SOUTH AUSSIES AT THE NATIONAL YOUNG WRITERS FESTIVAL 2016

October 8, 2016Leave a comment

Now in its 19th year, the National Young Writers’ Festival, creative partner of the much celebrated TiNA (This is Not Art festival), just keeps getting better.

This year, South Australian co-director, Annie Waters and her team upheld the long-running festival tradition of diversity and inclusion. They were looking for minority voices, multi-disciplinary workshops, fresh conversations and creative interpretations on theme. No conversation was too taboo. No pitch was left unturned. This resulted in a fascinating variety of workshops, round-table discussions, panels, games, debates and stalls.

And South Australian voices were not in short supply. South Aussies and SA Writers Centre members in attendance included Sarah Gates, Royce Kurmelovs, Phoebe Paterson de Heer, Anthony Nocera (current Digital Writer-in-Residence), Shaylee Leach, Simone Corletto and Joshua Mensch to name a few – all were glad to escape the blackouts, storms and flooding for 26 degrees and blue skies.

The 2016 festival theme, ‘Get Lost,’ attracted over 117 presenters (not to mention attendees), 23 pop-up venues, labyrinth-inspired parties and mysterious Amazing Race-esque games. So jam-packed was the program, it was hard not to get lost in the creative pandemonium. In other words, I was not the only one who was wishing for a time-turner in order to make it to all the amazing events.

“The only possible way to fit everything I want to see at this festival is to constantly rock up halfway through [each event]” – Simone Corletto

From the very first night of readings on Thursday 29th September (back by popular demand), the high standard was set. Special guest writers exchanged childhood photos and had the crowd laughing, crying and exclaiming in delight over their astounding interpretations of character, narrative and voice.

Then came a full day of bike-decorating, learning how to produce a podcast on the museum tram with the talented crew at ‘All The Best Radio,’ writing for television with Neighbours screen writer Magda Wozniak, fortune telling through native flowers, and the heated debates of ‘Science Fiction versus Science’ over who can ‘tell us more’ about the end of the world.

Minds warmed up as we delved into the uncertain future of arts funding and journalism, and were soothed again by poetry inspired by place and landscape. We talked about gender representation in fashion and threw away traditional ‘stand up’ comedy forms at Friday night’s open mic event.

And then of course, there was the much loved festival ball. Labyrinth themed, showcasing some serious glitter, fairy lights and ‘out of this world’ dance moves and ending with late night dips in the Sea Baths.

There was something for everyone. Even those who were simply after some quaint sea-side reflective calm or coffee chats with other artists at the many cute cafes along the main street.

While the future of the writing industry might be the Labyrinth of all Labyrinths, creativity isn’t going anywhere. And neither is this festival. Due to the passion and drive of its organisers and contributing artists, it’s only getting bigger and better. So, keep an eye out for the next one!

“It’s been really beautiful to be amongst what feels like … a community and where art doesn’t feel like a beauty pageant. #NYWF ” – Shaylee Leach

For more information on how and when to apply for next year’s festival:

Twitter: @NYWF

Website: www.youngwritersfestival.org

Facebook: www.facebook.com/youngwritersfestival

Article first published on the SA Writers Centre website

Mentorship with Sean Williams thanks to Carclew PD grant

December 2, 2015June 22, 2016Leave a comment

It’s official – 2016 is going to be a good year!

I just found out I have been awarded a $3000 grant to develop a YA fantasy novel under the tutelage of New York Times best-selling author, Sean Williams, commencing January next year. Thank you to Carclew for their constant and enduring support of the creative arts and for backing my proposal.

Now to morph into the biggest knowledge sponge over the new year.

For all those looking for a dependable funding body for their creative pursuits, I definitely recommend Carclew.

See information on their project development grants here.

For a full list of the 2016 round 1 recipients click here.

Feature image: Assisted by the South Australian Government through Carclew.

I made my own colour thesaurus

October 26, 2015June 22, 20164 Comments

After being inspired by Ingrid Sunberg’s ‘The Colour Thesaurus‘, I decided to put my day job to good use and share some of the wonderful colour names I come across as a showroom assistant at a kitchen cabinet company.

Every year, new colours of laminate, natural/composite stones, acrylics, timbers, metals, paints come in, and some of them have some extremely creative and inspiring names which I’ve shared below with the hope of inspiring others in their narrative descriptions.

Enjoy!

Clear/white

Diamond, salt, icicle, polar, crystal, snowdrift, alpine, quartz, fleece, foam, silica, talc, dove, sorbet, mist, swan, alpine, avalanche, Everest, birch, calacatta

Cream

Pearl, champagne, parchment, cappucchino, latte, porcelain, pannacotta, linen, antique, chalk, eggshell, putty, limed, nougat, pannacotta, frappe, crème brulee, carrina marble, ivory, clamshell, atlantic, alabaster, alpaca, twine, moleskin

Grey/silver

Smoke, palladium, iridium, ash, iron, gunmetal, nickel, oyster, carbon, armour, concrete, sarsen, pewter, platinum, seal, pumice, fossil, basalt, slate, soapstone

Yellow

Malt, buttermilk, ginseng, sand, chamois, honeycomb

Brown

Quarry, caraway, leather, char, cinder, truffle, wenge, hazel, cocoa, walnut, biscuit, taupe, cinnamon, kashmir/cashmere, mocha, feldspar, husk, macadamia, sable, bronze, teak, balsa, bamboo, maple, oak, mahogany, reed, straw, macchiato, shitake, clay, jute, peat, caper, espresso, moose, heartwood, russet, tawny

Black

Graphite, peppercorn, flint, ashphalt, aniseed, galileo, swan, raven, battalion, ebony, eclipse, midnight, licorice, volcano, domino

Red

Cabernet, tulip, redgum, alder, cherry, raspberry

Orange

Tangello, caviar, persimmon, mandarin, Olympic orange

Blue

Lagoon, peacock, teal, china, ocean, bay

Green

Snowgum, zinc, sorrel, jalapeno, olive, lichen, grass, spring, pesto, Amazon

Pink

Blush, posie, coral

Purple

Eggplant, plum

Thank you SA Life Magazine and SA Writers Centre

October 3, 2015June 22, 2016Leave a comment

Was very excited to get a text message from a workmate last week saying: “Your photo is in the latest issue of SA Life! Page 44.” Lo and behold I went and bought myself a copy and found this!

It’s an article about the South Australian Hachette mentoring program I received with in-house editor Sophie Hamley for my YA speculative fiction manuscript, Gold. A big thanks to Vanessa Jones at SA Writers Centre for making this happen. It’s lovely to get an acknowledgement in such a fancy magazine!

cited to

Hachette Mentoring Program Announcement!

August 6, 2015June 22, 2016Leave a comment

I’m so stoked to be able to finally spill the beans. I’ve been chosen as a joint recipient of SA Writers Centre’s 2015 Hachette Mentoring Program alongside writer friend, Rose Hartley for my YA speculative fiction manuscript tentatively entitled Gold. Here’s what ran through my head after finding out the news. *See SA Writers Centre Press Release for full article.

“When I found out I’d be commencing a mentorship with Sophie Hamley from Hachette, I spent a good hour just hyperventilating from excitement. It was clear that this could be the most important learning opportunity in my writing journey so far.

To me, writing has always been a solitary process – highly creative, subjective, and extremely hard to contextualise within the realities of the publishing industry. Who’s my market audience? What’s my brand? These are not typically the questions running through my mind while I’m at home, alone, lost in a fantasy world, shooting my characters with ice arrows.

But the more I’ve learnt about writing and reading, the more I’ve come to realise that craft and industry go hand-in-hand. Sometimes the difference between a highly ‘creative person’ and a ‘novelist’ can be the mere integration of these two skills. This is why the chance to work with an industry professional from an established brand with a target audience in mind will be invaluable to my learning. It will give me the clarity and confidence to take my writing to a new level and bring me one step closer to my goal of sharing my stories real-life readers.

I can’t thank SA Writers Centre, Sophie Hamley and Hachette enough for this invaluable opportunity. It’s safe to say I’ve never been so eager to work so hard!”

17 Questions a Publisher Might Ask of your Novel at a Pitching Session!

July 26, 2015June 22, 2016Leave a comment

From the 24th to the 26th of July 2015, I was lucky enough to attend SA Writers Centre’s ‘Pitch Conference’ – an intensive three days of pitch workshops and 5 minute pitch sessions with publishers. It was the first time the conference was held in Adelaide and was made possible by the tireless work of SA Writers Centre staff including Director, Sarah Tooth and program director, Bethany Clark and funding bodies such as Arts SA.

Attendance was stellar and included the likes of Tim Tomlinson, President of New York Writers Workshop where the conference first began, and Australian publishers such as Kate Blake (Penguin), Sophie Hamley (Hachette), Meredith Curnow (Random House), Roberta Ivers (Simon and Schuster), Angus Fontaine (Pan Macmillan).

It was an extremely successful event with 27 out of 42 participants receiving requests from publishers and a total of 44 manuscripts being requested (some by multiple publishers). It was an invaluable opportunity for Adelaide writers to pitch their manuscripts directly to interstate publishers.

Here are some of the questions the publishers asked:

Does your book have a central question / theme?
What are some comparison titles?
What are some comparison titles from Australian writers?
Where did you set the book? Where would you imagine it being set? Why?
Can you speak to broader concerns relating to the current political landscape of your novel?
Main attraction of your book? Why would a reader gravitate to it?
Is there a love interest? What’s the pacing of the romance?
What’s the pacing of the story like? Backstory – journey – main conflict – resolution? How long does it take to get to the journey?
Where did you get your inspiration from?
What was your writing process in coming up with this story?
Plot-driven or character driven? Why?
Is there more than one main character? If so, how did you separate the voices?
In what POV / tense is your novel written?
What is the turning point of the novel?
What are you willing to do to assist with selling your book?
Why would our book be interesting to women? (Women make up 70% of market in terms of readers).
Have you been published before? If not, what have you done to improve your writing?

Extra tips (nuggets of gold)

Answer the publisher’s questions as succinctly as possible. Don’t give convoluted answers or a scene-by-scene run-down of what happens in the novel.
Use buzzwords and punchy adjectives. Write your pitch in an active voice.
Use language that connects with the mood/tone of book’s world but make sure it’s not in the book’s prose.

Liana Skrzypczak

Writer | Educator

Tag: books