Sydney Writers' Centre blog

Ubud Writers and Readers Festival dates announced

“The Festival has hopped into the Year of the Rabbit and there’s a spring in our step and a heightened enthusiasm about this year’s program. Our audiences came in record numbers last October and the interest at this early stage is intense." - Janet de Neefe, Festival Founder and Director

The Ubud Writers and Readers Festival for 2011 will be held from the 5th until the 9th of October this year.

A stellar lineup of more than eighty writers representing the gamut of genres and nationalities will converge on Ubud, in a lavish celebration of literature.Readings, panels, workshops, lunches, debates and performances are all on the very busy program.  Held in beautiful Ubud, complete with cafes, temples and a culture all it's own, the Festival will cultivate the glory of the written word, over four magical, unforgettable days.

Participants and program details are tightly guarded at present, but bookmark www.ubudwritersfestival.com for all updates and ticket details.

Performance poet Tug Dumbly performing at Live Poets@Don Bank

If you live in Sydney, love poetry or have been keen to check out performance poetry for a while, why not head to Don Bank on Wedneday evening the 23rd of February to see Australia's most popular Performance Poet TUG DUMBLY present his satirical monologue?

Tug is also known internationally having appeared at venues and festivals in New York, Montreal, London and Edinburgh. Locally Tug has presented The Tug Report for ABC Radio, had 2 ABC CDs released: Junk Culture Lullabies and Idiom Savant, has twice won the Banjo Paterson Prize for comic verse, won the Nimbin World Performance Poetry Cup in 2010 and the Spirit of Woodford storytelling comp 2010/11.
 
Tug will be interviewed about his work on stage and in schools before his performance.
 
There will also be the usual Open Section where anyone is welcome to recite, sing, tell a story or play an instrument.

Details:

Wednesday, February 23rd - Doors open 7.30 pm. $7 entry includes supper and drinks.

Live Poets @ Don Bank
6 Napier St North Sydney

Further info: Danny (02) 9896 6956 Mobile 0422 263 373
or at dannylivepoets@yahoo.com.au

What's new at the Sydney Writers' Centre

2010 was a huge year for us, and 2011 is set to be even bigger. So much so that we've decided to do regular video updates to keep everyone informed about the new opportunities to hone your writing skills, jump right into the Australian writing community and win stuff!

 

If you've got ideas about what you would like to see at the centre, give us a call on (02) 9929 0088 or email us at courses [at] spindriftmedia.com.au

We've launched our February Facebook Photo Competition!

As many of you know, we ran a Facebook Photo competition in January. You can read more about the competition and the winner of the $100 voucher here.The Facebook Photo competition for this month has been uploaded to Facebook, so if you haven't "liked" us yet head over straight away and get involved. 

The competition:

Writing can be a lonely activity. Less so when you know that there are hundreds of other writers hunkered over a laptop or notebook somewhere battling with words too.  Post a photo of where you write and your favourite writing tip (maximum 100 words) to our Facebook Page, or email your entry to courses [at] spindriftmedia.com.au. The best entry as voted by the Sydney Writers’ Centre team wins a $100 voucher towards a Sydney Writers’ Centre online or face-to-face 5-week course or one-day business seminar. Competition closes at 5pm on the 25th of February, 2011.

We're looking forward to seeing where our members of our community get their writing done, and all the tips they'll share.

Some reflections and resources on the ebook movement

Barely a month goes by without a major publication publishes a story, or a blog post goes viral on the topic of the future of hard-copy books. Are our paper copy, bound and bought at the store books about to become extinct, in the face of the burgeoning ebook industry? If so, what's next for the world of writing and stories?

In Sydney this weekend, the Good Weekend ran just such a story by Nikki Barrowclough titled Can the book survive? The story details several ebook success stories, trials 4 different e-reading devices, and explores issues such as ebook purchasing patterns, independent reading stores access to ebook selling in the face of Amazon dominance, and the impact that millions of easily accessible books will have on readers.

We were excited to see an idea we've been discussing for a few years with the team, tutors and students at the Sydney Writers' Centre. The Good Weekend reported that "Authors who are able to create online profiles, who are prepared to blog, to tweet and who are basically able to connect with their readers will [have an advantage] over those who aren't." We've moved from discussing, to offering a one-evening seminar to make your story accesible as an ebook, and we're running the first one in April.

The ebook discussion, and outcomes will impact more then just readers. The Good Weekend quotes Sophie Hamley, the senior literary agent at Sydney's Cameron Creswell agency and former Senior editor at publisher Harper Collins explaining: "When you've got your very big authors walking out the door, taking their book sales with them, there won't be the money to invest in new people. It's going to be an interesting landscape."

What do you think is the future of books, ebooks and online publishing?

If you're curious to see whether it pays, we found this blog that details how Stephen Leather made £13,908. In December.

"Writers on Rafts" fundraiser held by the Queensland Writers' Centre

Like so many other Australians, we were watching the news horrified by the images of the floods crashing through people's homes in Queensland in the last few weeks. Our thoughts are with our students, past and current and the wider community in Queensland who are still under enormous stress.

We received an email about a great event that the Queensland Writers' Centre about a great fundraiser they're running.

Writers on Rafts is a Queensland Writers Centre (QWC) flood relief charity event to contribute funds to the Queensland Premier's Flood Appeal for those affected by the floods. The team at the QWC have had to evacuate their offices in the State Library, and this project has become even more important and pertinent. QWC has thousands of members throughout QLD and many will be affected by the flooding. Furious work is being done at the moment to finalise details with a dedicated website expected to go live next Thursday with articles to appear in the press the following weekend.

Brisbane author Rebecca Sparrow has been tirelessly garnering support from the writing community and the details so far of how this will operate are as follows:

Through the website there will be a number of prize categories available:
    - Author visit (to your book club, writer's group, school etc.)
    - Writer Assistance (QWC workshop, MS critique etc.)
    - Character Name: Get a character named after you in your favourite author's next book.
    - Book Pack.

Special Prize
    - Ultimate Girly Morning Tea with Rebecca Sparrow, Jessica Rudd, Mia Freedman, Erica Bartle, Emily Jade O'Keefe and Francis Whiting.

In addition QWC will provide each category winner with a prize pack which consists of:
    - Australian Market Writer's Place Online subscription.
    - WQ electronic (PDF) subscription.
    - QWC merchandise.

Those wanting to enter the draw will go to the website and register their details for a cost of $5.00 for each prize they wish to win. If they wish to enter for the Special Prize the cost will be $20.00. There will be a winner drawn for each category for each State so for example if you are the winner of an author visit and live in NSW you will have a choice of local authors.

The team at the QWC hope to raise $10,000 and all QWC staff and authors are giving their time free-of-charge to ensure the maximum amount of money reaches the Premier's Flood Appeal.

If you would like to help, contact: paul@landymore.net and keep checking the Queenslands Writers Centre webpage for updates and details.

Voting for the Macquarie Dictionary Word of the Year has commenced – which wacky word gets your vote?

Every year, the Macquarie Dictionary collect a range of popular words that have pentrated the vernacular and been used across the country, and offers everyone the chance to vote for the Word of the Year. Some of the frontrunners from the 2010 crop:

Astroturf marketing, horseball, bunta, fauxmance, googleganger, buddymoon, fire sculpture, chai latte, cube farm, pocket-dial, gym bunny, jatropha, email fatigue, freemium, binge listening, neurosexism, brand slut, vuvuzela…

There are several categories including: agriculture, business, colloquial, communications, computers, crops culture, eating and drinking, environment, fashion, general interest health, internet, the mind, politics, social interest, sport and technology.

The categories have been selected, the nominations are in, and now it’s time for you to decide! Cast your vote for what you think is the most striking contribution to Australian English in 2010. The voting will determine the People’s Choice. 

The overall winning word will be selected by the Macquarie Dictionary Word of the Year Committee chaired by the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sydney, Dr Michael Spence. 
 


Voting will close at midnight on Friday 28th January. Cast your vote here.

Going Down Swinging 2011 Anthology calling for written and audio content

Going Down Swinging has turned 30, embraced e-books and looking for content for their Anthology. They will be publishing their print anthology, spoken word CD and their digital and are looking for fiction, poetry, literary non-fiction, comics, visual art and audio recordings. Submissions will close on 28 February 2011.

While there is no overarching theme for this anthology, the editorial team at Going Down Swinging are looking for work characterized by humour, compassion, vigorous narrative structures, a wariness of tidy endings and a delight in the strange and beautifully unexpected.

For more details, visit the website here.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: VETERAN EDITOR/PUBLISHER MARINA GO AT THE SYDNEY WRITERS' CENTRE

Happy new year everyone! We're starting 2011 off with some big news. We are so thrilled to announce that the amazing Marina Go is joining the team at the Sydney Writers' Centre. Marina will be teaching Feature Writing for Magazines and Newspapers and is also set to share her wealth of experience with new courses that are in the pipeline.

 

Marina has helmed some of the biggest magazine titles in Australia. She was appointed editor of Dolly magazine at the age of 23. Since then she has been launch Editor of Australian Good Taste, Editor-in-chief of ELLE Australia, launch Editor of ELLE Cuisine, Editor of Sunday Life, Editor of Fashion for the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers, and launch Editor of PINNACLEmagazine.

She has also been the Managing Editor of Cosmopolitan, and Editor-in-chief of Pacific Publications, working on titles such as Girlfriend, Home Beautiful, Your Garden, New Idea and That's Life. Marina has a total of 24 years media experience with 20 years dedicated to the editorial, production and publishing of magazines. For the past two years she has focused on developing digital properties and related brand extensions as Publisher of The Hannan Group’s Independent Digital Media.

She began her media career as a newspaper journalist and worked in the news and features sections of The Daily Mirror for three years.

Marina's first Feature Writing course starts 25 January 2011.

Date: Tuesday 25 January (Tuesdays for 5 consecutive weeks)
Time: 6.30pm - 830pm
You can find out more here.

PERSONAL NOTE FROM VALERIE KHOO:
I am personally so excited about Marina's involvement in the Centre. I first met Marina 17 years ago when she was editor of Dolly. Soon after, Marina gave me my first real break at Pacific Publications and I have followed her career trajectory ever since. That first break set into motion my own career, one that I'm very passionate about. Marina has always been so generous with her knowledge and truly nurtures up-and-coming writers/editors. She has a no-nonsense approach to guiding people in their careers and in helping them become better writers. In particular, if you have an interest in women's/lifestyle magazines, I strongly encourage you to enrol in the above course.

Summer School Intensives Announced for January and February 2011

We have VERY exciting news. We're running our most popular and requested courses (Creative Writing, Feature Writing for Magazines and Newspapers, Travel Writing, Travel Memoir Writing) in intensive formats this January and February 2011.

You can now learn from industry professionals in one week or a weekend, rather then 5 weeks, which is great news for those of you who live interstate, have caring responsibilities and or just can't spare 5 evenings over 5 weeks, and need to focus and learn the course content in much a much shorter time period.

Watch this video for more info:

 

Click To Play

You can click here to enrol. Places are limited to our standard class sizes, and they're filling fast, so make sure you snap up your place now and start moving towards you reaching your writing dreams.