Poetry Evening - Spring Series

Poetry Evening – Spring Series
at Rabbit Books

Booranga Writers' Centre together with Rabbit Books
invite you to attend our
Spring Poetry Evening on Friday 27 Septmeber 2019

6pm registrations/ 6:30pm readings

$5 cover charge at the door

Take a seat by the fire with a glass of wine and enjoy readings by guest poets

 Jane Downing, Joan Cahill, and Connor Weightman

Hosted by Lachlan Brown (Booranga Writers' Centre)

We dare you… express yourself, and register at 6pm for our open mic section – all themes welcome.  

Registration from 6:00pm – Readings to commence at 6:30pm - Open Mic 7:30pm
Enquires: Rabbit Books  6921 5391

Biography- Jane Downing

Jane Downing has lived in Papua New Guinea, Tanzania, Ireland, Indonesia, the (then) USSR, China, the Marshall Islands and Guam, and now calls Albury home. She is the author of two novels, The Trickster (Pandanus Books, Australian National University, 2003) and The Lost Tribe (Pandanus Books, 2005) and editor of the Albury based illustrated progressive novel Murray Time (2004) as well as the collections ReCollecting Albury Writing (2000) and New Albury Writing (2002). Hundreds of her own short stories and poems have been published in literary journals and anthologies in Australia and overseas, and her poetry collection When Figs Fly is forthcoming with Close-Up Books. She can be found at www.janedowning.wordpress.com

Biography – Joan Cahill

Joan Cahill’s poetry has been published over many years in anthologies including Charles Sturt University’s fourW, Short and Twisted and Fellowship of Australian Writers Queensland’s Brio 2016. In 2012, she won the Melbourne Poets Union’s Urban Realism Award, and 2013 First Prize for Fellowship of Australian Writers Regional’s Vibrant Verse. In 2008, Joan was awarded a LitLink Residency at Varuna, the National Writers’ House, following a mentorship with Peter Bishop. She has also had a long involvement with Booranga Writers. Joan’s 2016 poetry collection Buddha's Left Foot focuses on art, language, culture and everyday life. Originally from Melbourne, she has lived and loved in Wagga Wagga for over forty years.

Biography—Connor Weightman

Connor Weightman’s poetry has been published in publications including Westerly, Cordite, Writ Review and RECOIL. He is currently based in Melbourne and is completing a PhD at Charles Sturt University in poetry and oil. Connor has been shortlisted for the Overland Poetry Prize, the Venie Holmgren Environmental Poetry Prize, and commended in the Karen W Treanor Poetry Awards. 

2019 Competitions & Opportunities

Submissions to fourW  Anthology of New Writing  
Closes 30 June each year
All submissions to fourW are considered for the Booranga Literary Prizes
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Booranga Literary Prizes
The Booranga Prizes, of $500 each, are chosen from all submissions to fourW and are awarded to the best poem and the best short story submitted each year and are published in our annual anthology, fourW.
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Writing NSW
Regional Writers support
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Australian Writers’ Centre Furious Fiction
First weekend of every month
Writers have 55 hours to write a 500 words-or-fewer story to be in the running for $500. On the first Friday of every month, a new set of short story prompts will be revealed to guide writers.
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Fellowship of Australian Writers NSW Inc
Various competitions open throughout the year
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Writing NSW Grants - Various
Read More


Voices of Women
Closes 2 February 2020
Read More

Banjo Paterson Australian Poetry Competition 2020
Closes 12 February 2020
Read More


2020 Woollahra Digital Literary Awards
Closes 9 March 2020
Read More


Elyne Mitchell Photo Story Competition
Closes 16 March 2020
Read More


Blake Poetry Prize
Closes 3 April 2020
Read More


The Big Issue
Contributor guidelines
Read More


Fairlight Moderns - novella submissions
Currently seeking submissions of novella-length works in English from authors based anywhere in the world. We are particularly keen to publish work by new and emerging writers,
Read More


Light Horse Australia: Harry Chauvel Foundation
Help us build on online Light Horse Anthology
Read More

Useful Links

ACT Writers' Centre

Peter Cowan Writers' Centre

Katharine Susannah Prichard Writers' Centre

NT Writers' Centre

Writing NSW

Varuna, the Writers’ House

QLD Writers' Centre

Writers SA

Tasmanian Writers' Centre

Writers Victoria

Wagga Wagga launch of fourW twenty-nine

The Wagga Wagga launch of fourW twenty-nine was held at the Wagga Wagga City Library on Saturday 17th November with a large crowd in attendance. They were entertained by the readings of published poetry and prose from the anthology by twelve local and visiting writers. This included regular contributors over the years as well as those being published for the first time.


We thank all the contributors, family, and friends attending the launch as well as the Wagga Wagga City Library staff for contributing to the success of the event and look forward to 2019 with the publication of the thirtieth edition of fourW. 


The winners of the 2018 Booranga Literary Prizes

Poetry: Andy Kissane - Sacrifice 

Prose: Dorothy Simmons - Opposable Thumbs

Scott Howie proposes a toast to fourW

fourW twenty-nine was launched by Scott Howie, Executive Director of Eastern Riverina Arts. Scott concluded his launch speech with these fine words as a toast to the twenty-ninth edition of the anthology.

"A book is permanent, a quest to stake out physical space is the world.  They are great objects to hold, to stack, to peruse, to rifle through the pages. So a toast. To all the words inked onto these pages. May you find eyes to read you, mouths to speak you, ears to hear you and imaginations to play in.  To fourW…"

Derek Motion

Joan Cahill

Jill Jones Residency

Jill Jones reading at Museum of the Riverina

Poet, Jill Jones was in residency at Booranga in September and during that time conducted a writing workshop at Booranga as well as a public reading at the Historic Council Chambers in Wagga Wagga. Jill read a wide variety of poems from her previously published books as well as works in progress.

The workshop was very popular with poets travelling from as far away as Albury to attend and learn new skills from Jill. 

Jill's residency provided a bonus for Wagga poet, Claire Baker, when she was able to have a one-on-one mentoring session at Booranga with Jill.

A Dilemma Solved

by Claire Baker

Grandmotherly duties at my youngest grandson’s birthday or attend a writing workshop with Jill Jones – a predicament that could lead to only one outcome. But I’d been so looking forward to meeting Jill and flexing my writing skills under her guidance, especially after reading a recent anthology published by the Poetry Union which Jill co-edited.

Then I scrolled down the reminder email sent by Kathryn, Booranga’s Creative Director, prior to the workshop – for financial members the chance to have a consultancy with Jill. The answer to my dilemma if I was lucky enough to be given the nod. And I was.

I’ve been working on a small collection of poems inspired by “The Elsewhere” travelling exhibition, curated by Dr Sam Bowker, and was wondering if I’d achieved a variety of theme and cohesion within the poems. I don’t know about other writers, but sometimes I’m too close to the words on the page and start to doubt what I’ve written.

Being able to discuss these works with Jill, in the hour or so we spent at Booranga, helped me to re-focus on each piece so that their individuality could shine. Jill provided me with some pertinent suggestions and opened my mind to possibilities that improve the poems while referencing various artworks in the exhibition. Jill treated me as an equal, even though she has been published many times, which made me feel that my efforts were worthwhile.

I’m still working on these poems and enjoying the process. I would encourage any writer who is a financial member of Booranga to apply for a consultancy from the writer in residence when the opportunity arises.

Oh, and the birthday party was a lot of fun too!

Jill Jones and Claire Baker at Booranga

Workshop

Workshop

Workshop

Glebe launch of fourW twenty-nine

David Gilbey

The Sydney launch of fourW twenty-nine was held at Gleebooks, Glebe on Saturday 24th November. 

We thank all the contributors, family, and friends who attended the launch as well as the staff at Gleebooks for contributing to the success of the event and look forward to 2019 with the publication of the thirtieth edition of fourW. 




The winners of the 2018 Booranga Literary Prizes

Poetry: Andy Kissane - Sacrifice 

Prose: Dorothy Simmons - Opposable Thumbs

fourW twenty-nine was launched by Joan Phillip, retired academic, poet, and short story writer.

Joan Phillip and granddaughter Katrina

(excerpt from Joan's launch speech)

"I need a breath — to do justice to the achievements, the place of, our fourW journal in its creative landscape is challenging. I shall begin by with homage to David, who has nurtured, supported its development over these 29 years. As David always acknowledges he has stalwart support from the executive committees, editorial committees, Sandra Treble who administers Booranga with such competence, and now Kathryn Halliwell, who soothed me when David was away and I was regretting a double booking for this afternoon. But David is the abiding energy in the achievement of the Journal, which had its beginning in his commitment to community writing and art...

As I have re-read, skimmed, our collecting issues I know I cannot mention everyone, but names repeat, echo, play like arpeggios in a suite – such a wealth of voices, voices which appear across the scope of our literary journals and competitions. Where could I start, perhaps with Dorothy Simmons – I vividly remember her reading “Dumping”– I did not need to re-read it — There is Virely Dunning, Derek Motion, who leaves me in awe; Mark O’Flynn, whose writings I have presented to my classes, as I have Andy Kissane’s. Andy’s interview for Spineless Wonders is a great introduction to study of the short story. Students loved the idea of a good short story being a “kick in the guts”. It is also a joy to find contributions from two past students, Robyn Young, during her CSU undergraduate days and Sally Denshire who became a colleague but was once my student at North Sydney Girls when I was in my first years of teaching.

Sally’s writings segue to fourW twenty-nine, her meditation, “Reading the Moths” is so light, with intensive visualizations of the beauty of the moths in “the eucalypt air”, epitomizing the power of words to show us a world anew, to make us pause.

Of course, I cannot introduce this outstanding issue, which delves and deciphers so many critical issues of our times, without acknowledging that its fine achievements are in spite of straitened circumstances, the withdrawal of CSU support, not just from fourW, but from Arts in general. There is such blindness to the value of imagination, or artistic endeavours, it is heartbreaking in its blindness. All those who have worked for this journal over the years are to be congratulated for sustaining writers in these gloomy times. 

Thank goodness for David’s introducing the issue with Dickens’ famous words...it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness ...it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair ...The qualities of the writings in this journal have always belonged with wisdom and hope, with light, never more so than now."

Andy Kissane reading his Booranga Prize winning poem 'Sacrifice'

Tracie Miller, Bev Smith, David Gilbey, Steve Sharman

Bev Smith and Kathryn Halliwell

Jill Jones: September Writer-in-Residence

Booranga's 2018 Writer-in-Residence program continues in September with our final writer for 2018, award-winning poet Jill Jones, in residence from 18 September to 30 September.

Jill Jones has published eleven full-length books of poetry, including Viva the Real (UQP 2018), Brink (Five Islands Press 2017), and The Beautiful Anxiety (Puncher & Wattmann 2014) which won the Victorian Premier's Prize for Poetry in 2015. 


Her work is represented in a number of major anthologies including the Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature, Contemporary Australian Poetry and The Penguin Anthology of Australian Poetry. 

In 2014 she was poet-in-residence at Stockholm University. She is a member of the J.M. Coetzee Centre for Creative Practice, University of Adelaide.

http://www.jilljones.com.au/

Latest book: Brink, Five Islands Press
http://fiveislandspress.com/catalogue/brink-jill-jones


Jill's events are as follows:

Our 'members only' event is the Meet-the-Writer soiree to welcome Jill to Booranga. This is being held on Thursday 20 September, 6pm at Booranga. 
To register your attendance please RSVP booranga@csu.edu.au 

Also available is a limited number of one-on-one consultations with Jill. 
To submit a piece of writing for consideration please email  booranga@csu.edu.au

Writing Workshop

When: Saturday 22 September, 2pm to 4pm

Where: Booranga Writers’ Centre, Mambarra Drive, Wagga Wagga

Cost: Free for members, 

$10 donation is requested from non-members. RSVP

Public Reading:

When: Thursday 27 September, 5 pm 

Where: Historic Council Chambers
Fitzmaurice St. Wagga Wagga

Cost: Free  RSVP

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.

Maurice Corlett: Prize-winning Booranga poet

Maurice Corlett, long-time Booranga member, supporter, and current Committee member, recently gained third place in the Peter Cowan Poetry Prize with his poem Baker Street. “I have been sending poems away other the last couple of years and this is the best result yet,” said Maurice of his recent success.

We congratulate Maurice, a very worthy recipient, as he is a dedicated poet and a great supporter of all Booranga events behind the scenes and as well as being very generous with sharing his work in performance opportunities.

Born and raised in England, Maurice has had an interest in writing for many years. He was a founding member of Wagga Wagga Writers Writers (the forerunner of Booranga Writer's Centre) nearly thirty years ago. After an absence of several years he has returned to the group. Maurice writes poetry and prose and has been published in Booranga Writer's annual publication fourW for the last four years. Apart from writing, which he loves, he also enjoy reading his work aloud at Booranga's public readings.

BAKER STREET

Graham and me powering

our way in an old white ute

through the Wimmera after

a hard day’s toil in the heat

when Baker Street came on

the radio and I was transported

twelve thousand mile

back to London.

London – an hour on a fast

train from Brighton – where

the world seemed to be and

me walking through it

down Baker Street.

A strong sense of longing

overtook me as I sat in the

passenger’s seat knowing

that I could not go back

with Lyn waiting for me

and Renee toddling around

in the weatherboard

house in Horsham.

But I was no angel and if

it was Friday we would head

for the pub and stay there for

hours until Lyn came down

with the pram and got me out.

Now when I hear Baker Street

it reminds me of the mistakes

that we made and how things

could have been better.

Maurice Corlett