townsville stories and townsville authors

i am discovering more richly evocative townsville literature, thanks to library colleagues who have lived here for longer than I. and soon it will be time again for one title one townsville, which was such a success earlier this year with alex miller's journey to the stone country.

which book will be the one that all townsville reads?

i have most enjoyed estelle pinney's house on the hill because estelle portrayed the multiculturalism of townsville, and her characters covered the landscape well.
the story revolves mostly around a family of women, but the men are also strongly drawn, especially Nicos, the Greek cafe owner and Belle's sometimes lover.

a few weeks ago i smelled the luscious aroma of monsoon season that so beautifully conveys our northern summer mood. it was still autumn.

today i started kay donovan's bush oranges. kay writes the monsoon so beautifully.

For the first two months in Tully it rained every day, sheets of rain. Heavy, drenching rain you couldn't walk through.... The rainforest shaded the house and kept the inside cool and moist, even when the clouds cleared enough to let the tropical sun shine through. (Donovan, 2001, pp 38-39).

Set in the brooding, tempestuous climate of North Queensland from the 1920s to the 1990s... (from jacket blurb)

I love that NQ's climate is tempestuous and the landscape evocative. Not for us the ordinary adjectives like 'liveable' and 'friendly'.

Bush Oranges has multiple female narrators with many local landmarks making the cut: The Strand, Belgian Gardens, the Criterion Hotel, Magnetic Island and Tully. One of my grandmothers was born in Tully, and NQ remains her favourite place. She dreams about it from Brisbane.

With my cataloguing colleague, Anne, I plan to create a local authors/local stories page on the library website where we highlight some evocative Townsville literature from our collection. Although I have not yet read Thea Astley's The Multiple Effects of Rainshadow, I expect we will include that. Thea Astley taught school here and visited the city library here (not in its present location). And of course Janette Turner Hospital, who I understand taught at JCU some time ago.

This is going to be such fun.

slice

this cover could only have been more perfect if steven herrick's new YA novel was a verse novel, because here I blogged about verse novels in summer watermelon moments, and of course mentioned steven herrick.

but, read anyway. it's steven herrick.

writing real lives

can historians write literary narrative? can writers write history if they're not historians? do you have to know your real subject to write about them? what methods are used to capture the real life on the page?


three queensland writers opened up to their audience last night at thuringowa library to reveal the essence of creative nonfiction and their work within the genre.

Bob James spoke about his oral history project for his masters' at James Cook University on the Gugu Badhun people. Over a three year period he conducted many interviews, attended many camps, and took many photographs to produce a historical work with the voices of the people involved faithfully recorded.

Deborah Carlyon spoke about her journey to realisation of her book Mama Kuma: One woman, two cultures - an exploration of her Papua New Guinean grandmother's tribal life. This book was awarded the Queensland Premiers Literary Awards (2001) for an Emerging Queensland Author. Deborah interviewed her grandmother while she was still living, and then interviewed family members from their PNG village, as well as researching in libraries and archives to establish facts and dates to satisfy a western audience's demand.
She noted that the PNG villagers were not so concerned with pinpointing dates and ages.
She had asked 'how old was Mama Kuma when that happened?' and received the response, 'she didn't have breasts then, she was still a girl'.

Dr Lindsay Simpson spoke about her path to nonfiction writing. She has written about famous and infamous people, some she has met, others she has not. Coming from a journalistic background and working as a court reporter, Dr Simpson developed a love for finding out more. she said that a newspaper feature was not big enough - she needed to move into books.
she has interviewed prisoners in jail, researched, learned to dive when she was writing about a diver, and has co-written with other authors. Dr Simpson is currently Head of Journalism at James Cook University.

An inspiring evening, organised by the fabulous Lifelong Learning Team at CityLibraries Townsville.

edward scissorhands was an editor

Cut here

Townsville’s literary scene is shaping up well. Workshops and events all over the calendar – and this is one you won’t want to miss. Shelley Kenigsberg will be at Thuringowa Central library on Saturday 29 May with her workshop The Kindest Cut: Editing for Writers. Fiction and non-fiction writers at any stage of development should book in now through QWC because your work’s going to come out looking shapelier. More balanced.

I have the impression from Shelley’s work that a good editor is like an author’s inner Edward Scissorhands. The Ed. works with the author to shape, to cut, to build, to capture a rhythm, to ensure the emergence of the true work. They realize a vision together – and that’s a win for readers because they don’t have to chew through a tangle of redundant words, images and characters to get to the meat.


Every word its place. In Shelley’s workshop writers will examine elements such as writing style and word choice, voice, viewpoint, dialogue, beginnings, ends and middles, flow, balance and structure. Shelley freelances, and is also owner of SK Publishing and coordinator of the Macleay College Diploma in Book Editing and Publishing. She has developed and presented courses for editors globally. She even edits in paradise!


Some of us have a few squiggles and a bit of knowledge in our repertoire to handle copy editing – fixing grammar, spelling and semantics errors. Structural editing? It can make a book fly! And readers certainly notice if the editing hasn’t been much chop. Shelley quotes Le Guin quoting Chekhov when she advocates cutting out your first three pages to find where your story really begins. I’m still editing my 22ish line poem about Brisbane after fabulous structural editing advice from Julie Beveridge. Editing’s a journey.


If you’re ready to take that journey, book through QWC for the Townsville workshop.


Develop your passion - check out the Society of Editors and pop The Style Manual in your pocket.


And don’t be shy. If you go to Shelley’s workshop – tell me how amazing your work is post-edit.

For this post I'm guest blogging for QWC - check out the Empty Page Blog

writers in townsville

this month in townsville - Alex Miller (Journey to the Stone Country) and Narelle Oliver (Fox and Fine Feathers).

Townsville recently joined a small Australian list of cities running the One Book One City concept with Alex Miller's JTTSC for One Book One Townsville. Alex hosted a book discussion at Riverway and a writers' workshop in Flinders Street library - both well attended.Salisbury  runs OBOC. Brisbane used to until the great Malouf v. Sparrow debate and it split into a writing competition called One Book Many Brisbanes where the resulting book has short stories featuring Brisbane.
So now Townsville joins this list. Where else in Australia is this done? The US has a website to list all the OBOC sites/books. In May One Book One Twitter is on.
What will Townsville read next?

And Narelle Oliver is in town this week for the Books North literature festival. Narelle grew up in and around Toowoomba a little before me. Her most recent book Fox and Fine Feathers is on the shortlist for the CBC Awards. This is a wonderful opportunity for Townsvillians to meet this incredibly talented Australian writer/illustrator, and to learn from her work.
I met her in Mackay some years ago at a SLAQ conference where she talked to us about the process of her work being used as design in the children's area at Brisbane Square Library.
My favourite: The Best Beak in Boonaroo Bay - because it's set at the beach, and it's fun.

and I guest blog @ Sally Murphy's about children's poetry

Shout about it! Sally Murphy has a new book out - Toppling;  a verse novel. To celebrate its release Sally asked authors, readers, teachers and librarians to participate in a blog tour on her blog during March.
We were asked to respond to the topic, What I like about children's poetry.
Here's my post from over there (reposted below) - check Sally's blog during March for others' musings on children's poetry. And read Toppling!


summer watermelon moments

What fun to be guest blogging on Sally’s site on what I like about children’s poetry!
I like the zing of verse novels; their raw emotional intensity. They look just like other novels sitting on the shelf, but open them and you find words, carefully chosen words strung together in free verse with the power to crumple your heart and open your mind.


I discovered YA verse novels while working in a school library, first Steven Herrick’s, then Margaret Wild and Catherine Bateson’s titles. I was amazed how these authors could tell such compelling tales using so few words and so much white space. On the first page the reader is introduced to the characters, the narrator and the situation and then quickly flung into the action. The reader feels a part of this wild ride. It can be a quick read because of the economy of words, but intense.


Children love poetry written for them because it speaks of their experiences, their lives. Think of Laura Purdie Salas’ Stampede!: Poems to celebrate the wild side of school. And to have these poems read aloud or performed! Audiences quickly make the connection that poetry is life captured on the page (or stage). Congratulations to Sally, who’s adding to the genre with Toppling.


My challenge: add a poetry wall to your home, your school, your place of work. Encourage people to write their poems in ink, on postcards or post-its, or project poems onto the surface. Use magnetic poetry. Poetry forces you to clarify your thoughts.
Just like that pure moment when you bite into your first summer watermelon!

check out a verse novel - and feel yourself falling into the story

Best wishes Sally!

reviews

CMIS Fiction Focus (print and online)
Slice: Juicy Moments from my Impossible Life by Steven Herrick, 2010 at CMIS Resource Bank
Shark Girl by Kelly Bingham, 2010 at CMIS Resource Bank
The Worst Thing She Ever Did by Alice Kuipers, 2010 at CMIS Resource Bank
Rebel by R.J. Anderson, 2010 at CMIS Resource Bank
The Black Book of Colours by Menena Cottin, 2010 at CMIS Resource Bank
After by Sue Lawson, 2010, available online at CMIS Resource Bank
End of the Alphabet by Fleur Beale, 2010, available online at CMIS Resource Bank

M/C Reviews: Words 
Australia Dances: Creating Australian Dance 1945-1965 by Allan Brissenden and Keith Glennon, 2010, available online at M/C Reviews

Allen and Unwin Teachers Reviews
The Winds of Heaven by Judith Clarke, 2009, available online
Mouse Noses on Toast by Daren King, 2007, available online

Writing Queensland, QWC
The Runes of Odin by Ben Julien, issue 164, July 2007, p20.

VATE Newsletter
The Peach Season by Debra Oswald, no. 4, September 2007.
The Tattooed Flower: A Memoir by Suzy Zail, no. 4, September 2007.
The Secrets of Eromanga by Sheryl Gwyther, no. 3, June 2007.
The Legacy of Odin by Ben Julien, no. 3, June 2007.

API Review of Books, Curtin University of Technology, W.A.
No Place Like Home: Australian stories by young writers aged 8-21 years, edited by Sonja Dechian, Jenni Devereaux, Heather Millar and Eva Sallis, issue 44, July 2006.
Available online

Aussie Reviews
Platypus Deep by Jill Morris, June 2006. Available online
Bertie and the Bear by Pamela Allen, April 2006. Available online

tropical summer mood

the strand on sunday 27 december

north queensland's wet season began on christmas night and it's been quite unlike anything i've experienced. almost immediately, and certainly after a week of night rain, i felt that the weather was actually a character in this story we live. it has substance enough to be a character, more correctly i should say it provides an incredible sense of atmosphere or setting - it is full with passion and outbursts of frangipani blossoms.

frangipanis blooming at the strand

my attention has particularly been on rainfall as i have been pool-sitting for friends and have been careful to keep the level just so. the record-breaking torrential rain of Wednesday night/Thursday morning (206.8mm - Townsville's wettest December day) was described as a deluge, and yes, it filled that pool up well. required a few bomb dives to get it down a little for the next deluge.

it's been a while since i've lived in a place with weather. weather so pervading that it can be described in innumerable ways and can provide direction for people's lives. toowoomba had the fog that descended and made people huddle close. no such thing as central heating, we had a kerosene heater that we would huddle around, first to roast our backs and then our fronts.
dalby just had 'hot weather' - nothing atmospheric about it. maryborough's weather was so mild that we forgot all about seasons. winter was a few days of wearing an extra layer (it was really nothing after having experienced toowoomba's weather). both myall creek and mary river flooded while i was in those towns, and those were certainly events, but not annual.

now to townsville where the wet season is something anticipated, discussed, warned about, but must be experienced. the vibrancy and deluge of this tropical atmosphere immediately led me to question who has written about this season, this atmosphere, this northern summer mood?
i remembered thea astley and had heard of ian townsend. i have borrowed affection from our library and am seeking out astley's hunting the wild pineapple, it's raining in mango, girl with a monkey for their north queensland settings. i want to feel how they convey this incredible atmosphere. affection has a tag line: 'there is no cure'. that could be said for becoming a north queenslander, and certainly a townsvillian. there is no cure. i love it here.

can anyone recommend other stories with NQ, particularly Townsville as a setting, particularly with the atmosphere used to effect?

on a night like this

I wish Kathleen Noonan would write a book - her articles in The Courier Mail are so poetic.
Read her latest, then close your eyes and compose your own stories starting with her first line 'on a night like this'.
Then send them to me in the comments, 'cause you know I love to read.

cmis focus on fiction

yesterday I received the fullsome Focus on Fiction journal by post from the awesome peeps at cmis because I've signed on as a reviewer. Good reading ahead. They have a LibraryThing page set up for reviewers to choose titles from. What about that for our top titles? Until we get LibraryThing on the LMS in an upgrade.

all the cool people are living up north

Glenys will be moving to Cairns!!

julie beveridge rocks townsville!

*****

my first full creative day in ages - saturday in townsville with julie beveridge for a poetry workshop - five star day.

julie is director of queensland poetry festival, marketing coordinator at queensland writers centre and author of Rock'n'Roll Tuxedo and Home is Where the Heartache is (two poetry chapbooks, the latter of haibun).

and 'specially nice to be with a group of other writers for the day too

and we did an open mic. which i've done before in the gallery at HB, but my first time here.

and then i got a long email from glenys who is writing a novel - fully into the creative phase of character and scene development - and who owes me some pages!

i have to update some details on wordbox on the weekend - check it out next week.

You will write a haiku by the end of the month

little black books big launch

BIG day in Townsville Monday - Jeanie Adams from Black Ink Press (also author of Pigs and Honey, Going for Oysters) is launching 12 little black books - the work of young Indigenous writers and illustrators from Heatley, Aurukun and Garbutt. Congratulations to all involved!

Titles and creators to check out:
The Day My Yumby Went Missing / Graeme Owens
Fishing Time in the Banana Boat / Jesse Mooney
When I Was In the Bush... / Shannon Summers Phillips
Two in a Boat (Boatang mo'pull) / Steve Yunkaporta
Spearing Crabs / Brent Wolmby
Catching Fish (Minh Nga'an Wichan) / Venita Korkaktain
Disaster Camping / Monty Pompey
Watch Out For Cars / Bruce Nelson
My Fishing Adventure / David Inkerman
Trip to Cairns / Erica Kerr
Smashing Aunty Kathy's Car / Rehannon Pompey
My Holiday at Balgal Beach / Tasha Nelson

eve pownall book of the year

In all the excitement of the Children's Book Week awards, make sure to borrow or buy the books shortlisted for the Eve Pownall book of the year - information books are amazing too!

The awarded books: Alive in the Death Zone / Lincoln Hall (winner)
The Word Spy / Ursula Dubosarsky, Tohby Riddle (honour book)

Simpson and his Donkey / Mark Greenwood, Frané Lessac (honour book).

Enjoy your discovery!

Nette Hilton loves wordbox!

Nette Hilton loves the 'box! And we love Nette Hilton!
Nette has recently added wordbox to her recommended sites list on both her blog and website. And people are linking to the box from there!
Thanks Nette! Another Australian writer who believes in the creativity of young writers. Check out her site at http://nettehilton.com.au/wordpress/ and read her books. I love The smallest bilby and the midnight star!

poetry saturday

I've lived a whole life since last Saturday. Let me cast my mind back to relive that amazing weekend. Yes, not only Poetry Saturday, but also Short Story Sunday with that charismatic haijin Ross Clark. Ross played the ocean drum as he performed a poem (reminds me of my long haired man playing mandolin at the markets in Good Fortune, except Ross has a shaved head!). He lead us through various steps to building poems. I wrote a thoughtful poem about my grandfather and his home in Parker Street by the beach (now the site of a McDonalds - and us descended from the Campbells!). We played Texas Qld Eight Card Stud as a story prompt, and Accordion which was a group shared story project in which each person could only see the last line from the previous writer. The story could go in interesting directions. Ross has an award-winning poem in this year's The Best Australian Poems 2008 (Black Inc.) which I picked up from the bookstore this week. I also bought his chapbook At the turn of the seasons: A haiku journal (Sweetwater Press). I am in love with Ross' poetry and will endeavour to spend more time exploring poetic forms. I took an invigorating walk along the beach on Sunday morning before the workshop. I recorded the sound of the waves breaking against the rocks and wrote a poem in the sand with a stick. You can read some of Ross' past haiku on tinywords.

TEN

TEN ways to share your writing, my PowerPoint presentation is now on Slideshare. Right click on the button in the sidebar.
Links are in the notes for you to explore.
A very special thank you to Joanna for the moresome zine images on 10 & 11.

After viewing, please comment on why and how you share your writing. Merci.

After loading, checking, reloading, etc etc, I have just discovered that Slideshare cut the .com off my footer. But the link is in the final notes anyway. Frustration.

mary popped in

Today 6pm-7pm, City Library, Mary Poppins Literary and Art Awards presentation, followed by photographs*, tea and creamy delicious treats proudly prepared by the Proud Marys Association (lovely ladies all).



The MP awards have been going for some years now, and I've judged in different categories over four years. I always feel excited to read the stories because you can feel the energy that's been put into entering by both the kids, and their enthusiastic teachers and parents. This year two sisters were awarded in the primary category, and a very creative young lady from my school was awarded second in the secondary category (I judged primary). Nancy Bates, editor of the local newspaper, read a precis of each writers' fantasy story which drew ooohs and aaahs from the audience. We heard tales of haunted houses and destroyed planets, military standoffs, vengeful dragons and happy endings in a fairyland.
The story with time capsules drew a few appreciative nods as our city's time capsule from long ago was buried but cannot be found. Curiouser and curiouser.

Winners were awarded lovely large sums of money each and certificates, and the winning drawing was also framed. The children of Mungar School had produced a vibrant illustrated book, and two participating students gave a wonderful thank you speech.
After photographs the party moved upstairs to partake in tea and creamy treats. Yum.
A special thank you to the Annes and the Proud Marys for their enthusiasm for young people's artistic pursuits, and for making me feel so welcome.
Ten points to the sponsors including the Cherry Tree Foundation and Anne Russell, and to the Councillors who attended, including Debbie, also leader of a great writing group.

And a big hurrah to Robyn, a wonderful child-friendly City Librarian (or whatever her title is after amalgamation).
And lest you think it was all chat, consider our own Mary Poppins was in attendance so what do you think we sang?
Yes, of course we did. Now let's see if I can spell it. Supercalifragilisticexpealidocious... spell check!
And Spoonful of Sugar.

Nothing like a song to loosen a crowd.


* update Saturday 18th: 'Creative students reap Poppins prizes' in the newspaper. Congratulations!



And earlier today... remember Kyle McDonald's One Red Paperclip (ORP) swap from 2006? Today a young girl came into the Library and offered me a swap - her little star notebook for whatever I had. She and three others were involved in a class project ala ORP which perhaps the teacher had read about but the girls had no idea. So I told my swapper anyway. 'cause it was a cool project. I was in the Library though, surrounded by expensive, gorgeous, resources and none of it mine to swap. I can't just give away the latest YA book or a laptop can I? No. No I can't. But, aha, I found something to swap. A freebie from two years ago so it was swappable - a paper Queensland flag on a stick. So I got a notebook and she got a flag to swap on (and she learned what the Queensland flag looked like - so not a bad day in the Library).



'night.

creative writing workshop

Today, 9:30-11:00am. Free. First floor, City Library. For young people aged 8-15. Sponsored by Zonta. Included launch of TEN zine. Morning tea kindly provided by the Annes. Stories with zing!

Seventeen young people filled the room with treasure today, using words with zing as they played in the writing gameshow. I had far too many activities planned for a 90 minute session, but we got through Open this way, What a character, Street Poet and a bit of wordplay and talked about entering competitions and sharing their work with family and friends. I launched my TEN zine there, with a free copy for each hard-working writer as well as a goodies bag with a few bits and pieces as well as pens (sorry about the pens, guys - we found out they're rubbish. If I'd got you all my favourite pen, the Pentel metal tip with liquid gel blue ink, then you'd have something to boast about).It was a heap of fun. Young writers came from all over the city, with many creative ideas and stories just waiting to be written and shared. The Annes have invited me back. I love them.And Cynthia Tait is cool too. It was her workshop I went to at QWC last year, Teaching writers to teach, that helped me plan a workshop.Gameshow players, and other young local writers will be invited to submit short stories, microfiction and poetry to me next year for a young writers' edition of the Jacaranda zine. Until then, keep those imaginations sparking, your senses sharp, your pens handy... y'know... keep writing, and look out for your photo in the paper next week. Love your work!

hypermedia

While blogs, wikis and websites, etc. are invaluable in Library 2.0 as platforms for information dissemination and virtual communication services, Web 2.0 tools can also be used for clients' entertainment purposes (and they learn as they play). Various story spaces exist online on which the user/client/reader/writer/teacher/student/librarian can either collaborate on the construction of a story or interact with the story by following hyperlinks. This is a sophisticated Web 2.0 version of the ever-popular Choose-Your-Own Adventure storybooks.

The reader can read online and/or create online. It's storywriting Web 2.0. As they work they will gain understanding and skills in the capabilities of information communication technologies (ICTs) and be able to apply this in their informational and communication work.
Even considering the basics: what is a hyperlink? what is an anchor? Use of the hypertext media will also give Librarian 1.0 an insight into how 21st century clients gather and process their information. Explore.

DotLit Hypermedia: http://www.dotlit.qut.edu.au/hypermedia.html

Wacky Web Tales on Education Place: http://www.eduplace.com/tales/

Libby Hathorn's Let's Play: http://www.libbyhathorn.com/lh/letsPlay/letsPlay.asp

The Neverending Tale: http://coder.com/creations/tale/

Read Write Think lesson plan:

http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=128

Even Victoria Police want your hypertext choose-your-owns:
http://www.police.vic.gov.au/content.asp?document_id=12441

Joel and Cat set the story straight: http://www.joelandcat.com/About.htm - the website on which virtual readers were invited to contribute a few lines each in a shared story that mirrored the tandem story captured in the book written collaboratively between Nick Earls and Rebecca Sparrow (probably using some email communication). Entrants wrote online or sent SMS.
Penguin certainly reached out to their client base on their own turf.