My Residency at The Fellowship of Australian Writers Western Australia

photo by Matt Biocich

Over the month of August I will be Writer in Residence at the Fellowship of Australian Writers Western Australia.

The Fellowship of Australian Writers in Western Australia is celebrating its 75th year. It has supported some iconic Western Australian writers over the years.

The Fellowship is a national organisation and was founded in Sydney in 1928. Henrietta Drake-Brockman and Katharine Susannah Pritchard were already members of the Sydney group, and were instrumental in urging John K. Ewers to form the organisation in Western Australia. In 1938 John K. Ewers was elected as foundation president in WA. Other founding members included Walter Murdoch,  Mary Durack and Mollie Skinner.

In December 1938 the newly formed foundation hosted a dinner for visiting British author, H.G. Wells. This was just the beginning of a fascinating story that has become the Fellowship of Australian Writers WA.

 

Today's Fellows are:

• Prof. Brian Dibble
• Betty Durston
• Kevin Gillam
• John Harman
• Nicholas Hasluck
• John Kinsella (Patron)
• Andrew Lansdown
• Joyce Parkes
• Glen Phillips (honorary life member)
• Barbara Temperton
• Trevor Todd
• Janet Woods
• Barbara Yates-Rothwell
• Barbara York Main
• Norma King
• Pat Lowe
• Ruth Marchant James
• Shane Macaulay
• Andrew Burke
• Murray Jennings.

Alumni (past writers in residence):

Robert Drewe (2013)
Jeremy Balius
1998 – Trevor Todd, Julia Lawrinson
1999 – Cecily Scutt, Georgia Richter
2000 – Kevin Gillam, Tracey Ryan
2001 – Steven Dedman, Jaya Mullamby
2002 – Glynn Parry, Kate Ramage
2003 – Megan McKinley, Alan Hancock
2004 – Allan Boyd
2005 – Natasha Lester, Chris McLeod, Nola Hosking, Shevaun Cooley
2006 – Terry Whitebeach, Sarah French, Michael Farrell, Lily Chan
2007 – Bronwyne Thomason, Andrew Burke, Alli Barnard
2008 – Lucas North
2009 – Adriana Ellis, Helen Venn, Les Wicks
2010 – no funding
2011 – John Mateer, Liana Joy Christensen, Rachel Robertson, Sue Woolfe, Peter Bishop
2012 -  Horst Kornberger, Janet Blagg (editor), Janet Jackson, Scott-Patrick Mitchell, Christina Neubauer, Amanda Curtin (editor), Laurie Steed, Campbell Jeffreys

You can read more about the history of the Fellowship of Australian Writers WA at http://fawwa.org.au/history/

Trisha Kotai-Ewers is the daughter of foundation president John K. Ewers, and has recently completed a Ph. D. dissertation on the history of the organisation.

The Book Length Project Group (BLPG) is hosted by the Fellowship of Australian Writers WA , and meets once a month at Mattie Furphy's house. Mattie Furphy was Joseph Furphy's daughter-in-law and an artist who worked in copper, much of which can be seen incorporated into Tom Collins House (Tom Collins was Joseph Furphy's pen name). Tom Collins House was gifted to FAWWA by Samual Furphy, Joseph's son, and is also located on the Fellowship premises in Swanbourne WA.

My residency at FAWWA

During my residency I will be hosting two workshops on Saturday afternoons. The first will include exercises borrowed from the world of theatre to develop depth in characterisation. The second will look at theatrical techniques for developing believable dialogue. They will be held on Saturday 17 August 2013 1.30 - 4.30pm (Character development) and Saturday 24 August 2013 (Dialogue). The cost is $22 per workshop for FAWWA members and $33 for non-members and you can book by registering with FAWWA (email: admin@fawwa.org.au ).

I have also invited interested people to join me for Quiet Time on the mornings of Monday and Wednesday, to share the space and work quietly on their projects. This is unstructured time to write from 10 -12.30 after which we will share lunch and conversation. It is limited to 5 people and if you are interested, again you can contact FAWWA at   admin@fawwa.org.au to register. A contribution of $5 per session to cover coffee, tea and utilities, and bring your own lunch if you want to stay on afterwards.