia shared her stunning notebooks, Andy Griffiths told jokes about mothers throwing refrigerators at their children and I had my head turned into a banana split by local 13-year-old author Raph Atkins and his cronies in the audience. I hope to see you there next year.

• From the reading chair •

On creative nonfiction: the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth Amanda Webster shows writers how to dig deep for meaningful memories.

If fiction writers are the magicians of writing, creating worlds that never existed, then creative nonfiction writers are the plastic surgeons, taking known facts and combining them with memories to reconstruct a world that no longer exists. In order to engage the reader, the creative nonfiction writer borrows the fiction writer’s tools such as dialogue and setting, and selects any one of a number of forms such as memoir, personal essay, biography, literary nonfiction, travel or food writing.

But it’s not enough to simply tell the story. For example, in memoir, which is my primary consideration here, if what happened was paramount, then we would have no need of more than one story of addiction or betrayal or death because the basic facts vary little. The writer must make sense of—or reflect on—events. In fact, while the story itself usually has a narrative arc, the thought processes of the writer should become a separate and compelling plotline. In Hilary Mantel’s words, “Writing a memoir is a process of facing yourself”.

Or part of yourself. The writer on the page is a created version of the real person, made up of the bits relevant to the story at hand. To complicate matters, the writer becomes, in a way, a split personality—the “I” of then who takes part in the story’s action, and the “I” of now, or the narrator, who looks back and makes sense of what happened.

Reflection is, however, more than a bunch of admittedly subjective opinions.

Reflection adds backbone, underpinning the structure of a piece of writing. It is, to paraphrase Vivian Gornick, an organizing principle. Each scene, each snippet of dialogue, pays for its paper real estate through its relationship to the unfolding reflections. The reflective narrator leads the reader through the text, providing, if

you like, an interpretive guide to enrich the reading experience. The narrator tells the reader not what to think but what the writer thinks about events, in turn allowing the reader to form his or her own opinions or, in other words, to reflect. (One need only peruse online reader reviews to confirm that readers do indeed reflect—loud and clear.)

Reflection also lends authority to a piece of writing. Phillip Lopate expresses this when he writes, “The quality of thinking, the depth of insight and the willingness to wrest as much understanding as the writer is humanly capable of arriving at—these are guarantees to the reader that a particular author’s sensibility is trustworthy and simpatico”. Mantel has a slightly different take: “…unmediated truth often sounds unlikely and unconvincing. If people are to care about your life, art must intervene”.

• Why am I including this scene?

• What did that experience teach me?

• What is my relationship to the other characters?

• Is there a subtext?

• Knowing what I know now, how do I feel about what happened then?

• Can I generalize about a group without causing offence? (Insider status helps.)

• How has what I think about this changed? (This can be presented in the form of parallel sentences: “Back then I thought…” “Now I think…”)

The hard facts are often subject to memory’s vagaries, but the answers to these questions should contain the emotional truth of the story. Or at least, the writer’s version of the truth.

Reflection offers us an increased understandingof the never-ending complexities of our world and ourselves, a toehold in life. Want a factual report on someone’s death? Watch the news or read obituaries. Looking for understanding as to how death might affect a spouse? Pick up a memoir.

So how to develop these all-important reflections? Writers often say they switch caps for the writing and editing processes. Memoirists, then, need to incorporate a thinking cap into their millinery wardrobe. Each scene or expositional event needs to be interrogated for meaning.

An amalgam of questions I’ve acquired over the years to ask of my writing, the sources mostly forgotten, include: • What is this story about?

• What is this story really about? (Robin Hemley, who spoke at the Byron Bay Writers Festival, suggests that variations of these two questions should be asked three times. Each time the writer tries to delve deeper.) northerly magazine | september - october 2014 - 21

• Workshops •

• Events •

Dare To Be An Author Literary Festival Meet the agent

with Alex Adsett When: Oct 18 2014 Where: NRWC Office, Level 1, 28 Jonson St (above Witchery, Byron Bay Cost: $50 members, $60 nonmembers Book now for a one-on-one 20 minute consultation with a literary agent.

Working with Northern Rivers Writers Centre, Alex Adsett is looking forward to meeting emerging writers of genre fiction, to offer advice on the publishing industry or strategic direction for new authors’ careers.

Please provide your synopsis and 20-50 pages of your manuscript by 2 October. Please email this to penny@ nrwc.org.au ALEX ADSETT is a literary agent and publishing consultant with more than sixteen years experience working in the publishing and bookselling industry and has managed Alex Adsett Publishing Services since 2008. As an agent, Alex represents a select group of genre authors – an exciting mix of crime, mystery, science fiction, fantasy, horror and romance.

With a growing stable of authors, she is always on the lookout for amazing works of genre fiction for adults or young adults.

As a publishing consultant, Alex offers publishing contract and negotiating advice to authors, publishers and booksellers.

She has worked for or with many different publishers and authors, serves on the boards of the Queensland Writers’ Centre, Queensland Literary Awards and the Small Press Network, and is often to be found on twitter at @alexadsett or via her website www.alexadsett.com.au.

Food writing

When: Oct 25 2014, 10am-4pm Where: NRWC Office, Level 1, 28 Jonson St (above Witchery, Byron Bay Cost: $75 members, $95 nonmembers Barbara Sweeney is an engaging, encouraging and enthusiastic teacher.

This one-day food writing workshop is designed around a series of writing tasks. Through them you will learn about different food writing styles, including memoir, recipe writing and feature stories. The course aims to get you started and includes tips in how to keep going, how to write well, and provides an overview of the in-turmoil publishing industry and where food writing and you may fit.

• Excellent workshop – relevant, challenging and valuable techniques I know I’ll use.

• • Barbara was an engaging, empathetic and insightful teacher. Her shared experiences and advice were invaluable.

–attendees of Barbara’s 2013 food writing workshop at Northern Rivers Writers Centre

BARBARA SWEENEY likes food and words in equal measure and has made a career as both cook and writer. Barbara runs the annual food festival in Sydney, Food & Words, teaches food writing classes, and writes regularly for The Sydney Morning Herald’s Good Food and Good Food Guide, where she is regional editor, and Country Style. In 2012 Barbara started Talking Cookbook, a project to remind us that cooking is a domestic every-day activity common to all and not a competition.

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When: Oct 18 2014, 9am-4.45pm Where: Metcalfe Auditorium, State Library NSW, Macquarie Street, Sydney Cost: $120 The Society of Women Writers (SWW) inaugural literary festival will take place October 18 at the State Library of NSW. It will be opened by The Right Honourable Clover Moore.

Dare to be an Author who Writes about Sex and Other Unmentionables and Dare to Liberate Yourself from the Captive Breeding Industry of Publishing Houses are the titles of two keynote addresses to be given by Bettina Arndt and Blanche d’Alpuget.

Bettina Arndt, sex therapist, journalist and clinical psychologist, broke many taboos in the 1970s when, as editor of the adult sex magazine Forum, she wrote openly and explicitly about sexual matters that had been well and truly swept under the carpet in conservative Australia. She will spill the beans on the inside story of what it was like to live through those days and pioneer an area that was so strictly off limits that she was banned from live radio and television for two years.

THE SOCIETY OF WOMEN WRITERS (SWW) established almost 90 years ago, in 1925, is the longest-standing literary society in Australia. It was formed to draw together women writers (including poets, journalists, playwrights, fiction and non-fiction writers) to provide support to women writers and to establish networks amongst Australian and overseas writers.

Today, some 90 years later, in addition to monthly workshops, literary lunches, authors’ talks and workshops held in the Dixson Room, Mitchell Library, SWW runs retreats and produces a quarterly Magazine WOMENS INK! It also runs annual competitions for poetry, short stories, non-fiction, fiction and children’s books and administers a number of prestigious awards.

Events• • Opportunities •

• Members•News • Competitions • MEMBERS NEWS MARDI GRAS ART IMAGES

LIMITED EDITIONS

NRWC member, Sonia Friedrich, has recently released a limited edition print run of an art book: A sexy and lively collection of images exposing the theatrical, dramatic and wild extravaganza of Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. This candid retrospective spotlights the diversity of the GLBTQ community. The pathos is distinctively juxtaposed within the glamour of freedom. Spanning three years this is a first in a limited edition series. A compact collection of artistic merit.

Partnering with Moleskine, the art book is crafted in the traditional classic style.

Black leatherette hardcover, 135gsm ivory-coloured GardaPat 13 KLASSICA paper, centre stitched, open flat binding, rounded corners with elastic closures and expandable pocket. Each book is elegantly presented in Moleskine wrapping paper.

Congratulations to Sonia. For more information visit http://soniafriedric8.wix.com/ sonia. Book priced at $AU75.00 +Postage: $AU15.00 Australia & Worldwide ___________________________________

DANCING WITH A COCAINE COWBOY: LOVE AND LIFE WITH A COLOMBIAN DRUG TRAFFICKER Congratulations also to NRWC member Robyn Windshuttle for the recent puiblication of her book, Dancing with a Cocaine Cowboy: Love and life with a Colombian drug trafficker.

A dancer with the Moulin Rouge, Robyn Windshuttle’s life changed irrevocably the moment she met Daniel, a handsome and charismatic Colombian. Drawn together by an irresistible chemistry, Robyn takes Daniel at his word. But he is not, as first thought, a photographer for the Nikon Gallery and she becomes an unwitting accomplice to the cut throat dealings of Daniel’s Colombian drug syndicate.

Varuna the National Writers House is pleased to announce upcoming residential Focus Weeks where you can work on your writing with some of Australia’s best cultural facilitators. Focus Week programs are include Creative Audio – Writing for Radio in a Digital Age (3-9 Nov), Reading and Writing the Short Story with Tegan Bennett Daylight (10-16 Nov), and Advanced Life Writing with Patti Miller (24-30 Nov). More information at http://www.varuna. com.au.

Tasmanian Geographic - Your stories, photos, enthusiasm and ideas are kindly requested!

Tasmanian Geographic is a free online digital magazine. They are seeking stories and images of exploration, research, science, adventure, education, mapmaking, documentary filmmaking, ecological toursim, historical musings, museum studies, project updates and more. See the magazine and how to contribute: http://www. tasmaniangeographic.com.

Varuna Residency Fellowship offers writers and illustrators, working across a wide range of literary genres and forms, focused work time, an inspiring environment and a collegial atmosphere in which to develop a new work. For full information about the Fellowships, please visit the Varuna Website.

Closes 28 Aug.

Momentum Monday - Momentum, Australia’s first major digital imprint, is open to submissions. Momentum accepts submissions weekly on Mondays between 12.00 midnight and 11.59 pm Australian Eastern Standard Time via email only.

Momentum is open to publishing fiction and non-fiction in most traditional and non-traditional genres. This includes new and previously published shorter length stories, essays and journalism between 15,000 to 50,000 words, genre novels and non-fiction between 50,000 to 100,000 words and longer and complex narratives of over 100,000 words. Writers can be based anywhere in the world.

Details: http://momentumbooks. com.au/submissions.

Harlequin romance publishers are looking for new submissions for their Love Inspired Suspense, Heartwarming, Cosmo Red-Hot Reads and more, including digital imprints. Full details and submission information: http://www.harlequin. com Questions is a new online journal seeking submissions from emerging writers who have bravely decided that their voice needs to be heard.

The next issue of Questions will be on the theme of ‘Questioning Truth’.

Ideally, your submission should be loosely based on this theme.

Full details of the magazine and submissions can be found on the website: http://www.questions. com.au/submissions/index.php Three Kookaburras is an independent publishing company seeking manuscripts. It neither pays advances nor requires any money from the authors published. The website includes a monthly blog of writing tips. Author and writing mentor Sydney Smith also answers questions sent to her about writing problems. See their guidelines and sumbission details: http:// threekookaburras.com.

Positive Words Magazine is seeking submissions of short story and poetry ‘fillers’ for upcoming issues of the monthly magazine. Longer pieces are also always welcome but shorter, and no less important, pieces are perfect for filling spaces. Hard copy submissions only, with SSAE or email address for response to the Editor, Sandra James, PO Box 798, Heathcote 3523, Victoria. More information: http:// positivewordsmagazine.wordpress. com/information.

HarperCollins’ Unsolicited Submissions Portal The Wednesday Post HarperCollinsPublishers ANZ has an online unsolicited submission program, The Wednesday Post.

Their goal is to uncover, develop and promote the most outstanding voices writing today. The new portal can be accessed at www. wednesdaypost.com.au and will also link from the HarperCollins homepage. Submissions are accepted every week on Wednesday only. Aspiring authors will be asked to present synopses of their work and the first 50 pages of a manuscript. HarperCollins are looking for writers at every stage of their career, from closet scribes to those who have a history of publication. Adult and YA books are the focus for this initiative, and they will be accepting manuscripts in both fiction and non fiction genres, particularly exceptional contemporary women’s fiction.

The Wednesday Post will respond to authors within three weeks. All submissions will be considered for print and e-book publication as well as digital-only publication. http://www.wednesdaypost.com.au Red Room Poetry Object is a free national poetry-writing competition for Australian students in Years 3-10.

Created by The Red Room Company and supported by ABC Radio

northerly magazine | september - october 2014 - 23

• Competitions • National, the project invites young writers and their teachers to submit poems about objects that are special to them. In 2013 Red Room Poetry Object linked over 70 school communities and published 1,200 student and teacher poems. Register your school at http://redroomcompany.org/poetryobject/register.

Screenwriting for Film: Online comprised of ten modules with two weekly online chat sessions, a variety of assignments and collaborative activities. Another course commences on 13 October.

Full details http://www.aftrs.edu.au/ short-courses/screenwriting_for_ film_online/w519.Commences 26 August.

Creative Immersion with PD Martin. Internationally acclaimed author Phillipa (PD) Martin offers an intensive masterclasses held in the creatively inspiring environment of Melbourne’s Abbotsford Convent, including full catering. Full details of course and booking information http://www.pdmartin.com.au/menu. aspx?mID=59. 1-5 September.

How Writers Write Fiction: A Free Online Course from the University of Iowa’s International Writing Program - Interested word lovers can participate in the program’s latest MOOC (massive open online course) – How Writers Write Fiction: Talks on Craft and Commitment. The course will run until 8 November and intends to be an interactive study of the practice of creating writing. The course is free and open to all and there are no limits on enrolment numbers. To participate, sign up via the Writing University site. http://www.aerogrammestudio. com/2014/07/07/how-writers-writefiction. Commences 27 September.

ABR Ian Potter Foundation Fellowship - To apply for the fellowship, worth $5,000, writers must send a proposal for a cogent piece of journalism on any subject.

Any Australian writer with a publication record (books, creative writing, essays, or journalism) is eligible to apply. The Fellow’s article will appear in the print magazine and ABR Online. Full details and application at https:// www.australianbookreview.com.au/ programs/abr-patrons-fellowship.

Closes 30 September.

2015 Asialink Arts Residencies -This round of applications is for arts residencies undertaken between 1 March and 31 December 2015. Applicants to Asialink’s Arts Residency Program for 2015 can select from one of the following models of residency: Residency with an Asialink Host Partner, Reciprocal Residency, A new model of residency from the Residency

Laboratory or Self-Initiated Residency. Full details http://asialink. unimelb.edu.au/arts/residency_ program/2015_asialink_arts_ residency_program_application_ information. Closes 30 September.

Your Final Words Exhibition As part of the annual Day of the Dead event on Sunday 9 November 2014, our local Natural Death Care Centre invites you to contribute to the Your Final Words exhibition. We invite you to express in your own words what you would like to pass on to your loved ones, what you have learnt through living your life; the wisdom, regrets and joys, not only for this exhibition but for you to keep and to be read at your own funeral.

Your Final Words exhibition will be hung at the Byron Bay Community Centre for the week November 3-8, then at the Crystal Castle café on the Day of the Dead itself.

Entries should be no more than 300 words, along with your name and contact details. They can also be accompanied by an image of personal significance (optional).

Please indicate if you prefer your entry to be displayed anonymously.

Closes: 26 October.

The bones inside the body: giving your story a sound structure.

A writing retreat in Fiji with Cate Kennedy. Spend a week on your writing with expert tutoring in the stunning setting of Daku Resort. Full details http://paradisecourses.com/ the-bones-inside-the-body-givingyour-story-a-sound-structure-withcate-kennedy-25-oct-1-nov-2014.

Runs 25 October - 1 November.

------------------------------------------------The Manchester Fiction Prize 2014 First prize of £10,000 for a short story of up to 2,500 words with any subject and style. Full details and entry forms http://www. manchesterwritingcompetition. co.uk/fiction2014. Closes 29 August.

The Manchester Poetry Prize 2014. First prize of £10,000 for the best portfolio of three to five new poems with any subject and style. Full details and entry forms http://www. manchesterwritingcompetition. co.uk/poetry2014/index.php. Closes 29 August.

The Whitmore Press Manuscript Prize 2014 is now open for submissions. Further details http:// whitmorepress.com/manuscriptprize. Closes 29 August.

21st Annual Scarlet Stiletto Awards: 2014 Women’s Crime and Mystery Short Story Competition.

First prize $1,500 for a short story up to 5,000 words. Multiple categories with minor prizes.

24 - northerly magazine | september - october 2014

More information and entry forms http://www.sistersincrime.org.au/ ScarletStilettoAwards. Closes 31 August.

The Carmel Bird Award 2014 Long Story Competition. Offers a first prize of $500 for a story of 4,000 to 10,000 words on an open theme. Full details http:// shortaustralianstories.com.au/ submissions/the-carmel-bird-award.

Closes 31 August.

The Aesthetica Creative Writing Award. Prizes for a short story up to 2,000 words include publication in the Aesthetica Creative Writing Annual, £500, editorial coverage for a selection of finalists on the Aesthetica Blog and a selection of books. Full details here. Closes 31 August.

The Aesthetica Creative Writing Award. Prizes for a poem up to 40 lines include publication in the Aesthetica Creative Writing Annual, a compelling anthology of new writing loved by audiences internationally; £500 prize money; editorial coverage for a selection of finalists on the Aesthetica Blog and a selection of books.

Entry fee £10. Full details http:// www.aestheticamagazine.com/ creativewriting. Closes 31 August.

Positive Words Mini Competition.

Must contain the word Elvis. Short story of 100 words or poem up to 10 lines. Entry: $1.40 in unused stamps.

Prize: Six months subscription to Positive Words. Post entries to: The Editor, Sandra James, PO Box 798, Heathcote, Victoria, 3523. Closes 31 August.

The Great Aussie Book Prize for an unpublished memoir - a true story centred on Australian family and home. Full details http://www. barnardos.org.au/media-centre/ latest-news/we-can-change-theworld-with-our-words. Closes 31 Aug. FAW Tasmania Poetry Prize - No more than 60 lines. Entry fees: $5 per poem. Prizes: 1st $150; 2nd $50. Post entries to: FAW Tasmania Inc. PO Box 234, North Hobart, Tasmania 7002.

Guidelines from http://fawtas.org. au/competitions. Closes 31 August.

The Motherhood Short Story Competition Write a story ranging from 1,000 to 3,000 words, first narrative, about your relationship with ‘Motherhood’. Full details http://beingfeministblog. wordpress.com/2013/12/25/ motherhoodshortstory. Closes 1 September.

2014 Scribe Nonfiction Prize for Young Writers - presented by Express Media, in partnership with Scribe Publications. Celebrating

Competitions•• ••Competitions longform nonfiction writing of all styles, this prize is a fantastic developmental opportunity for young writers aged under 30. For full details http://www. expressmedia.org.au/opportunities/ the-scribe-nonfiction-prize-foryoung-writers/. Closes 1 September.

KSP Speculative Fiction Awards.

Science fiction, fantasy, horror, mystery and supernatural/superhero fiction from 1,500 to 3,500 words.

Entry fee: $7. One story per author.

Prizes: 1st $600; 2nd $300; 3rd $175.

Entry forms http://kspf.iinet.net. au/compspecfiction.php. Closes 5 September.

The Examiner Literature Awards 2014 are now open for entry - Prize money this year is set at $1100 for short stories on any topic with a limit of 2000 words. Full details and entry http://tilligerry.com. Closes 13 September.

KSP Short Fiction Award. One story per author, 1,000 to 3,000 words. Entry Fee: $7. Prizes: 1st $600; 2nd $300; 3rd $175. Further details http://kspf.iinet.net.au/ compshortfiction.php. Closes 19 September.

The AATE 50 Word Fiction Competition. To help celebrate fifty years of making a difference in English staffrooms and classrooms Australia-wide, Australian Association for the Teaching of English are holding a fifty-word fiction writing competition.

There are three divisions: Junior (years 7/8/9), Senior (years 10/11/12) and Masters (teachers/ preservice teachers/members).

Full details http://www.aate.org. au/tate/2014/05/04/aate-50-wordfiction-competition. Closes 26 September.

The Write Week Short Story & Poetry Competition. Section 1 Open, Prize $150 A short story up to 1500 words, Section 2 Open Poetry, Prize $150 Poetry up to 60 lines. Entry forms available from http://thewriteweek.com. Closes 26 September.

Scribes Writers Literary Competition. Open theme, maximum 1,000 words. Two categories: A. Fictional short story; B. Memoir. Further details http:// www.scribeswriters.com/conditions. html. Closes 30 September.

Win a Book Editing Package.

Give your book the best chance of success with the opportunity to win a Book Editing Package by Proof Edit Me. The editing package includes: Structural Editing, Copy Editing, Proofreading and Publishing Ready. The competition is open to new writers based in Australia. (Fiction and other genres may be eligible - check the website).

Full details http://www.proofeditme. com/editing/win-a-book-editingpackage. Closes 30 September.

Gold Coast Writers Festival Book Proposal Comp. Submit a book proposal for a completed manuscript, or a book you plan to complete this year. Open theme, fiction or non-fiction. First prize is a publishing package by Palmer Higgs valued at $3,650. Second prize: Copy editing up to 100,000 words by MJ Editing, valued at up to $1,000. Further details http://www. goldcoastwritersfestival.com.au/ competitions. Closes 30 September.

Poetica Christie Competition.

Poetry up to 50 lines. Theme: Inner Child. $5 per entry or 3 for $12.

Prizes: 1st $300; 2nd $100. Details http://www.poeticachristi.org. au/competition.html. Closes 30 September.

Positive Words Mini Competition.

Must contain the word Magpie.

Poems up to 10 lines. Entry: $1.40 in unused stamps. Prize: Six months subscription to Positive Words. Post entries to: The Editor, Sandra James, PO Box 798, Heathcote, Victoria, 3523. Closes 30 September.

Writers from around the world are invited to enter the 2015 Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award.

The winner will receive £30,000 (US$50,800), making this the most valuable prize for a single short story in the world. Details here. Closes 26 September.

Boston Review is now accepting entries for A2014 Aura Estrada Short Story Contest. The comp is open to all writers, regardless of citizenship or publication history. The winner of the contest will receive $1500 and have his or her work published in the July/August 2015 issue of Boston Review. Further details http://www.aerogrammestudio. com/2014/07/06/boston-reviewshort-story-contest-2014. Closes 1 October.

Positive Words Mini Competition.

Must contain the word Magpie.

Short story of 100 words or poem up to 10 lines. Entry: $1.40 in unused stamps. Prize: Six months subscription to Positive Words. Post entries to: The Editor, Sandra James, PO Box 798, Heathcote, Victoria, 3523. Closes 30 September.

National One Act Playwriting Competition. Winner of the best play of 30 - 45 mins will receive a publishing contract and $3,000. 2nd prize $2,000; 3rd $1,000. Entry fee: $40. Guidelines and entry forms from http://www.noosaartstheatre. org.au/competitions.aspx. Closes 1 October.

City of Rockingham Short Fiction Awards 1000-4000 words.

Free entry. $2000 in prizes, in 3 categories: Open, Over 50s, Young Writers (10-17). All entries based upon artwork contained within entry form. Full guidelines and entry form http://www.rockingham. wa.gov.au/Community/Art-andculture/Writing-and-literature .

Closes 10 October.

Morrison Mentoring Short Story Competition. Theme of the competition is ‘Glint’ and stories must reflect this, however tangentially. Limit is 3,000 words, but shorter stories are very welcome. For guidelines visit http://morrisonmentoring.com.au/ short-story-competition. Closes 17 October.

Margaret River 2014 Short Story Writing Competition. First prize of $1,500 plus accommodation, tickets and travel contribution to the Margaret River Readers and Writers Festival for a short story up to 3,000 words. Full details and entry forms http://www.margaretriverpress. com/submissions/call-for-entriesannual-margaret-river-short-storycompetition. Closes 18 October.

The Best of Times short story competition #18. For humorous short stories (any theme) up to 2500 words. First prize: $500, second prize: $100. For details http:// spiky_one.tripod.com/comp18.html.

Closes 31 October.

The London Magazine’s prestigious short story competition is returning for its third year. Opening date 1st September. 1st Prize: £500 (and published in a future issue of The London Magazine). Further details http://thelondonmagazine.org/tlmcompetition/the-london-magazinesshort-story-competition-2014.

Closes 31 October.

Odyssey House Victoria 4th Annual Short Story Competition.

Open to writers of all ages and experience, the competition offers $1,000 for a story of up to 1,500 words on the theme ‘Denial’. It will need to make a reference to alcohol and/or drugs. Full details and conditions http://www.odyssey.org. au. Closes 31 October.

Positive Words Magazine Endof-Year Short Story & Poetry Competition 2014. Open theme. Short stories up to 500 words; poems up to 32 lines. For further information about the magazine or competitions http:// positivewordsmagazine.wordpress. com/competitions. Closes 31 October.

northerly magazine | september - october 2014 - 25

WRITERS’ GROUPS

Alstonville Plateau Writers Group Meets 2nd Tuesday of the month. 10am to 12pm. All genres welcome. Contact Christine on 66 288 364 or email gcpioneerina@ hotmail.com Ballina/Byron U3A Creative Writing Meets at 12.00pm every second Wednesday, Fripp Oval Ballina. Contact Jan on 0404 007 586 or janmulchany@bigpond.com Ballina Creative Writers workshops meet 3rd Thursday of month at 10.00am 12.30pm @ Richmond Hill. Focus is on memoir, family history, poetry, personal development and spirituality. Contact janmulcahy@bigpond.com Ph. 0404 007 586 Bangalow Writers Group Meets Thursday at 9:15am at the Bangalow Scout Hall.

Contact Simone on 0407 749 288.

Bellingen Writers Group Meets at Bellingen Golf Club on the 4th Monday of the month at 2:00pm. All welcome. Contact Joanne on 6655 9246 or email jothirsk@ restnet.com.au Casino Writers Group Meets 3rd Thursday of the month 4pm at the Casino Library.

Contact Brian on 02 6628 2636 or email briancostin129@hotmail.com Cloudcatchers For haiku enthusiasts, a ginko (haiku walk) is undertaken according to group agreement. Contact Quendryth on 02 6628 3753 or email quendrythyoung@bigpond.com Coffs Harbour Writers Group Meets 1st and 3rd Thursday of month, 10:30am12pm. Contact Lorraine on 02 6653 3256, email lmproject@bigpond.com or visit www.coffsharbourwriters.com Coffs Harbour Memoir Writers Group Share your memoir writing for critiquing.

Monthly meetings. Contact 0409 824 803 or email costalmermaid@gmail.com Cru3a River Poets Meets every Thursday at 10:30am, venue varies, mainly in Yamba.

Contact Pauline on 02 6645 8715 or email kitesway@westnet.com.au Dangerously Poetic writing circle Meets 2nd Wednesday of month, 2pm-4pm. At the Brunswick Valley Community Centre. Contact on Laura, 6680 1976 or visit www. dangerouslypoetic.com Dorrigo Writers Group Meet every 2nd Wednesday from 10am-2pm. Contact Iris on 6657 5274 or email an_lomall@bigpond.com or contact Nell on 6657 4089.

Dunoon Writers Group Writers on the Block. Meets 2nd Tuesday of month, 6:30pm8pm, at the Dunoon Sports Club. Contact Helga on 02 6620 2994 (W) 0401 405 178 (M) or email heg.j@telstra.com Federal Writers Group Meets 3rd Saturday of month in Federal. Contact Vicki on 02 6684 0093 or email ganden1@gmail.com FAW Port Macquarie–Hastings Regional Meets 1pm on last Saturday of month, Maritime Museum, Port Macquarie. Contact Joie on 02 6584 3520 or email Bessie on befrank@tsn.cc Gold Coast Writers Association Meets 3rd Saturday of month, 1.30pm for a 2.00pm start, at Fradgley Hall, Burleigh Heads Library, Park Avenue, Burleigh Heads, Qld. Contact 0431 443 385 or email info@goldcoast-writers.org.au Kyogle Writers Group Meets 1st Tuesday of the month 10:30am at the Kyogle Bowling Club. Contact Brian 02 6624 2636 or email briancostin129@hotmail.com Memoir Writing Group Meets every month at Sunrise Beach, Byron Bay. Contact Diana on 02 6685 5387 and 0420 282938 or email diana.burstall@gmail.com Ocean Shores Writing Group Meets fortnightly on Tuesdays, 7.00pm. Contact Louise on 0401 567 540 or email louisepm¬ccabe@gmail.com Nambucca Valley Writers Group Meets 4th Saturday of month, 1.30pm, Nambucca.

Contact 02 6568 9648, or nambuccawriters@gmail.com Poets and Writers on the Tweed Meet weekly in the Tweed Heads Library, Tuesdays 1.30pm to 3.00pm. Poets, novelists, playwrights, short story writers all welcome. Fun group meets for discussion, support and constructive criticism. Free membership.

Phone Lorraine 07 55909395 Taree–Manning River Scribblers Meets 2nd Wednesday of month, 9.00am– 11.30am in Taree. Call first to check venue. Contact Bob Winston on 02 6553 2829 or email rrw1939@hotmail.com WordsFlow Writing Group Meets Fridays in school term, 1.00pm–3.30 pm, Pottsville Beach Neighbourhood Centre, 12a Elizabeth St, Pottsville Beach. Contact Cheryl on 0412 455 707 or email jazzsinger@gmail.com visit http://words-flowwriters. blogspot.com 26 - northerly magazine | september - october 2014

NORTHERN RIVERS WRITERS’ CENTRE 2014 MEMBERSHIP DISCOUNTS BOOK WAREHOUSE 107-109 Keen Street Lismore 02 6621 4204 BOOK WAREHOUSE 26 Harbour Drive Coffs Harbour 02 6651 9077 BOOK WAREHOUSE Shop 6 Ballina Fair Ballina 02 6686 0917 BOOK WAREHOUSE 70 Prince Street Grafton 02 6642 6355 BOOK WAREHOUSE Settlement City Port Macquarie 02 6584 9788 BOOK WAREHOUSE Yamba Fair, Treelands Drive Yamba 02 6646 8662 BYRON BAY LONGBOARDS 1/89 Jonson Street Byron Bay 02 6685 5244 CLIX COMPUTER CENTRE 3/3 Marvel Street Byron Bay 02 6680 9166 COLLINS BOOK SELLERS Unit 3. 9 Lawson Street Byron Bay 02 6685 7820 CO-OP BOOKSHOP Southern Cross University Lismore 02 6621 4484 CO-OP BOOKSHOP Coffs Harbour Education Campus, Hogbin Drive Coffs Harbour 02 6659 3225 DOLPHIN OFFICE CHOICE www.officechoice.com.au Cnr Fletcher & Marvel Streets Byron Bay 02 6685 7097 DRAGONWICK PUBLISHING www.dragonwick.com 02 6624 1933 EARTH CAR RENTALS 18 Fletcher Street Byron Bay 02 6685 7472 EBOOKS NEED EDITORS www.ebooksneededitors.com 15% discount to NRWC members Call 02 6689 5897 for further details HUMBLE PIES Pacific Highway Billinudgel 02 6680 1082 KEEN STREET COMMUNICATIONS www.keenstreet.com.au 50 Bulmers Rd Hogarth Range 02 6664 7361 MARY RYAN’S BOOKSTORE Shop 5, 21 -25 Fletcher Street Byron Bay 02 6685 8183 NORPA www.norpa.org.au PO Box 225 Lismore 02 6621 5600 PAGES BOOKSHOP Park Beach Plaza Coffs Harbour 02 6652 2588 THE BOOKSHOP MULLUMBIMBY 39 Burringbar Street Mullumbimby 02 6684 1413 THERE’S ALWAYS MORE HAIRDRESSING Shop 5, 14 Middleton Byron Bay 02 6680 7922

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Please send with your payment to: Northern Rivers Writers’ Centre, PO Box 1846 Byron Bay NSW 2481 or call us on 02 6685 5115 or apply and pay online at www.nrwc.org.au northerly magazine | september - october 2014 - 27