The KSP Writers Centre aims to provide a schedule of linked activities for all writers. ArtsWA provides essential funds for Writers/Editors-in-Residence and Specialist Tutors for the Young Writers Group, and to assist with running the KSP Science Fiction and Short Fiction Competitions. The KSP Foundation is indebted to Mundaring Shire for continuing support and thanks all volunteers for their help. The KSP Writer-in-Residence program, funded by ArtsWA, attracts Emerging and Established writers and editors from WA and interstate. Writers reside in the house, attend some regular KSP group sessions and are available for consultation by appointment.
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
For bookings, workshop details and enquiries, please email
kspf@iinet.net.au
or phone the Coordinator on 08 9294 1872. Bookings are essential for all events. All events are
open to KSPF members and the public unless otherwise specified.
Regular Writing Groups for beginners to advanced writers Members $4, Non-members $7 per session
Got the book or the book idea sorted, but wondering how to pitch it to a publisher, agent or funding body? This workshop focuses on synopsis writing. We begin by discussing aspects of the marketplace and then discuss how to ‘wow and woo’ interested parties by developing a succinct, stylistically appropriate synopsis for your great idea. Our first workshop in our 25th Anniversary Year will be conducted by former KSP Writer-in-Residence Julienne van Loon who is a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at Curtin University of Technology in Perth, Western Australia. She has more than ten years experience in teaching writing in a tertiary setting, and has previously taught at the University of Queensland, the University of Western Sydney and Griffith University.
Julienne's first novel, Road Story won the prestigious Australian/Vogel Award in 2004. She has since published Beneath the Bloodwood Tree, a novel set in the Pilbara. Don’t miss Julienne’s Author Talk in March!
Costs: $25 for KSP-members and $40 for non-members. Booking and payment in advance essential.
Anna Soter is originally from Perth, but now based in the USA where she is currently working as a Professor of English Education/Adult and Young Adult Literacy at the Ohio State University. Anna is an Award-winning poet, a recipient of various grants and an experienced workshop presenter. Join the Poets@KSP and hear some of Anna’s great work. Afternoon tea provided.
Costs: $10 for KSP-members and $15 for Non-members
A great alternative for all those who don’t feel like driving down to the City to visit the Perth Writers Festival this weekend!
Lisa Lang is a Melbourne writer. For the last five years she has researched and written about the life of eccentric entrepreneur and humanitarian Edward Cole, of Cole’s Funny Picture Book fame. This has resulted in a novel, Utopian Man, which won the 2009 Vogel Literary award and will be published by Allen and Unwin in 2010, as well as the non-fiction E.W.Cole: Chasing the Rainbow, published by Arcade Books in 2007. Her short stories have won prizes at Eastern Regional, Boroondara and Shoalhaven literary awards. She is currently writing her second novel, an existential mystery exploring the nature of the creative mind, set largely in Darwin.
She will be presenting a workshop, a literary dinner and providing one mentoring opportunity.
Douglas Sutherland–Bruce is the publisher and editor of the popular Swan Magazine and is constantly looking for suitable submissions such as fiction, poetry and background general interest articles. Commissioned work will be paid. Don’t miss this opportunity to meet Donald especially if you are a non fiction, poetry or short story writer.
Costs: $4 for KSP-members and $7 for non-members. Everyone welcome. Enquiries to Katrin on 9294 1872
Don’t miss our first Literary Dinner in this exciting year! Join us at Katharine’s Place for a lovely evening with delicious food, interesting conversation and – last, but not least – meet Lisa Lang and hear some of her incredible work.
Costs: $20 for KSP-members and $25 for non-members. Booking and payment in advance essential.
“From a whisper to a scream: subtlety, clarity and the writing craft”
Fiction Workshop with Emerging Writer-in-Residence Lisa Lang
Saturday, 13 March 2010, 1.00pm – 4.00pm
As readers, we have all come across writing that is confusing or overly enigmatic. We have also encountered writing that states the obvious at every turn. Either problem can quickly make a reader lose interest. But as writers, it is sometimes difficult to find the balance between these extremes, to know when to lay it all before the reader, and when to hold things back. This workshop is designed to help participants identify the crucial idea or image in a piece of writing, and to make sure this is shown on the page. It also looks at what to peel away, in order to keep readers active and engaged. Participants will read and discuss examples of good writing craft. They will then apply these ideas in some brief writing exercises, which will be read aloud and discussed by the group.
Costs: $25 for KSP-members and $40 for non-members. Booking and payment in advance essential.
Everybody is welcome to visit Katharine’s Place on the Open Day in our 25th Anniversary Year to hear a variety of readings from our writing groups and guest authors including open mike sessions, learn about the history of the Centre on a guided tour of the house and garden, enjoy a lovely lunch and afternoon tea and meet the lovely people of the KSP Writers Centre!
This is the first in a series of exciting Author Talks which will take place on the last Sunday of every month. Come along to meet Vogel-Award winner Julienne read from and talk about her new book Beneath the Bloodwood Tree. This powerful, tightly woven desert tale of ghosts, grief and love is set against the vast, inhospitable landscape of the Pilbara.
To find out more about Julienne, visit her website: http://www.juliennevanloon.com.au
Costs: only $4 for KSP Members and $7 for non members. Booking in advance is essential.
Suzanne is a writer and playwright based in Perth. She has written a number of full-length plays, including Fragmented and The Quiet Country (a dream play), and several shorter works including Hard Ware and the 2008 Maj Monologues’ finalist Blusher, performed Downstairs at His Majesty’s Theatre. In 2004, she began a year’s playwriting mentorship with deckchair theatre in Fremantle, and in the same year was the recipient of an Australia Council Literature Board grant to develop her playwriting. In 2006, she received an ArtsWA grant to produce her play Fragmented at the Blue Room Theatre in Perth. Fragmented, awarded an honorable mention for the 2005/06 Larry Corse Award, United States, was a critical success and went on to be nominated best new play in Western Australia’s 2007 Equity Guild Awards, as well as winning a 2007 Blue Room Award. In July 2009, Suzanne travelled to Sydney as one of two inaugural recipients of a state initiative to promote WA playwrights in the eastern states. She worked with acclaimed dramaturg Peter Matheson and director Iain Sinclair (The Seed, Beyond the Neck, Killer Joe) on her play Angel Dreaming, an absurdist black comedy inter-textually linked to Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbevilles. Suzanne was the 2009 Vancouver Arts Centre/Stages playwright-in-residence in Albany during the Sprung Writers Festival. She is currently a PhD scholarship student of writing at Edith Cowan University.
She will be presenting a workshop, a literary dinner and providing one mentoring opportunity.
Natalina Cherubino's workshop is about going back to the kitchen and to revive the old traditions of cooking. A focus will be made on making fresh pasta with easy to follow steps so that anyone can learn. The pasta making will be complimented with fresh, seasonal ingredients. All participants will observe, assist, cook, eat and enjoy the pasta dish prepared!.
Natalina Cherubino was born in the South of Italy in a little village called La Rocca and migrated to Western Australia in the early fifties. In 2005 she published her book La Rocca which focused on family traditions, food stories and recipes. Natalina says:”Over the years my love and passion for growing and cooking fresh food has heightened and I want to share this wonderful and healthy lifestyle with my family, grandchildren, interested people, particularly children, as they are the hope for the future generation for a healthier lifestyle.”
Costs: $35 for KSP Members and $50 for non members (which includes the food). Booking and Payment in advance is essential. Places are strictly limited.
What do Knights, Dragons and Neanderthal Women have in common? Come to KSP’s April Holiday Write-a-Rama and find out!Join us April 12, 13 and 15 for three days of writing fun in a creative, safe and friendly setting. No special writing skills or experience are necessary, though people who want to develop their writing skills, and people obsessed with writing will definitely be catered for!
Write, imagine, increase your fluency, have fun, make new friends, learn how to edit your own work, make suggestions, increase your confidence, get creative!
Costs:only $120 ($40 per day) for KSP Members and $150 ($50 per day) for non-members. Booking and Payment in advance is essential.You can download an enrolment form here.
Take the opportunity to meet local writer Suzanne and hear extracts of her plays during the Literary Dinner we give in her honour.
Costs: $20 for KSP Members and $25 for non members. Booking and Payment in advance is essential.
This workshop begins with the idea that ‘you’ are the greatest source of dramatic material; so you have to know yourself inside out in order to write great drama. Participants will be asked to remember a particular time and a particular situation in the recent past, in which they and another person have been involved. They will be asked a series of questions related to that situation. Then they will pick one situation they have just written about and re-construct a short scene featuring themselves and the ‘other person’. The emphasis will be on working out beforehand what the stakes are for each ‘character’ and who is driving the scene. This workshop is designed to help participants get a basic understanding of the dramatic progression of a scene – and the action/reaction of characters, based on greater awareness of their own inner lives.
Costs: $25 for KSP Members and $40 for non members. Booking and Payment in advance is essential.
Join us for our third biennial one day speculative fiction get together of writers and readers. This is a must visit for Western Australian writers and fans of speculative fiction - a chance to meet writers and editors for a low entry fee. Tea and coffee and cheap lunches available.
Why come? Because the more opportunities for fans and writers of speculative fiction to get together the better. You'll be able to mingle with established authors and editors, sit in on discussion panels, meet up with other fans and buy books.
Who will be there? Established Western Australian writers and editors from all areas of speculative fiction - science fiction, fantasy, dark fantasy and horror. Lee Battersby, Lyn Battersby, Sonia Helbig, Sue Isle, Juliet Marillier, Bevan McGuiness, Carol Ryles and more have signed up to participate in discussion panels such as "Should WA writers use WA settings?" "Stuck in the mud - dealing with writers block and other difficulties" and "Romance in fantasy". Take the opportunity to meet the guests and fellow-enthusiasts and find out what’s happening on the Western Australian speculative fiction scene.
For up to date information go to the KSP Mini Con blog at http://kspminicon.blogspot.com/ We’ll be posting the program and other details there over the next few weeks.
The class is designed for writers who have a substantial body of work in MS form. It will provide participants with the opportunity to:
On the first day, the class will attend to story telling and examine in detail the four essential strands around which narrative fiction is woven - Plot – Characterisation – Dialogue – Exposition. There will be about 20 handout notes relating to these four elements and the class will be encouraged to discuss how the principles governing each element have (or have not) been applied to their own work.
Participants will be encouraged to do some homework in the week between the two classes by applying the principles they have leaned through rewriting and editing of their own work in order that they can return the following week to share with the class what improvements and changes they have made. In addition, they will be asked to copy and bring to class, a single, double-spaced A4 page from the most moving paragraph in their favourite book by their favourite author.
The point of this exercise will be revealed on the second Saturday of the Advanced Class, when class participants will examine in detail how their favourite authors write, as the class deconstructs the copied paragraphs and examines the Phraseology – Syntax – Narrative Mode (including dialogue, action, description, exposition & thoughts) and Analogy used by the authors
John Harman has written for a living all his working life, first in advertising, then for many years as a journalist in the UK and on Fleet Street, as well as in New York and California. Later he owned a small film company where he wrote hundreds of training and documentary film scripts before going on to write for some of the most popular UK television series, including early episodes of The Bill. He is the author of a number of crime thrillers and of more than twenty non-fiction books. John also works as a lecturer and teacher of creative writing. He has taught at the University of Cambridge Board of Continuing Education in the UK and at the University of California Summer Schools in the United States. Here, in WA, he teaches for, among others, UWA Extension; The Fellowship of Australian Writers, The WA State Literature Centre, and the Institute of Public Administration. He is an adjunct senior lecturer in the School of Communication & Contemporary Arts at Edith Cowan University. John’s latest book, published by Penguin, Australia, comes out in August, 2010.
Costs: $150 for KSP Members and $175 for non members for both days. Places are strictly limited. Booking and Payment in advance is essential.
A powerful workshop designed to improve individual understanding of the dynamics underpinning personality. By understanding personality at a deeper level, this workshop aims to assist writers with characterisation to enable the description of realistic behaviour patterns.
The workshop is centred on the Humm Wadsworth Temperament Profile (Humm) which is a behavioural profiling tool that offers exceptional insight into individuals’ tendencies and styles, specifically around their interpersonal preferences, motivations, stressors and impact on others.
Key Features of the Workshop
This exciting workshop will be presented by Sarah Hayter who is a registered psychologist and works as a consultant for the Chandler Macleod Group and is a must for every writer who looks at creating complex and multi-faceted characters.
Costs: $25 for KSP Members and $40 for non members. Booking and Payment in advance is essential.
Karibu Women’s Group is proud to announce the launch of their anthology Brusselsprouts. Join them at Katharine’s Place for an afternoon of stories and poems. Afternoon tea provided. This is a free event and everybody is welcome!
Karibu meets every second Wednesday morning in the Council Chambers in Helena Street, Midland. This women-only group provides encouragement and inspiration to keep writing. New members are very welcome!
Dennis Haskell is the author of 5 collections of poetry, and 12 volumes of literary scholarship and criticism. All the Time in the World won the Western Australian Premier’s Prize for Poetry in 2007 and is being translated into French and Italian. Haskell was Co-editor of Westerly, from 1985-2009 and is Professor of English and Cultural Studies at The University of Western Australia. He is also currently Chair of the Literature Board of the Australia Council. You will hear extracts from Acts of Defiance: New and Selected Poems which was published by Salt in February 2010.
Costs: only $4 for KSP Members and $7 for non members. Booking in advance is essential.
David Reiter is an award-winning poet and writer of fiction, and Director of IP, an innovative print and digital publishing house. His fourth book, Hemingway in Spain and Selected Poems, was shortlisted for the 1998 Adelaide Festival Awards. His previous books include The Cave After Saltwater Tide (Penguin, 1994) for which he won the Queensland Premier’s Award and Kiss and Tell, Selected and New Poems 1987-2002. He’s completed a feature film Hemingway in Spain and a short film A Simple Tale based on a Stephen Oliver poem. Real Guns, a children’s picture book and a multimedia CD, Rainshadows, representing 30 authors, were released in 2007, and Global Cooling, a sequel to his children’s chapter book The Greenhouse Effect, was released in 2008 and is currently being developed into an animated feature film. His most recent work is the satiric novel Primary Instinct. A new short doco film entitled Mum: speaking Latin with a singlet tan, based on Dale Kentwell’s paintings and life will be released soon. In 2010, he plans to write Tiger Tames the Min Min, the second sequel to The Greenhouse Effect, and compose a film based on his extended poem Nullabor Song Cycle with music composer Nitya Bernard Parker.
He will be presenting a workshop, a literary dinner and providing one mentoring opportunity.
Daniel King, who also has published under the name "David King", is a Western Australian writer who, over the last 25 years, has had short stories (and poetry) published in Australian and overseas literary magazines. His stories have twice been awarded "year's best" by FourW, the literary magazine of Charles Sturt University. Memento Mori is his first collection of stories, and won the top prize in Interactive Publications' IPPicks competition. It is to be published in the next few months by IP. A number of the stories have a speculative fiction slant.
Dr David Reiter who will be MC at this launch is the Director of IP, an innovative print and digital publishing house and Established Writer-In-Residence 2010 at KSPWC.
This is a free event and everybody is welcome!
Take the opportunity to meet Dr David Reiter and hear some of the amazing stories he has to tell while you are enjoying delicious home-made food and pleasant company at the KSP Writers Centre.
Costs: $20 for KSP Members and $25 for non members. Booking and Payment in advance is essential.
Thinking of self-publishing, or helping your publisher sell more of your book? You need to attend this practical workshop that sold out in Sydney, Darwin and Airlie Beach! Publisher Dr David Reiter cuts through the myths about publishing to reveal strategies for ensuring your book has the best chance of selling out its first edition, and beyond. Find out how to identify your audiences and then match your writing to what they want. Gain insight into how a keen editorial eye and good design pay dividends. Learn about what printers want, how to speak their language and ensure you get value for money. Hear about the latest ways to publish in print and digital form. See case studies of marketing plans that work and ways to promote and distribute your work without re-mortgaging your house. Get the inside story on IP's Your Book to the world Program
Costs: $25 for KSP Members and $40 for non members. Booking and Payment in advance is essential.
“As a writer, I have always found structure the most exciting aspect of the creative process. Yet to many preparing a manuscript it appears vast, vague and unwieldy … even frightening. Drawing all the features and components into a unified whole is no small challenge, even for the seasoned writer. This workshop offers strategies for better understanding structure, devising workable and meaningful structures and … enjoying the process!”
In parts 1 and 2 of the workshop, we will look at definitions of structure, ways of perceiving and approaching it, and ways it relates to other aspects of a text, e.g. ideas, plot, character, imagery, time-place settings, point of view … The focus of the longer Part 3 will be on the participatory: exercises on devising structure and a discussion of how to apply it to participants’ current projects. If time permits, we may also look at editing structure.
Michèle will be happy to receive questions in advance of the workshop that highlight participants’ needs or interests re. structure. Email contact from 04 June: drouart1@iinet.net.au
Michèle Drouart, PhD, AE, is the author of the memoir Into the Wadi (FACP, 2000), which won the WA Premier’s Book Award in 2001. Since its publication Michele opened a business with two separate but related components: a creative writing school and an editing and assessment service. There are three levels to her courses in creative writing: beginner, intermediate and advanced. In addition, she meets 6 to 8 times a year with a special group of advanced students who are completing their manuscripts.As an accredited freelance editor, Michèle has worked with all general (non-specialist) texts, but now focuses increasingly on editing for aspiring writers. Her manuscript assessment service has grown steadily since she added it to her business programme in 2002.
This workshop will be of immense assistance to all members who prepare a submission for the KSP 25th Anniversary Anthology!
Costs: $25 for KSP Members and $40 for non members. Booking and Payment in advance is essential.
Western Australian writer Amanda Curtin's new novel The Sinkings deals with the 19th century murder of an ex-convict called Little Jock, who had lived his life as a man, but was found in death to have been a woman. Amanda Curtin uses this story to traverse some difficult territory, exploring the experience of being neither man nor woman, of being born of indeterminate gender and what that might mean, not just for a child, but also for a mother.
Costs: only $4 for KSP Members and $7 for non members. Booking in advance is essential.
Australia's leading poet and most influential literary critic is a guest at KSP. Proudly presented in partnership with City of Swan and Shire of Mundaring.
Hear Les Murray read whilst enjoying dinner in this iconic venue. Cabaret Style, BYO everything.
Costs: $15/$10 concession. Further information or bookings: Phone City of Swan on 9267 9466 or e-mail performance@swan.wa.gov.au
The Shire President and Councillors invite you to an evening that will include readings from the author, accompanied by a three course dinner.
Costs: $55/$50 concession. Further information or bookings: Phone Shire of Mundaring on 9290 6604 or e-mail paemcs@mundaring.wa.gov.au
Students are invited to the region's newest venue to hear Les Murray speak about his life and work, with an opportunity for questions afterwards.
Costs: $5 ($10 for accompanying adults). Further information or bookings: Phone City of Swan on 9267 9466 or e-mail performance@swan.wa.gov.au
There is more to editing than computer spellchecker and grammar checker. You need to be able to express yourself clearly and succinctly and to link ideas in a logical way so that the reader grasps your meaning at once. The workshop includes exercises in punctuation, written expression and clarity. We will discuss spelling conventions and spell-checker traps and well as sentence and paragraph length, the use and reporting of direct and indirect speech, and especially the importance of linking ideas so the narrative flows. Great writing is a collaborative work of writer and editor. Authors cannot look objectively at their own work, so often miss errors that are obvious to a reader. That’s why they need an editor. The workshop is designed for aspiring writers, editors, proof readers and journalists as well as all people who want to improve their written communication skills, especially writers of non-fiction, short stories, novels and other narrative writing. Participants should have written at least one story or article intended for publication, and preferably bring it to the workshop.
Frank Smith has more than 30 years experience in writing, proofreading and editing. He has worked in government, industry and universities in both Australia and the US. As a writer he has contributed paid articles to more than 30 magazines and newspapers in four continents. He regularly writes for The Countryman, Have a Go News, Australian and New Zealand Grapegrower and Winemaker, Grapegrower and Vignerons, Olive Grower and Processor and Groundcover. His special skill is in helping writers improve the readability – the ease with which a reader understands the writer’s message – of their work.
This workshop is an absolute must for all members who would like to give their submission for the KSP 25th Anniversary Anthology a final polishing touch!
Costs: $25 for KSP Members and $40 for non members. Booking and Payment in advance is essential.
“Who steals the Fire” is a historical, fictional romance, which takes place in the period when Napoleon was waging war in Europe - a time when industrialization was demanding a greater supply of raw material for its woollen mills. Vast sheep runs were gradually replacing village farming in the Sutherland County in the north of Scotland. Robert and Alexander, the two sons of the laird of Dunbrace, a small hamlet on the Kildonan River in Sutherland County, vie for the favours of the beautiful Mardi Bannerman, the daughter of local villagers. By volunteering to join the Sutherland Fensible Regiment, which was recruiting men to fight Napoleon in Spain, they hoped to be rewarded on their return with a grant of land. However, in their absence, terror was to reign in the untended villages when the Countess of Sutherland organised clearances of the population in order to introduce wholesale sheep farming.
Esmé Park (BA (UWA) B.Ed(ECU), a retired literature teacher, was inspired to write “Who Steals the Fire” while researching her own family heritage in Scotland. Information that she encountered provided the background for this story- which could have been applicable to one of her ancestors, a certain Robert Sutherland. Growing up on a wheat farm, along side her Scottish grandparents enabled her to absorb the deeply engrained ways of these highland people - especially their love of music and song. Travelling to Scotland in later years enabled her to further appreciate its history and scenic beauty. Today Esmé resides with her husband, Humphery, on their cattle farm at Bullsbrook in the Darling Range, North of Perth.
This is a free event and everybody is welcome!
This course is designed for teenagers aged approximately 12 to 15 years (Years 7 – 10) who are beginning to explore their creative writing talents and potential or who are interested in amplifying their writing skills in a safe and fun environment. Suitable for all levels, from beginners to the more experienced.The workshop will introduce the participants to major techniques of prose writing scriptwriting for theatre plays. Pupils will be encouraged to use their imaginations and explore the craft of creative writing by learning about finding topics, narrative devices, characterisation, setting, scenes and dialogue. An anthology will be published at the end of the course and every participant will receive a copy!
The facilitator of the course will be Kathleen Dzubiel who is a published poet. Her work has been performed in public and on radio across Australia. She has been conducting courses in creative writing for over ten years.
Costs:$ 95 for Non-Members and $ 80 for KSP Members. Booking and payment in advance is essential.
Simon Haynes is the author of four Hal Spacejock novels, a number of articles on writing and publishing, and several short stories, one of which collected an Aurealis Award in 2001. Born in the UK and raised in the south of Spain, Simon emigrated to Australia with his family in 1983. He's a founding member of Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, and lives in Perth with his wife and two children. His goal is to write fifteen Hal Spacejock books before someone takes his keyboard away.
Costs: only $4 for KSP Members and $7 for non members. Booking in advance is essential.
Andy Jackson's poetry explores the emotional, cultural and political dimensions of embodiment and identity. He has been published in a wide variety of print and on-line journals, and featured at events and festivals such as Australian Poetry Festival, Queensland Poetry Festival, Newcastle Young Writers Festival and La Mama Poetica. He received grants from the Australia Council in 2004 and 2008, and from Arts Victoria in 2008, and a mentorship from the Australian Society of Authors in 2007. He was awarded the 2008 Arts ACT Rosemary Dobson Prize for an unpublished poem. In collaboration with puppeteer Rachael Guy and cellist David Churchill, he was awarded the City of Yarra Award for Most Innovative Work at the 2009 Overload Poetry Festival. He is currently a Café Poet in Residence for the Australian Poetry Centre. His most recent collection of poems, Among the Regulars, is scheduled for release by papertiger media. He blogs (rarely) at amongtheregulars.wordpress.com.
He will be presenting a workshop, a literary dinner and providing one mentoring opportunity.
Come along to the Katharine Susannah Prichard Writers’ Centre for a fascinating afternoon- join the Awards presentation, listen to readings from the winning entries and hear our judge’s report on the outstanding quality of this year’s entrants. Hear best-selling author Juliet Marillier read from her latest book and talk about her career as a writer. A delicious afternoon tea will be available for a gold coin donation. This is a free event and everybody is welcome!
Join us at Katharine’s Place for a lovely evening with delicious food, interesting conversation and – last, but not least – meet Andy Jackson and hear some of his work.
Costs: $20 for KSP-members and $25 for non-members. Booking and payment in advance essential.
What is the body? What language does it speak? And whose body are we talking about?
In this workshop, participants will be lead through a series of tailored exercises, designed to build on their existing writing skills. They will not only write about the body, but will learn how to utilise the rhythms, energies, memories and emotions of their own bodies within their writing generally. This workshop targets New, Young and Emerging Writers (especially Poets and Short Fiction Writers).
Costs: $25 for KSP Members and $40 for non members. Booking and Payment in advance is essential.
Robyn first went to Antarctica fourteen years ago, and she has managed to return there every year since, working as an assistant expedition leader for a Sydney-based eco-tour company. Robyn lives in Scarborough and wrote The Nature of Ice as part of a PhD in Writing at Edith Cowan University.Robyn has been awarded the 2010 Mick Dark Watermark Fellowship for Emerging Nature and Environmental Writers.
Weaving in a vivid recreation of Douglas Mawson’s ill-fated 1911–14 Australasian Antarctic expedition into the contemporary story of a woman facing the breakdown of her marriage, The Nature of Ice is a poetic, multi-stranded novel of present and past, hope and tragedy, love and loss. It is both a love story and a heart-stopping, intensely moving polar adventure story — equally it is a story of place, bringing to vivid life the extraordinary landscape of Antarctica, the frozen continent that intrigues us all.
Costs: only $4 for KSP Members and $7 for non members. Booking in advance is essential.
Do you want advice on how to improve your manuscript? Not sure your writing is all it can be? Need advice on character, story, dialogue, tone, pacing or style? Not sure what it is that you need?
Industry-experienced editor (accredited with the Institute of Professional Editors) and writer Amanda Curtin will examine your manuscript for weaknesses and strengths, the effectiveness of the writing, and publishing potential, and will then provide verbal feedback in a one-hour one-to-one session.This is a great opportunity to improve your skills as a writer and obtain constructive comments on your work.Please note that no written report will be provided.
We will require a hard copy of:
Cost: $150 for KSP members only. Please call Katrin on 9294 1872 to book your personal session.
We encourage all members to attend our Annual General Meeting and look forward to seeing you then!
Lighthouse Girl brings to life the hardships of those left at home during the war - waiting, wondering, hoping. Drawing on fascinating archival material, and interweaving fact with fiction, award-winning author Dianne Wolfer deftly recreates this period in Australian history from the perspective of a young girl. Photographs in the Mud was inspired by a research trip along the Kokoda Track in 2002 and has been used as a reference for international workshops promoting peaceful, ‘discourse analysis’. Dianne Wolfer is the author of 12 books for teenagers and younger readers. Her novels have been short listed for various awards and are read in schools within Australia and overseas. Dianne loves travelling. She has lived in Bangkok, Tokyo, Jumla in western Nepal and now lives on the south coast of Western Australia. You can find out more about Dianne’s books on her website: www.diannewolfer.com
Costs: only $4 for KSP Members and $7 for non members. Booking in advance is essential.
Three days of writing fun in a creative, safe and friendly setting. No special writing skills or experience are necessary, though people who want to develop their writing skills, and people obsessed with writing will definitely be catered for!Throughout the week: write, imagine, increase your fluency, have fun, make new friends, learn how to edit your own work, make suggestions, increase your confidence, get creative!
Costs: only $120 ($40 per day) for KSP members and $150 ($50 per day) for non-members. Booking and Payment in advance is essential.
KSP Writers Centre is offering speaking training for writers who wish to speak their work in public using a microphone and to record their work in the KSP sound recording studio. Each course will consist of two sessions of 1 hour each with a week in between to do some homework.
The facilitators will be Donald Woodburn and Julia Moody. Donald is a voice coach and childrens author, and is also involved in theatre acting & directing, broadcast work, training, and has four children's books in print. Julia is currently lecturing voice at the WA Academy of Performing Arts, and works with theatre, musical theatre and broadcasting, in all aspects of voice specializing in accents and dialects.
Courses will be held on Saturday/Sunday afternoons throughout the rest of the year.Costs are only $55 for each two-session course. Places are limited so please contact KSP on 9294 1872 or e-mail kspf@iinet.net.au to arrange a suitable time.
Do you want to gain a realistic insight into the publishing jungle? Want to get to the bottom of the demands of the industry? Want to pick up a few tips and tricks about contribution and marketing? Then don’t miss the opportunity to participate in a hot discussion led by publisher with years of experience in the industry and get a chance to finally ask all the questions you’ve always wanted to ask.The panel will be chaired by Dr Ffion Murphy (ECU) who looks forward to engage the panel members Claire Miller (Fremantle Press), Naama Amram (dotdotdash) and Karen Treanor (Quendabooks) in a hot discussion.
Costs: $25 for KSP Members and $40 for non members. Booking and Payment in advance is essential.
You are warmly invited to come along to the launch of the Writefree Women’s Group's 14th anthology. Join them at Katharine’s Place for an afternoon of stories and poems. Afternoon tea provided. This is a free event and everybody is welcome!
The highly motivated Writefree Women's Writing Group has been meeting regularly at Katharine's Place for several years. The enthusiasm and humour the group members bring to the weekly meetings is contagious. It provides encouragement and inspiration to keep writing. The group has self-published an anthology of their writing every year for the past thirteen years. This is going to be their 14th anthology.
Natasha Lester threw in her job as a cosmetics marketing manager a few years ago to become a writer. Since then, she’s been lucky enough to win the 2008 TAG Hungerford Award for Fiction for her novel, What is Left Over, After. Her poetry and short stories have also been widely published. She is currently writing her second novel, which she is trying to fit in around her work as a creative writing tutor at Curtin University and being a mum to her three children.
Costs: only $4 for KSP Members and $7 for non members. Booking in advance is essential.
Rosanna Beatrice Stevens lives in the Blue Mountains, and is in her final semester of a Writing and Cultural Studies undergraduate at the University of Technology, Sydney. She is an Editorial Committee member of Voiceworks, a magazine dedicated to celebrating the work of writers under the age of 25. Rosanna’s writing has appeared in The Big Issue, Beat, UTS student magazine Vertigo, Onya Magazine, Voiceworks, the UTS Writers’ Anthology 2010, and Affirm Press’ anthology Lines of Wisdom. She teaches cello, is interested in musical semiology, and is currently working on a children’s fiction manuscript.
Rosanna will be presenting a workshop and a literary dinner.
KSP will be there with a stall, information, books for sale and readings.
Claire, a past Writer-in-Residence at KSP, has been teaching and studying in Paris for the past 5 years, and now lives in London. She has returned to Australia for the launch of her first full-length collection of poetry, ‘Swallow’ by Five Islands Press. Claire will also launch the annual anthology by the POETS@KSP. Afternoon tea will be provided.
Costs are $4 for KSP members and $7 non-members.Please RSVP by 5 November 2010
This workshop describes how to compose an MS Word document so that it is print-ready as a .pdf for different types of self-published books or booklets. This workshop is for users of MS Word 2003 or earlier. Please bring your own lap-top and a .doc file you would like to work with. People without lap-tops may attend, as detailed how-to notes will be provided, but some of the benefit to them will obviously depend on them putting into practise what they have learnt later at home. The workshop will cover text editing techniques, styles, making a .pdf and settings, the format of a typical book and printers’ requirements.
Costs: $25 for KSP Members and $40 for non members. Booking and Payment in advance is essential.
This workshop describes how to compose an MS Word document so that it is print-ready as a .pdf for different types of self-published books or booklets. This workshop is for users of MS Word 2007 or later. Please bring your own lap-top and a .doc or .docx file you would like to work with. People without lap-tops may attend, as detailed how-to notes will be provided, but some of the benefit to them will obviously depend on them putting into practise what they have learnt later at home. Two lap-tops with MS Word 2007 are available for hire from KSP. The workshop will cover text editing techniques, styles, making a .pdf and settings, the format of a typical book and printers’ requirements.
Costs: $25 for KSP Members and $40 for non members. Booking and Payment in advance is essential.
Music may be hailed as the ‘universal language’, but what can it do for our writing? What kind of music ‘works’ when you’re trying to kick in to that creative flow, and what’s plain obstructive? Join Rosanna and her cello as the class engages initially with writing exercises focused on inventing and developing characters, action, and place, and moves on to marrying the discipline of writing with the meditative and emotive qualities of listening. Learn about the relationships between sound, meaning, imagination and mood, and join discussion about your experiences with the marrying of sound and written expression.
Costs: $25 for KSP Members and $40 for non members. Booking and Payment in advance is essential.
Brian Dibble has written or edited a dozen books on Australian literature and culture, including his own stories and poems. He has edited half a dozen journals, founded the International PEN Perth Centre and served on the boards of various writers’ organisations. Doing Life(UWA Press, 2008), Dibble’s biography of his friend and colleague Elizabeth Jolley, represents a decade of research in the United Kingdom, Germany and Austria as well as Australia, hundreds of interviews, and authorised access to Jolley’s embargoed diaries, letters and manuscripts held in the Mitchell Library. Although she started writing early in life, it was not until her fifties that Elizabeth Jolley received the recognition her talent deserved. She won The Age Book of the Year Award on three occasions as well as the Miles Franklin Award. Brian Dibble was given complete access to the writer's private papers and has spent more than a decade travelling the world to write this lyrical and readable biography
Costs: only $4 for KSP Members and $7 for non members. Booking in advance is essential.
Don’t miss the last Literary Dinner in KSP’s 25th anniversary year! Join us at Katharine’s Place for a lovely evening with delicious food, interesting conversation and – last, but not least – meet Rosanna Stevens and hear some of her incredible work.
Costs: $20 for KSP-members and $25 for non-members. Booking and payment in advance essential.
Join us in at Katharine’s Place for our special celebrations this year, as it is the 25th Anniversary of this Writers Centre in Greenmount. Since 1985 this centre has grown significantly and now boasts a membership of about 250 men and women who experience the joy of writing. You are warmly invited to take part in the launch of KSP’s 25th Anniversary Anthology of stories and poems written by members and the Awards Ceremonies of two annual competitions, namely the Karen W Treanor Poetry Award and the KSP’s Short Fiction Award. Many of these winners will share with us, extracts of their winning stories. The Celebrations will also incorporate honouring our numerous volunteers, a tribute to Katharine and tours of the heritage listed house and garden. A delicious lunch and afternoon tea will be available for a gold coin donation. Everybody is welcome to join us for this special occasion!
The Writers-in-Residence and some of the programs for Young Writers are funded by The Department of Culture and the Arts. The Young Writers' categories in the KSP Speculative Fiction Award and the KSP Short Fiction Award are funded by the Shire of Mundaring and Karen F Treanor Poetry Award is funded by the Mundaring Community Bank.
These events are also advertised in the Hills Gazette, Midland Reporter, and The Echo. Bookings are essential. Please email kspfevents@iinet.net.au, or phone the events coordinator on (08) 9294 1872.