Us Mob Writers (UMW) recently participated in Canberra’s first ever experimental writing festival, Noted held from 20-22 March. UMW held a workshop session on Sunday 22 March in the Mabo Room at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS).

The workshop – Where the Deadly Words Are: Us Mob, began with an ochre ceremony by Kerry Reed-Gilbert. UMW members also participating included: Lisa Fuller, Michelle Bedford, Samia Goudie, Jeanine Leane, Marissa McDowell, Joyce Graham and Samantha Faulkner.

About 50 people attended and participated in writing exercises, sharing their poetry and listening to readings from By Close of Business by UMW.

Thanks go to Russell Taylor, Principal of AIATSIS for providing the venue and Rita Metzenrath for her assistance with the workshop.

Dr Jeanine Leane also spoke during Noted Festival on Indigenous Literature Today.

Jim Everett and Kim Scott were guests at the Vancouver Arts Centre, Albany, Western Australia last month. Here is Jim’s round-up of their very busy and wonderfully engaging time.

Sunday 22nd February – 5.30 pm to 7 pm

Kim and Jim interviewed by local author Sarah Drummond at the Vancouver Arts Centre, Albany. This was an interesting interview where Kim’s background differed from Jim’s, and the discussions covered writing to politics, to family history and Country. Questions were taken and the ensuing discussions could have gone on for some time if not for the time limit for others to take the room.

Monday 23rd February

Kim and Jim held a 2 hour workshop with students from 4 schools – 19 participating students and their 4 teachers/carers. Kim has a teacher’s experience and led the workshops, which worked very well. The students were very attentive and showed great interest. We all enjoyed this first day of short story writing, and sharing stories written by students.

Tuesday 24th February

2 hour workshop – Kim led the workshops again, with Jim taking a role with writing exercises. The students came with some ‘homework’ for the workshop exercises of the day. Included music and song writing as a means of introducing a form of creative writing. Other writing exercises were undertaken on poetry, and discussions on ‘why write’, and ‘finding ways’ to write, ‘triggers’, and family characters etc.

The students were well pleased with the workshops, and said they wanted more, and longer workshops set on Country, and camps. I can say that we all enjoyed the experience of writing in a workshop, and that the whole event was well worth doing.

There was also a bit of a write up in the local press:

Jim Everett-puralia meenamatta

Cathy Craigie with Tim Tingle, a Choctaw writer at the US National Book Festival.

In late August last year, the Executive Director, Cathy Craigie and FNAWN’s Tony Duke did a 10 day road trip in the USA. Here is Cathy’s Report:

FNAWN had previously identified the USA as a key market and we were keen to pursue opportunities to promote our writers. We met with publishers, festivals, writing centres and other literary organisations and met with much enthusiasm and interest. We met so many interesting people on the trip but for me there were a couple of highlights.

We visited Poets House at Battery Point, a magnificent centre right on the water and funded entirely from philanthropic and private funding. We wondered what could be achieved at home with the same kind of philanthropic support. We also attended the US National Book Festival in Washington. The sheer size and scale of this one day event is hard to image back in Australia. With over 200,000 people attending, I was overwhelmed by the number of families who came and the interest in encouraging kids to read.

FNAWN are now working on getting our writers exposure in the USA and will be following up on the contacts we made in the USA. We are hoping to facilitate a program beginning in 2015 so keep an eye out for news on our US projects.

Last month, Dr Anita Heiss with ARIA award-winning performer, composer and didgeridoo player William Barton joined the Sydney Symphony Orchestra to perform Peter Sculthorpe’s Beethoven Variations and Barton’s Birdsong at Dusk. These performances were highlighted with poetry and prose readings by Anita.

Anita performed Shake by Romaine Moreton, Unity by the late Kevin Gilbert, Sydney Real Estate for Sale by Brenda Saunders, and A New Day Dawning by Richard Frankland.

Anita says

I felt very blessed by the experience and was honoured to share the stage with Uncle Max Eulo, William Barton, Mayrah Sonter and conductor Johannes Fritzsch.

Every time a story by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is told, the story itself and the act of telling that story is a very real confirmation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities that our culture is alive and strong and continuing to survive.

Moogahlin Perfoming Arts with presenting partner Carriageworks, is delighted to announce the launch of Yellamundie: National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Playwriting Festival 2015.

Yellamundie [a Dharug word meaning storyteller] is a celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts and culture and is an initiative of the National Indigenous Theatre Forum held in Cairns, Queensland in 2010.

The central aim of the Yellamundie Festival is to discover, develop and promote new Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander playwriting that displays potential for further creative development and/or production. Yellamundie provides both emerging and established playwrights with a meeting place to have their work developed within a supportive and nurturing artistic and cultural context, showcasing their skill and talent and gaining access and connection to Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal theatre industry networks.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander playwrights from across Australia, will have the opportunity to submit new work, with a final six scripts chosen for creative development, with a director, dramaturge and actors.

Each script will also receive a public reading to an audience of community, general public and invited industry.

Yellamundie 2015 will run from Monday 27th July to Saturday 8th August 2015.

Applications open on Wednesday 3rd December and application and guidelines forms will be available to download from the Moogahlin website (www.mooghalin.com).

Applications close on Wednesday 4th February 2015 and successful applicants will be notified by Friday 6th March 2015.

For further information please contact festival artistic director Frederick Copperwaite at either yellamundie@moogahlin.com or 0422 049 333.

Click to download the following documents:

• Yellamundie guidelines 2
• Yellamundie 2015 Application Form

Tony Birch. Photo Credit: Joseph Lafferty

Dr Tony Birch, the Miles Franklin nominated writer, delivered the keynote 2014 Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation (ANTaR) ACT David Hunter Memorial Lecture in Canberra on Thursday 20 November.  The theme was Reconciliation and Identity and Tony spoke of his writing and research into the life of Bessie Rawlings, the mother of William Reginald Rawlings, who was awarded the Military Medal for bravery during World War I.  Bessie wrote a number of letters to relevant Ministers for 40 years on her and her family and communities rights, but she was not unique in this regard.  Tony said,

“Aboriginal women are the face of the struggle.  We need to speak their names and lift them up.  These women are heroes.”

Tony’s keynote was followed by local poets Michelle Bedford, Joyce Graham and Samantha Faulkner members of Us Mob Writing, who read poems from By Close of Business, a collection of poetry and prose.  It was a great turn out supported by the Canberra community and followed by some interesting discussions on a lovely spring evening.

Joyce Graham, Samantha Faulkner, Michelle Bedford Photo Credit: Joseph Lafferty

There are few more passionate about showcasing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander excellence than author Dr Anita Heiss.

Last week I was lucky enough to be in Sydney and headed down the Rocks Boatshed at Circular Quay to see Anita yarn with Torres Strait Islander author Sam Faulker. One of a series of yarns that week with ‘celebrities’, this session gave Sam an opportunity to talk about some of the issues involved in creating memoir and biography with family members. She noted importantly, that it’s possible to argue the book had many authors, and is a story that belongs not just to her or the subject, her Grandfather, but to who whole family.

Other sessions during that week included yarns with Dub Leffler, Larisssa Behrendt, Michael O’Loughlin, Terri Janke, and Wesley Enoch.

Ever the energetic blogger, Anita has written up her questions with a few of her guests. Read more here:

• Larissa Behrendt
• Terri Janke
• Dub Leffer

FNAWN would like to congratulate member Alexis West on the successful June run of her play Echoes …. of Knowing Home at Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute.
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Members of the Us Mob Writing Group with Bruce Pascoe

A message from Bruce.

An amazingly diverse group of First Nations writers assembled for a writing workshop at AIATSIS, Canberra for three days in June.

The writers had a diversity of experience which was matched by their interests which ranged across: the musical history of Aboriginal protest songs, poetry, children’s fiction, speculative fiction, women’s studies, autobiography, drama and history.

Participants took part in workshopped writing, editing and book length plots and characterisation.

The writing standard of those involved was of a very high standard and I hope that all women will launch into their major projects as outlined at the workshop. The time has to come when the planning stops and the production begins.