South Coast Writers Centre in Coledale, New South Wales | Arts and entertainment

South Coast Writers Centre

Locality: Coledale, New South Wales

Address: 745 Lawrence Hargrave Drive 2515 Coledale, NSW, Australia

Website: https://southcoastwriters.org

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• Non-profit organisation
• Community organisation
• Arts and entertainment

25.01.2022 State Government Grant programs in the arts are supposed to be based on fair, transparent and balanced criteria. Instead grant funding has been grossly politici...sed. Many arts bodies are missing out not because they dont have compelling offerings, driven producers and engaged audiences - but because their MP isnt mates with the right people. Thats not how things should work. Make a submission to the Grants Inquiry by 23 August and tell the inquiry just how damaging this has been for you, your organisation or the broader sector: https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au//P/inquiry-details.aspx

25.01.2022 Introducing our SCWC 2021 Book Reviewer! Andy Muir will be writing reviews on new releases of fiction and non-fiction every other month in 2021. Check out his first review of the memoir The Last Lighthouse Keeper (thanks to @allenandunwin) on our website through the link.

25.01.2022 "New books from authors including Richard Osman, Elena Ferrante and Raynor Winn helped last week, with 590 hardbacks published on 3 September, dubbed Super Thursday.

25.01.2022 Oh, look, thats me! Dear young humans or friends/family of young humans: you might want to check out the local paper todaytheres lots of good info about a great young writers program! And its yet another lovely thing coming out of the South Coast Writers Centre!

25.01.2022 NAIDOC Week 2020 acknowledges and celebrates that this nation’s story began long before documented European contact, and continues to be home to the oldest culture in the world, whose sovereignty of this land was never ceded. At the South Coast Writers Centre, we are paying our respects to the First Nations peoples in our community. Thanks to @koorimail you can read below about the latest Volume of Dreaming Inside: Voices from Junee Correctional Centre, a project begun by som...e of our key members that is now in its 8th year, and was launched by Wollongong Art Gallery last month. You can buy a copy of the latest and preceding volumes of Dreaming Inside on our website below and read poetry, songs and other writing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander inmates, with all proceeds going back to the Ngana Barangarai (Black Wallaby) program. https://buff.ly/32wNsqS

25.01.2022 South Coast Writers Centre under threat as Create NSW fails to fund regional writers centres. Watch the WIN TV report. You can support us here https://southcoastwriters.org/write-a-letter

25.01.2022 SCWC members, keep an eye on your inbox this afternoon for our September Book Giveaway! The Fogging is the debut novel from Luke Horton, whose writing has appeared in The Guardian, The Saturday Paper, and The Australian, and is the former editor of The Lifted Brow Review of Books. Find out how to win this free copy of The Fogging thanks to Scribe Publications in the newsletter. SCWC members only!

23.01.2022 Congratulations to the graduating UOW Creative Writing students of 2020! Dozens of students (including some of our interns from earlier this year!) put together a showcase to share the writing they had worked so hard on for the past three years or more, and in the process raised over $600 for the SCWC! We were both honoured and proud to have hosted the showcase at our premises in Coledale on the weekend, and have enjoyed reading the zine of writing that the students put together. We're excited to see where your writing takes you in the future!

22.01.2022 How great is it to see #southcoastwriters killing it in the literary industry? Wollongong City Libraries is inviting community members to put forward suggested questions for Tara June Winch ahead of their online talk with her on her award-winning novel The Yield, which they will be posting online in September. Questions need to be submitted to their Facebook page by noon tomorrow, dont miss out if youre dying to ask a question!

21.01.2022 The Wollongong Writers Festival starts in less than a week! Starting next Monday, 44 Australian and international writers will be joining them online to explore the human body through a range of lenses. Those lenses include the traumatised body, the non-white body, the trans body, the dying body, the non-monogamous body, the disabled body, the s*x worker’s body, the sick body, the ageing body, the s*xual body, the animal body, and bodies hidden by history.... If you haven't yet, now is the time to book your tickets to be part of this week-long conversation about writing and reading the body.

21.01.2022 Next up in our Bibliotherapy series is proud Gunai Woman and award-winning international writer of poetry, plays and picture books Kirli Rae! Thanks to Creative Wollongong, Kirli Saunders came in to tell us what reading she prescribes for these challenging times in this bite-sized video introduced by SCWC director Dr Sarah Nicholson and filmed at Merrigong Theatre Co.

20.01.2022 "Memory is a path into the unconscious. For the writer it can be an opportunity to reflect on life through topic, time and place, to make sense of the past and its impact on the present." Were excited to present a weekend intensive workshop on the craft of memoir writing, as part of the Shellharbour Enliven Program! Under the tutelage of Penny Bell, participants will complete writing exercises, analysis of effective published memoir extracts, and reflection on their own wri...ting, sharing with other participants if they are comfortable doing so. Click the link for more info and bookings!

20.01.2022 SCWCs future in jeopardy due to arts funding cuts

19.01.2022 We are less than two weeks from our gala launch! Next Saturday, we will be launching our new home in Coledale, our 2021 program, and the SCWC Poetry Award 2021. This is our a first gala fundraiser in a few years (hands up if you were at the gala dinner in 2016), and we're eager to see you all at the end of a busy year! Join us for a night of raffles, prizes, Ski Lankan curry, wine and live music from Coledale jazz pianist Kelvin Haisman. Tickets available here: https://buff.ly/2J4fNxP

18.01.2022 Want to be a writer but not sure how to start? Beginning in one month is a course tailored for the mature aged writer who is just getting started on their journey. Julie Keys, an Illawarra-based author who achieved writing success at 57 after a career in another field, will host this 5-week course at Coledale Community Hall Tuesdays 10.30am - 12pm, 6 Oct to 3 Nov.... $30/$35 per session. This course is for the writer who wants to flex their imagination and their writing muscles. It will explore what it is to be a writer, how we harness our ideas and experiences, and how to get words on the page despite our self-doubts and barriers. Book now and begin your journey!

18.01.2022 Happy birthday to Enough Said Poetry Slam! Now running for 8 YEARS, Enough Said is hosting their July anniversary slam online this Thursday. Register for your ticket to join the virtual audience and watch the open mic and feature poets do their thing!

17.01.2022 Congratulations to the writers that made it into the Prose & Poetry Longlists for the Heroines 2020 Writing Prize & Anthology! So excited to see who makes the Shortlists!

17.01.2022 Thank you WIN News Illawarra for coming into our office this week to talk to us about the current state of funding of the literary arts in NSW. If youd like to support the South Coast Writers Centre in this difficult time, consider becoming a member. Its a small annual fee, but it helps us have the capability for long-term planning. southcoastwriters.org/joinscwc

17.01.2022 The South Coast Writers Centre is THRILLED to announce our very own inaugural Poetry Award! Seeking poems on the theme of Every Body in conjunction with the Wollongong Art Gallery exhibition of the same name, this Award has a top prize of $1000 and is open from 1 September 2020 to 1 February 2021. Read below for more information, or visit our website to enter here: southcoastwriters.org/scwc-poetry-award-2021

17.01.2022 Love Australian Arts? Submit to the inquiry.

16.01.2022 If you are struggling with what to get your loved ones (or yourself) for Christmas this year - we got you! Click on the link below and get a fun book, workshop or experience! https://chuffed.org/project/savethescwc... Your contribution will also directly fund the protection of the SCWC and go towards: Supporting our new Emerging Aboriginal Writers Mentoring Program. Extending our Young Writers Program for writers 11 - 25 into the Eurobodalla and Bega Valley regions. Our 2021 program which includes: 10 months of poetry, training in audio books and podcasting, genre fiction workshops, writing awards, cabaret nights and more.

16.01.2022 Cheers to everyone who came to yesterday's SOLD OUT workshop on novel writing with Michael Mohammed Ahmad at Wollongong Library! The final workshop in our Writing the Distance series is Planning a Series with Alyssa J Montgomery on 12 December. We ran this same workshop last year to wonderful results, and are excited to hold it again at Wollongong Library. Book now before we sell out, this workshop is already half full! https://buff.ly/30b4euE

16.01.2022 Weve partnered with the Enliven Project from Shellharbour City Council to bring writing workshops to Shellharbour! Writer, Reiki healer, creative strategist, business coach and author of The Path of the Warrior art journal, Annette Loughlin-Smith will present this course which will explore the purpose, benefits and techniques of journaling, and ways to prepare for your practice. Head to our website through the link below to book your tickets to this FULL DAY workshop with Annette, and get started on your journaling journey.

14.01.2022 Would love to make your book into an audiobook, but you’re not sure how to get it done? Learn everything you need to know to take your books from PDF to MP3, including casting, the author’s role in the production cycle, distribution options, and promotion, in this workshop by audiobook narrator and producer Katherine Littrell: https://www.trybooking.com/BNCRE

14.01.2022 Less than 3 weeks until two of our best South Coast writers take a trip down to Moruya and Narooma and all this beautiful coast for River of Art! Hayley Scrivenor and Linda Godfrey will be running writing workshops in these two gorgeous coastal towns, bringing their prose-crafting expertise to our writers down on the Far South Coast. Head to Getting Past the Blank Page with Linda Godfrey and At The Top Of Your Voice with Hayley Scrivenor for more information if you live in the area, or if youd like to take a road trip for some sea air to work on your craft.

12.01.2022 At our Gala Launch in November, we were honoured to watch a performance of live readings from older members of the SCWC Young Writers Program, led by Helena Fox. Their writing was brilliant and moving, and all those present were blown away by the work of these young writers, some of whom have been part of the program with Helena for many years. The Young Writers Program will begin again in Week 2 of Term 1, 2021, with groups for ages 10-25 meeting weekly in Wollongong. Enrolments are open now: https://buff.ly/34ce01z

12.01.2022 "We are used to the interesting characters in Stephen Kings novels, so it is not surprising to discover the interesting character of the writer himself in his memoir/handbook On Writing." Up now on our website is a handy summary/review of Stephen Kings On Writing, a part memoir, part masterclass from the king of the thriller. Local writer and workshop facilitator Penny Bell has delved into this novel and brought up the golden pieces of advice for all writers, straight from the mind of Stephen King. Head to the link in our bio to read on, and check out our upcoming Memoir Writing Weekend Intensive with Penny Bell.

12.01.2022 This week marks the beginning of our Young Writers Program, but you can enrol your wonderful writer kids into any of the groups at any time! Bookings will remain open. Please get in touch if you have any queries, and note that every group will be running online (Zoom) for the first 4 weeks, and moving to in-person meetings if it is safe to do so in the NSWs current changing situation.

11.01.2022 Attention writers of the Far South Coast! Weve teamed up with River of Art to bring you writing workshops in Moruya and Narooma. Wollongong-based writers Hayley Scrivenor and Linda Godfrey will be coming down at the end of September to run 3-hour writing workshops as part of the River of Art Festival. Getting Past the Blank Page with Linda Godfrey presents a hands-on workshop aimed at writing a series of short pieces you can combine or develop separately. At The Top Of Your ...Voice with Hayley Scrivenor will be an interactive workshop centred on voice, character and point of view. Both these workshops will be run twice, on Sat 26 Sept at Moruya Golf Club, and again on Sun 27 Sept at Narooma School of Arts. Click the event names above for more information, or head to our website here: southcoastwriters.org/upcomingevents

10.01.2022 Were down to just ONE spot in our workshop series with award-winning author Heather Rose! If youd like to snag the final place in this 5-week course on novel writing, click the link below. SCWC members get $50 off!

09.01.2022 Merry Christmas to all those who celebrate it! The SCWC hopes you're having a WONDERFUL day with loved ones. If you didn't get as many books as you were hoping for (don't they know you at all?), remember our crowdfunding campaign with all its rewards is still open until the end of December. Picture books, thrillers, novels and anthologies are available for as little as $15. Help us get just a wee bit closer to our goal before we begin the new year as a Christmas gift to us ... https://chuffed.org/project/savethescwc

09.01.2022 UPDATE: Unfortunately Claire Zorn is no longer available to run Saturday's workshop on Novel Writing, but stepping in is Michael Mohammed Ahmad, author of The Lebs! Mohammed is an Arab-Australian writer, editor and community arts worker. He is the founding director of Sweatshop: Western Sydney Literacy Movement. In 2012, he received the Australia Council Kirk Robson Award in recognition of his outstanding achievements in community cultural development. Mohammed’s debut novel,... The Tribe (Giramondo, 2014), won the 2015 Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Novelists of the Year Award. His second novel, The Lebs (Hachette, 2018) received the 2019 NSW Premier’s Multicultural Literary Award and was shortlisted for the 2019 Miles Franklin Award. Ticket holders have been contacted (please check your email), and there are still TWO spots left in the workshop: https://buff.ly/30b4euE

09.01.2022 Guess what? The SCWC is now doing book reviews! With our new website up and running (bear with us as we work out the kinks), we now have the space to post regular book reviews. If youre a SCWC member and a passionate book reviewer, keep an eye out in the next newsletter for an exciting opportunity! Check out the full review of Markus Zusaks Bridge of Clay up on our website below.

09.01.2022 Ngana Barangarai (Black Wallaby) was saddened to hear of the passing of patron of the program, Col Markham. Col was a long-time supporter of Aboriginal rights and was the Shadow Minister for Aboriginal Affairs for six years and then Parliamentary Secretary for Aboriginal Affairs for eight. He was a personal friend of program instigator Aunty Barbara Nicholson and would regularly attend launches of Dreaming Inside, and wrote the preface for Volume Five, where he reiterated his desire for Aboriginal people to be able to tell their stories. The stories of Ngana Barangarai and Dreaming Inside have been enriched by his involvement. The program team offers its condolences to his wife Melissa and his family. Ngana Barangarai is saddened by this loss, but so proud to have had Cols support for so long.

08.01.2022 Meet the SCWC 2021 Book Reviewer: Andy Muir! Andy's reviews will be going up on our website throughout 2021, profiling new releases of Australian writing, predominantly from lesser-known authors and independent publishers so that we can uplift those new writing voices. Award nominated screenwriter and story researcher for the hugely successful Underbelly franchise, Andy Muir was nominated for a Ned Kelly for his debut crime fiction Something for Nothing (Affirm Press, 2017). The follow up Hiding to Nothing (Affirm Press, 2019) continues anti hero Lachie Munro’s misadventures. Awarded a 2019 Australian Society of Authors Fellowship, he is currently writing two new crime novels.

07.01.2022 Local author Gary McKay has just released his latest book Dancing in the Daintree. Book launch is on 2nd December! All welcome, but bookings MUST be made to: [email protected] owing to Covid restrictions. ... Based on an actual operation that Gary was involved in during his military service, this novel will make the perfect gift for Christmas and holiday reading.

07.01.2022 Fresh from the printer is our 2021 Program! We're so excited to show you all the events we have planned for the first few months of next year, come to our Gala Launch THIS Saturday to be the first to read all about it. Less than 20 tickets left! Book here: https://buff.ly/2J4fNxP

06.01.2022 Are you wondering what to get your really creative loved one for Christmas? Well look no more because we have got some awesome stocking fillers! Clink on the link and have your pick from the following really great options! https://chuffed.org/project/savethescwc Poet Tea... Mystery Book Vintage Print See more

05.01.2022 The 27th Annual Scarlet Stiletto Awards has arrived! Entries for the 2020 Womens Crime and Mystery Short Story Competition close 31 August. $10,460 in prizes, 5000 word limit.... Click the link for more information and download the submission form to enter!

04.01.2022 CALLING ALL PERFORMERS! 'Say It, Sing It' is a new regular event that offers the stage to local Illawarra talent on stage for a night of music, poetry, and singing in Coledale. Interested and want to learn more? Head to our website to fill out an expression of interest through the link in our bio.

04.01.2022 It is Day Two! This year has been challenging for all of us. Our local businesses could use your support. Get this perk for Christmas and help support business in the Illawarra! Clink on the link below and get yourself one of the following experiences. https://chuffed.org/project/savethescwc... x1 $30 Uluwatu Blue voucher x1 $50 Boho Chic Boutique & Emporium Gift Voucher 2021 VIP networking pass Lunch with the Director See more

04.01.2022 Only two weeks until the SCWC School Holiday Program! All day on Thursday 14 January, Coledale Community Hall will be filled with writing workshops for story-loving kids of all ages between 8 and 18. Authors Sandy Fussell and Helena Fox will guide your youngsters through crafting stories of their own, and you can enjoy a quiet day getting things done or enjoying the local cafes and coastline.... Check out the full program right here and enrol your kids today: https://buff.ly/2Ipn8YS

04.01.2022 The 2021 Peter Porter Poetry Prize is open for submissions until October 1st, 2020! Your poem could win you up to $6000! Click the link for more information and to submit your work!

03.01.2022 The South Coast Writers Centre Six Days of Christmas! DAY 1- Get something for your little ones to enjoy this Christmas. This will also help in keeping SCWC alive to support writers and creators located in the South Coast.... Click the Link below to get something for the kids. https://chuffed.org/project/savethescwc Get this perk and you would be sent one of the following (randomly selected) books! Just a Rabbit My Rainforest Classroom Remembering Mother Nature Simon and the Sad Salad Tom's Tears Uncle Marlow's Machine Ella and the Exploding Fish Samson C. Turtle The Day We Went to Away Pat Simmons Children’s Books (x3) George Little Spiral Ziggy's Zoo Nature Writing for Children (x1) See more

03.01.2022 Got kids who love reading and creating stories of their own? Book in and drop them off at the South Coast Writers Centre’s school holiday program for a day of interactive workshops for primary and high school-aged readers and writers at Coledale Community Hall! First up on the day will be Minecrafting a Story with Sandy Fussell from 10am.... This one-hour workshop for ages 8-10 by children's author Sandy Fussell uses elements of Minecraft gameplay to write a story: Fill your Minecraft inventory with the items needed for storytelling; Use the crafting table to make your story more compelling with increased exciting action, extra creepy atmosphere and really scary monsters that leap of the page. Perfect for Minecraft gamers, fantasy readers and anyone interested in stories (you don’t need to have played Minecraft to enjoy this workshop). The day also features two workshops for older kids with YA author Helena Fox, check out the full roster of activities and book your kids right here: https://www.trybooking.com/BMTRA

02.01.2022 Submissions open for Merrigongs Digital Artist Residency

02.01.2022 Our online 5-part workshop series with award-winning author Heather Rose is coming up soon in September! Heathers workshop will take the group through the basics of novel writing through two hour interactive sessions to cover both the craft and the psychology of writing a novel. Click the link to buy your tickets now!

02.01.2022 School Holidays are right around the corner, as is our awesome online school holiday program! These workshops have limited spots so make sure you purchase your tickets before they run out. Book your tickets through our websites upcoming events page: southcoastwriters.org

01.01.2022 November’s Member Book Giveaway is Darkfall by Indigo Perry! If you're an SCWC member, keep an eye out for tomorrow's newsletter in your email inbox for the chance to win a free copy of this great historical fiction novel. Darkfall is a potent and unforgettable work of compelling writing about an adolescence lived in an Australian country town in the 1980s: desolate, dusty and bleak.