Lili Wilkinson Residency

Lili Wilkinson had a very busy time during her residency at Booranga in May. 

The members-only soiree held on 1 May was a very pleasant social evening as we gained an insight into Lili's YA fiction and got to know a bit about her background as a writer. 

At her public reading at the Historic Council Chambers on 3 May Lili read from her new novel When the Lights Go Out which is being released in August. She followed this by reading from the novel she is working on now at Booranga. The writing workshop on 12 May focused on the structure and key components of writing fiction.

Lili Wilkinson and David Gilbey

As well as her writerly duties Lili immersed herself in the local cultural scene. David Gilbey took Lili to the SoACT production of Design for Living on Friday night, and on Saturday she delighted in the vast array of second-hand books at the Rotary Book Fair. This was followed by the live, local and original music at Fitz Live Wagga Wagga City Council event.

Lili was interviewed on ABC Radio, along with David Gilbey, and spoke to a CSU Literature and tutorial group.

Writers at Lili's Booranga workshop

"CSU's LIT124 - The Oral Tradition tutorial group had a great chat to Lili yesterday afternoon, and we are all very thankful to Booranga Writers' Centre and their Writer-in-Residence program (supported by the NSW Government) that enabled this valuable learning experience to occur.

Lili discussed the conception and writing of her earlier novel 'Scatterheart' and the development of her upcoming unnamed novel, which both draw on the fairy tale traditions and characters to explore new meaning in both the historical and contemporary worlds.

The students were keen to discuss various aspects of the characterisations particular to the fairy tale genre, in particular the role of women and step-mothers, and the awakening of agency in the children in the stories and how this may be interpreted by the child reader. It was an informative and enjoyable discussion."—Monique Shephard

CSU's LIT124 - The Oral Tradition tutorial group with Lili Wilkinson

Booranga Writers' Centre is supported by the  NSW Government through Create NSW.

Booranga Writers' Centre gratefully acknowledges the financial and in-kind support provided by Create NSW, Wagga Wagga City Council and Charles Sturt University.

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