Storytime

On Sunday I attended Tiggy Johnson's launch of her first poetry collection, fittingly titled First Taste.   It was great to see her book officially launched by poet  Marian Spires   ( Knowing Vincent- Picaro Press). Tiggy and Marian had a casual 'in conversation' which introduced various poems and the stories behind them - which is always interesting and offers some great insight into the process of the poet. Not only was this the official launch of Tiggy's book it was also her Bon Voyage - the chance to say goodbye before she and her family head to warmer climes. Yes, Tiggy has taken the plunge - sold her house - bought another - has a HUGE crate at her house, is packing everything that doesn't move and is heading off to....Brisbane. There were a few teary eyes on Sunday - some hugs that went on and on as what this meant sunk in. For me, it hasn't yet sunk in. Some of you will know that for the past few years Tiggy and myself have travelled into the...

I belong to a writing group, The Lazy River Writers (named after the restaurant/bar we first met not after our work habits!) and this year marks our tenth anniversary. Tenth I believe is tin- malleable yet with a strength that deceives. Fitting for the group. We began as a collection of strangers, brought together via a writing workshop run at Belgrave library. The tutor suggested that since we worked well as a group, we should keep meeting once a month. And so we have. Members have left, new ones arrived, some have left for a duration then returned. My husband often asks why a writing group? The answer is quite complex. Firstly it's for the support and understanding. All members of the LRW can relate to a month of rejections, even the nice ones. They understand the frustration when the words in our head don't magically appear on the page. They know there are the months when life intrudes and nothing gets written, those months when the best plans are tossed aside, or ...

Stories that is. Everywhere. Some come from snippets of overheard conversation * 'I don't date anyone over twenty two.' I HAD to turn around to see which guy was talking.- can I mention he was no longer in his 20's- perhaps not even his 30's. From observations * A couple are dancing on the footpath- not waltzing but he's holding her close and swinging her round and round - no music plays I wound down the window on the car to see if I could hear music - nothing- but the image made me smile- and wondering.... From personal anecdotes. *Celebrating a friend's 70th with coffee and cake and he says he would love to write down his story (he has had the most INTERESTING  life) but doesn't know where to start- how to put it down on paper - he left school at 13 so thinks that he can't. When he began the story 'Did I tell you we owned a boarding house in Wellington during the war?' you know you're onto something. I've offered to help ...

Mostly it's fingers to keyboard, but yes I am actually writing. YEAH! That was meant to be the idea for this week or so, a major push in the right (or should that be write) direction. :) After the YA Masterclass with Libby Hathorn on the weekend I felt inspired enough to go back to my YA novel - work on a chapter - and even think back to the verse novel I never quite finished. Surprisingly enough I'm still interested in my characters, still want to know the journey they take. I also am writing a poem a day for my nod to those doing the Nanowrimo - so here we are on day ten and I have ten poems down. Or put it more correctly ten ideas for poems. Some will never see the light of day, some I've already worked on and there was a bit of a theme for awhile. My daughter has left home, my baby, so there were a few poems based on the emotional roller coaster that entails. (including visits to hospital emergency departments, blood and stitches) For added inspiration I went to...

Sometimes it's easy - ideas flow, words run through your mind, twist and turn into wonderful phrases, stanzas and after time spent in front of the computer a poem / short story/ article/ chapter is created. Other times, the world gets in the way. That's where I am at the moment and it's in these moments that I give myself that kick-start to forward my writing and provide motivation. Firstly - this month is Nanowrimo - for those not in the know this is when - world wide- people are given the challenge of writing a 50,000 word novel in November. I have friends that did it last year and are doing it this year, encouraging me to give it a go. No. I don't need the extra pressure of finding the time (and inclination) to write like that. BUT ....I have given myself the challenge of writing a poem a day for the month of November. I have done this before- a poem a day for a month. I'm not saying each poem will be brilliant, or even good, but at the end of those 30 or...

Last Saturday I went to a workshop run by the Lazy River Writer s (my writing group). Each year we choose a different topic, genre and presenter for our workshop and this year it was poetry and poet Peter Bakowski. Peter ran a great workshop. Not only did he offer up so much information (that applied to all aspects of writing, not just poetry) he gave us the opportunity to write and generously commented on each persons attempts. Writing like this in a different location, with a group of people, some known some not, is not an easy task but I was impressed with what people had accomplished in such a short piece of time. Even those that classify themselves as non-poets wrote and shared with the group. I find workshops are a wonderful kick up the butt. They inspire, they motivate and they validate some things that quite often  I do know deep inside. Not only am I working on one of the poems I wrote during this workshop but I took home, for me, two very important ideas. First...

Last weekend, a cold and rainy spring Melbourne weekend, I decided to abandon the garden and dive into spoken word. Not that there is much to do this end of the woods, or hills, or ranges, whatever the case may be....but there are two gigs that I do get to as much as I can, when work and life doesn't intrude. Saturday was Stoppingallstations at Nunawading. It's a lovely venue and Carole is a very welcoming host. There is an open section (offering a wide range of great poetry) as well as a feature each month. This month it was Tiggy Johnson. Tiggy's first reading came from her newly released collection 'First Taste' - and although I know these poems quite well it's always great to hear them again, read with such style and I love watching people's reactions especially to poems such as Concluding and Solitaire. Her second set was new poetry, mostly inspired by her major camping trip with the family around most of Australia. I was very interested to hear...