PO Box 386
Tully Qld 4854
Licuala Writers Group is based in Tully (with members
from Mission Beach) meets once a month (unless otherwise advised).
Email newsletter of writing opportunities and events in the area
and all members receive the Queensland Writer's Centre newsletter as pdf or link as have a group membership which reduces
the cost of receiving this newletter (lists writing opportunities and news from around Queensland.)
Currently around 10 members. New members welcome.
Several of the group have an interest in visual arts, community
development, writing for children & photography.
Looking
to build links with other local regional writing groups and collaborate in applying for grants to have more writing workshops
and opportunties in the Cassowary Coast and regional areas of NQ. Web address: http://licualawrite.wordpress.com
Membership currently $10.
Licuala Writers Meet - Saturday
March 13th 2010
Our session ended with a sparkly hat,
shaped like a star fish, an octopus – jingling and ringing, smelling like damp felt, and began with an information session
about the newly planned Mission Beach Arts centre. A lively discussion followed Peter Faulkner’s
(From Conus Business Consultancy Services) point presentation concerning the background to how the centre came about, what is planned and how
we can be involved. We felt that there was potential for collaborations across art forms, including writers, multimedia artists,
and artists to create new works at such a centre, providing it is set up in a way that allows that to happen.
Some of our members felt that the Arts Centre would need an enormous support from the whole community to be really
viable and was not convinced that would happen. But overall the response of our group was that we would
like to be involved in future planning meetings to ensure that writers are a part of the local art’s centre vision.
After a brief discussion of our plans
for the year, which are many, and we will soon announce, we were treated to a talk and creative writing session with David
Conley, a retired journalist. David happened to be in the area visiting Sally Moroney and Adrian Walker
and offered to pop in and visit us, a chance we jumped at as it’s interesting to have visitors with a different take
on writing.
David was born in the USA and completed
his initial studies in journalism there prior to traveling to Australia and PNG in the early 1970's, He was given work by
Alan Hudson, then editor of the Cairns Post to continue a brilliant career in newspapers which was to include many awards
and working for numerous Queensland media outlets. He returned to the Cairns Post as Chief of Staff in 1994 before taking
up a position as lecturer in journalism at the University of Queensland in 1995. Here he completed his PhD on the topic of
journalists who became notable authors and how this transition had taken place. During his time at UQ David co-authored with
fellow journalist Steven Lamble, a widely read textbook entitled The Daily Miracle,
designed as an introductory volume for journalism students and one which has not been out of print since its initial publication.
David has also written extensively
within the fiction genre with his popular novel The Gibbles being his best
known work. Today, he enjoys a semi-retired lifestyle whilst dabbling in travel writing and continuing to develop his
fictional concepts with a view to a further novel.
The session with David was productive
and fun. After we all introduced ourselves, and David spoke to us about his take on creativity and background
into writing. We were encouraged to work towards doing away with clichés, with an engaging exercise involving compressed conflicts.
Working with the machine, chainsaw and the animal, snake we matched descriptors and our sense of being the snake and
chainsaw to form sentences where things that looked like they should not go together were deliberately matched. Smells
growled, itches were smooth, and sentences like this were created by participants - I invisibly
undulate towards my favourite meal - fresh frog. With an extravagant gesture she checked the time on her irritatingly expensive watch.
– and so
on.
We enjoyed reading out our ‘creative
sentences.’ David commented that it was a great afternoon meeting our delightful group of writers
and we ended with some food and a group photograph.
For more information contact
junepaisa99@yahoo.com.au. and see our site http://licualawrite.wordpress.com
The group meets once a month.
By the Licuala Writers’
Group.
Last Updated: 15th March 2010
