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Showing posts from 2017

The Future's So Bright (I Gotta Wear Shades)

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photo: elle ds photography Decadent December has dawned. So much I haven’t blogged about. What the hell happened to 2017? My year was dedicated to up skilling and finding employment. That old chestnut. When  most of your adult working life has been arts projects and casual/part-time employment in the arts, education and disability sectors, the future can look grim. So I completed a Certificate 3 in Individual Support (Disability and Ageing) and got some work with Tutti Arts , a terrific company making arts accessible to people living with disabilities. I worked a cross a range of programs – visual art, performance and writing poetry. Poetry has been where it’s at this year. It feels like going back to my roots. I remember writing poems as a kid, feeling pride at having set something down that told a story or explored an idea. I wrote a poem about Ned Kelly, about digging, and at fifteen one that asked questions about identity (though at the time I didn’t know

Introduction to Short Story writing

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My Introduction to Short Story Writing (short) course is on again. Oh yay ! I hear you shout. Here then, shouters, are the details: The course is focussed on the fundamentals of writing such as character, setting, dialogue, point of view and metaphor. In each session you will read, discuss and write (and probably laugh, or at least groan, at my bad jokes). You will learn to reflect and analyse your own writing methods and style. Learning how to effectively critique the work of others without breaking hearts or egos is also an important element of the course. You will complete extended writing exercises at home between fortnightly sessions.  Or not. Like most courses, you'll get out of it as much as you're willing to put in. At the end of it all you will have completed a short story (or flash fiction) of about 1000 words long. You will also have (hopefully) gained a deeper understanding and appreciation of the elements of writing fiction. Reading will never be the sam

Things we do when we're not doing writing

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--> Last time I blogged I was about to compete in a Slam Poetry final. That was a whole lot of nerve-wracking fun and while I didn’t win (the winner was the wonderful Alison Bennett ), it sparked a fire in me. So I performed again at the Goolwa Slam on the Fleurieu Peninsula and, again, made it to the finals. Then, a few months later, I was a finalist in the Summer Slam here in Adelaide. I’ve been performing my poems at other poetry reading nights too. They’re a great platform to try out different things and are helping me get braver in my performances. Lo and behold, the heats of the 2017 state slam are just around the corner, so I look forward to getting in among it all again. Then there's the matter of employment. I needed to work. But first I needed to study. That took 5 months. Now I’ve got my Certificate 3 in Individual Support (Disability and Ageing) and I’m happy to say that it has led to me teaching poetry at Tutti Arts. Tutti describe themselves a