FEBRUARY

2015 The KSP News

E s t a b l i s h e d 1 9 8 5

Upcoming Events

Laurie Steed

Emerging Writer-in-Residence February-March 2015 http://lauriesteed.com/

Laurie Steed is an author of award-

winning literary fiction from Perth,

Western Australia. His stories have

appeared on BBC Radio 4 and in Best

Australian Stories, Award Winning

Australian Writing, The Age, Meanjin,

Westerly, Island, The Sleepers Almanac

and elsewhere. He won the 2012 Patricia

Hackett Prize for Fiction and is the

recipient of fellowships and residencies

from Rosebank, Varuna, The University of

Iowa and The Fellowship of Writers (WA). In April 2014, he

became the first Australian writer to be granted fellowship

in the history of the Sozopol Fiction Seminars. He is

currently working on his debut novel, You Belong Here.

Laurie’s Events (advance bookings essential)

Short Story Master Class

Tuesday 24 February 2015, 6.30-9.30pm with light refreshments

$30 members, $45 non-members

Literary Dinner Tuesday 3 March 2015, 7-9.30pm $25 members, $30 non-members

Mentorship (KSP-members only)

Send a brief EOI and sample of work to KSP One selected person will receives a free one-hour

mentorship session with Laurie.

Happy

Valentine’s

Day

from KSP

Booking in advance is essential for all workshops and events.

Please see the KSP website for payment details.

9294 1872 / kspf@iinet.net.au

If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day so I never have to live without you. A. A. Milne

Romance Workshop with best-selling author Rachael Johns

Sunday 15 February

1-4pm with tea break

$30 members

$45 non-members

Followed by…

FREE anthology launch with the KSP Romance Writers Group, 5-6.30pm

The ‘Incredibly Rambling Elimy’ visits KSP

by Emily Paull, KSP Young Writer in Residence 2014

As a Young Writer in Residence at the Katharine Susannah Prichard Centre, I was given the opportunity to step onto hallowed ground, and follow in the footsteps of not only Katharine herself, but of writers like Alice Pung, Tracy Farr, Paddy O’Reilly and Annabel Smith. The community that the centre attracts was warm, welcoming and inspiring. I felt safe and happy in my self-contained cabin, and so I wrote until I could write no more. In just over a week, I had written 40 000 words towards my latest draft, a personal best for me, and what was better was that while I wasn’t one hundred percent happy with every single one of them, I was happy with the direction the story was taking as a whole. I now stand to finish Between the Sleepers by January of 2015, and it is my intention to begin sending it out next year, with the hopes that someone might like to publish it. Thanks to the confidence I gained at KSP, this seems more like an eventuality and less like a pipe dream.

I must thank my fellow Young Writers in Residence, Sophie Overett and Stephen Lehane Smith. Thank you both for keeping me from going crazy from isolation, and for inspiring me to push my writing further. I learned a lot from both of you, whether it be to just keep sending my stories out, or to apply for everything I can, and I hope you both know that I am incredibly impressed by both the excerpts read at the Katharine’s Birthday ceremony. There is no doubt in my mind that I will be buying your books in the near future. I still feel that it was a great privilege to have been chosen to participate at the same time as you both.

To anyone thinking of applying for a residency, I would urge you to do it. It’s a brilliant opportunity to escape from the hum-drum world of full time jobs and housework, and let writing and your craft be the number one priority in your life. Relax, let your interests take over, and you will reap the rewards of a truly artistic life. Enjoy all the benefits that this historic centre has to offer, and let Katharine’s spirit inspire you.

Thank you to all who welcomed me to Katharine’s Place; I look forward to having a lot more to do with the Centre in the future.

Visit Emily’s blog: The Incredibly Rambling Elimy

http://www.emilypaull.com/

Page 2 THE KSP NEWS

COMPETITIONS,

EVENTS &

OPPORTUNITIES

Grouch Online Magazine is

currently seeking submissions

of poetry and creative writing.

Details here

Online Poetry Feedback with

Jackson 0406624578. Details

here

Online Poetry Magazine

Uneven Floor currently

seeking submissions. Details

here

Highlight Publishing

currently open for submission

of manuscripts. Details here

Summer Supper Club spoken

word monthly performances,

Details here

Creatrix Poetry and Haiku

Journal now accepting

submissions Next deadline

10th Feb 2015 Details here

The Writer’s Passage Shor t

Course with Horst Kornberger

will explore one major myth

every term. The aim will be to

create a sustained body of

work that takes its inspiration

form a major myth and re-

interprets the themes in new

and original ways. From

February 2015 at FAWWA and

Perth Waldorf School,

bookings now open,

concessions available Visit

www.thewritingconnection.com.au for

details.

Page 3

COMPETITIONS,

EVENTS &

OPPORTUNITIES

Josephine Ulrick Literature

and Poetry Prizes

$10,000 first prize, closes Fri

13 February. Details here.

Neil Gunn poetry and short

story competitions UK

£100-£1000 first prize, closes 2

March. Details here.

My Child Parenting Express

short story competition

$1,000 first prize, closes Tues

31 March. Details here

Henry Lawson Society poetry

and short story competitions

$250-$1000 first prizes, closes

Tues 31 March. Details here.

UBUD Writers & Readers

Festival Oct-Nov 2015 details

MEMBER

CONGRATS!

Carolyn Wren for being

a finalist in the 2015

EPIC e-book awards.

Former Young Writer-in-

residence Eliza-Jane

Henry-

Jones for

the release

of her

debut

book

cover.

An ‘Owlish Girl’ visits KSP by Sophie Overett, KSP Young Writer in Residence 2014

As my flight touched down in Perth, a monster five and a half hours since it departed Brisbane, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I’d never participated in a writing residency before, and certainly not one this far from home. I’d watched Brisbane’s lolling tropics roll green then gold then musk stick pink below the plane and then finally to metropolitan Perth, Mars red and with the warm air that maybe felt not as far from home as I was.

After being selected as a Young Writer in Residence by the Board of the Katharine Susannah Prichard Writers’ Centre, I’d spent the last few months completing a first draft of my manuscript to bring along with me. I had the lofty goal of rewriting the thing over the ten day residency but of course to have something to rewrite I would need to have something written. Having put together a haphazard final few chapters, I arrived at the centre with an anxiety scrambling at my bones and a three hundred page manuscript in serious need of attention.

I had nothing to worry about. Not only was Katharine’s Place a beautiful and thrilling place to work, but I was surrounded by support from the kind and steadfast Shannon Coyle to the effervescent Tabetha Beggs, to the supremely talented other residents, Emily Paull and Stephen Lehane Smith.

Those ten days were some of the most productive and creative of my young career, and I stumbled back in love with a story I’d been nervous about bringing along. It was like getting back together with an old boyfriend while on a thrill-seeking holiday, skydiving from some great height into one another and relying on the support of the amazing people around you to roll out the canvas to catch you.

My story was always an odd ball. A literary novel with a dollop of magical realism in the vein of novels like Isabel Allende’s The House of the Spirits and Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief. Invisible children and painters in love. Heady, heavy loss and desperate, clawing discoveries. Luckily the magic of Western Australia and of Katharine Susannah Prichard’s Writers’ Centre proved just the cocktail for me. I wrote over 20,000 new words at the centre, even more in intensive restructuring and reframing, something that would have been near impossible without the support of the centre.

The Katharine Susannah Prichard Writers Centre residencies are an invaluable part of Western Australia’s literary culture landscape and the national writing scene. Being able to put this young writers residency on my resume is not only something I am very proud of, but something that has proven incredibly valuable to my development as an emerging Australian writer. While I have not typically written about Western Australia in the past being a tried and true Queenslander, I really felt the power of the place while I was there. The environment, the people and the community is an ecosystem all of its own. One that’s flourishing in diverse voices and mediums, and compelling stories are as gloriously common as you’d hope in such an environment. I heard so many stories being lucky enough to attend some of the vibrant writer’s groups and hear many winning-stories at Katharine’s birthday celebrations.

I’ve really felt the power of the Western Australia writing scene, and I’m thrilled to be able to take some of that home with me now and to incorporate it into my creative knowledge for future professional and creative practice. There are not enough thanks in the world for the support and experience I was given.

But thank you.

Visit Sophie’s blog ‘Sophie Overett: an owlish girl’

http://www.sophieoverett.com/

Member

Renewals

winner

Natalina Cherubino

Natalina has won a voucher

for a standard $30 KSP

workshop funded by DCA.

Congratulations

Natalina!!!

KSP bids a sad farewell to our Immediate Past Chairperson, Renee Hammond, and acknowledges her truly amazing efforts and contributions over the past four years:

Modern update of logo … upgrade of website ... introduction of the highly popular Author’s Short Course … paving of front driveway … donation of time and money to feed hundreds of appreciative people at KSP’s Literary Dinners … providing cake to our monthly maintenance prisoner team … donating many small items to the Centre such as the suggestion box, glass bowl, baking dishes and much more … donating her time and effort to be an EXCELLENT emcee at all public events and EXCELLENT Chair at all meetings … introduction of the accountability table in Board minutes which has increased productivity ... hosting Writers-in-Residence and often taking them out for dinner while here … personal promotional efforts to benefit KSP and its Writers-in-Residence … making the Volunteer’s Thank-You celebration a separate and more special event …. spearheading two new writing groups, Romance and NaNoWriMo … volunteering her services as the Youth group writing tutor … roping in her four beautiful children to help with administrative and events preparation work ... introduction of the Sponsor’s Choice Writer-in-Residence scheme … typesetting of various KSP anthologies … bringing in the debut Pitching Panel for this year … bringing the magnificent Rachael Bermingham to KSP … introducing KSP showbags and organising x100 individually ribboned inspiration scrolls … … I could go on ………………… and hours and hours of time spent finding solutions to problems, brain-storming innovative ideas, and putting energy into KSP, which has helped make it a wonderful place for members today.

Thank you Renee for everything you have done, and for being a good friend to all on the Board and in the Office. We will miss you but wish you well on your writing journey!

***

KSP also farewells Board member and former KSP Secretary, Andrew Levett. We extend heartfelt thanks for his fantastic efforts over the past two years, and wish him all the best in finishing his PhD.

***

Now, a few lovely WELCOMES! KSP’s new Chairperson is Tabetha Beggs.

Tabetha’s marketing career spans over 20 years. She has worked for (among others) the Royal Society of Arts (UK), Goldfields Tourism Association and for the past 10 years, the City of Perth. She has a long association with the arts industry as a performer, writer, and producer. Tabetha joined KSP in March 2014 to pursue her lifelong ambition to write a novel and became a board member shortly after. She is honoured to take over the Chair(wo)manship and looks forward to continuing the great work of past chairperson, Renee Hammond. Tabetha comes from a long line of storytellers and storymakers. She lives locally with her husband and two young children.

Tabetha is passionate about developing a respected facility with four strong goals in mind:

1. To celebrates the history of KSP;

2. To nurture the current members and programs;

3. To focus on the long term vision of developing a sustainable centre for the future writers of WA; and

4. To keep the memory of Katharine alive.

***

Members, allow me to also introduce FERN PENDRAGON, our new Landscape Committee Coordinator, and the magpies who Fern has allured back to KSP by filling and maintaining the front courtyard birdbath. You will start to notice some fantastic improvements to the garden—and we will keep you up to date in the newsletter as to what new lovely or interesting garden item you must see when you are here!

CALL FOR AUTHORS: AVON WRITERS FESTIVAL.

We are inviting local writers interested in participating in either

delivering a workshop

giving a live reading, or

participating in a panel discussion.

Authors are invited to consider providing a workshop/s in their chosen field during the two day festival and also whether they wish to avail themselves of the opportunity to hold signing and sales of their books. The event will be held over a weekend yet to be determined towards the latter part of the year with events at both Toodyay and Northam Library. Please contact Hayley Ayers-Findlay, Program Development Officer for Library services at Northam Shire at pdolib@northam.wa.gov.au.

FREE AUTHOR TALK Linda J Bettenay @ Mundaring Library

Monday 16 February 2015

5.30-6.30pm, Nichol Street

‘Wishes for Starlight’ tells a story of injustice for Aboriginal people living in Australia in the 1900s through the fictional tale of a boy called Starlight. RSVP to 9290 6780

KSP commemorates the Centenary of World War I Pre-order KSP’s Anzac Centenary book Blackboy Hill is Calling by downloading the order form the KSP website or picking a hard-copy up from the Centre. Blackboy Hill is Calling is the never-before recorded social history of Western Australia’s most significant World War I training camp. We join former Blackboy Hill soldiers on their journey preparing for the Great War, with humorous and touching stories of marching, firearms training, camp folklore and sufferance through countless bowls of dreary stew. New research suggests that Blackboy Hill camp training was integral in creating the ‘spirit of mateship’ now synonymous with the legend of the Anzac. Blackboy Hill is Calling is suitable for all ages, and includes optional Teacher’s Notes for educators. Book release date: Late March/Early April 2015. Cost: $15 posted or $10 pick-up. Sign up to the Blackboy Hill Project blog for free updates on this important Anzac Centenary book written and

compiled by KSP-members. To be released March/April 2015. Funded by LotteryWest. http://blackboyhill.blogspot.comau/

Limited print run at this price: certain to sell out quickly! Be sure to secure your copy early.

Page 6

On with the Motley KSP Non-Fiction Group 2014 Round-Up by Julie Livingstone

At Christmas, and the end of the calendar year, there is a tendency in most people to take stock. To consider the happenings of the past year, and make plans for the future. For this meeting, and because of a complete lack of other inspiration, I decided to peruse the pages of writings that the group has produced in the past year, and, like Jack Horner, find a few plums.

The subjects of our writings were many and varied. We wrote about our travels, Maureen’s traumatic experience smuggling drugs (actually calcium tablets) into Thailand, Steve’s adventures sailing on the tall ship Leeuwin II. Anybody who wasn’t feeling a little queasy after reading Steve’s dramatic descriptions of the voyage must have had a strong stomach.

Jo’s trip to Paris, where she has sworn to return, and Pat’s adventures in Spain added further foreign flavour. Dot told us about her adventures in Africa and melded the topic into her writing on refugees. Her personal knowledge and friendship with two refugees brought verisimilitude (one of Glad’s favourite words) to her writing.

Childhoods and family memories featured too, I reminisced about days on an English beach, and riding my bicycle as a substitute for a pony. Wence managed to combine travel and childhood, with stories of his family’s escape from occupied Czechoslovakia, and their new lives first in England and then in Australia. Stella wrote about memories of her school, likening the school hall to a womb, nurturing the girls to womanhood.

We wrote about our homes. Stella’s affection for her characterful old home was counterpoint to Linda’s love-hate relationship with her garden. Ian’s pride and pleasure in his garden shone through his writing, much as his anguish was evident when he wrote about his experiences in Japan at the end of the second war.

Sharing her home with a succession of foreign students gave Peg material for several lovely vignettes. We held our collective breath with her as Jeanette jumped out of an aeroplane, and Thomas and Sutrisno wandered the streets of Perth at night.

Gil also delved into his past, and trusted us enough to share with us the reasons for his breakdown, and his journey to where he is today. Since publishing his book his writing has branched out into other areas, and he wrote a particularly inspiring piece when the topic was refugees.

Probably our most recent migrant from overseas, Marg gave us an insight into what it is like to be a twin, perhaps we gave her some ideas as to what it is like not to be a twin. Her work also inspired some discussions about the differences in language between Australia and Canada, and could we tell the difference between American and Canadian!

We ventured into the world of the unreal – a questionable activity for a group of non-fiction writers perhaps. Jo introduced us to the ghosts in an old house, and Linda explored the realm where truth and fantasy meet, with stories involving dogs, bogmen and surgery of various kinds.

Murphy intervened here and there, but mostly we managed to keep him in his place, even when we were writing about his Law. He did give rise to some amusing stories.

Browsing through our many and varied writings, the expression ‘motley crew’ sprang into my mind. As usual, I wondered where it came from, and turned to the fount of all knowledge, the Internet. Apparently the phrase is 13 th century English, and originally meant ‘composed of elements of a diverse and varied character’. I couldn’t have put it better myself! It seems to have originated from a court jester’s costume, which was usually made of different colours, and another expression ‘on with the motley’ meant to put on costume, or to begin a performance. Another apt phrase for a group of writers. A court jester was generally allowed to say whatever he liked, whether or not it was critical of the monarch, under the guise of comedy, so it is fitting that we all write on the subjects we feel strongly about, even if sometimes we wrap them up with verbal frills and flounces.

Our motley crew, diverse and varied as it is, relies on Glad to keep it together and steer us in vaguely the right direction. This year Glad has written several pieces on Aboriginal history and on her own personal family history, both of which must have involved considerable research. Because of her position we often don’t get to critique these at the meetings, she leaves herself until last and we run out of time, but we enjoy reading them just the same.

And in the end, that is really what it’s all about. Some of us have been published this year, some are working towards it, others write just for pleasure. But for all of us, the year has been productive, and it’s valuable to remember that as we go forward to 2015. Have a very merry Christmas, and a safe and Happy New Year!

Competitions Secretary Jemimah Halbert

Blackboy Hill Project

Valerie Everett

Public Fund Chairperson KSP Treasurer KSP Clive Aldridge Denis McLeod Christopher Oakeley

Literary Advisory Board Dr Glen Phillips David Caddy Prof. Brian Dibble Kathleen Dzubiel Mardi May Dr Melissa O’Shea Dr Amanda Curtin Juliet Marillier

Board of Management Chairperson Tabetha Beggs Secretary Shannon Kayne Treasurer Robert Perks Committee Tabetha Beggs

Mardi May Valerie Everett Margot Lowe

Coordinator/Newsletter Editor Shannon Kayne

Patron Dr Glen Phillips

KATHARINE SUSANNAH

PRICHARD WRITERS’ CENTRE

Regular Writing Groups

Open for Everyone to Join (Per class: $5 members/$10 nonmembers)

Poetry Writing Group (Poets@KSP) 2nd, 4th Mondays 1.00-3.00pm

Writers’ Circle Tuesdays 10.00-12.00pm

Writefree Women’s Writing Group Wednesdays 9.45-11.45am

Young Writers’ Group (8-16s) Mondays during school term 4.00-6.00pm

Home Schoolers Group (9-16s) Thursdays during school term 10.00-11.30am

Thursday Night Group Thursdays 7.30-9.30pm

Romance Writers Group Fridays 9.30-11.30am

Marathon Writers Group Fridays 12.00-4.00pm

Non-Fiction Writers Monthly 1st Saturday 10.00-12.00pm

Past Tense (Social History) Monthly 2nd Saturday 10.00-12.00pm

Speculative Fiction/Fantasy Monthly 2nd Sunday 10.00-12.00pm

Avon Valley Writers Group Wednesdays 10.00am & Thursdays 7.00pm

NaNoWriMo Support Group Mondays during October and November only,

9.00am - 12.00pm

Katharine’s Place

11 Old York Road

Greenmount

WA 6056

AUSTRALIA

Phone: (08) 9294 1872

Fax: (08) 9294 1872

Email: kspf@iinet.net.au

Web: kspf.iinet.net.au

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