The south west wilderness of Tasmania is a great place to hold a 3-day writing event. The venue was a campsite near Dover (90 km south of Hobart) on the banks of the Esperance River.
I was asked to participate as Writer in Residence for a group of 31 school students who came from various schools in the Huon Valley.
The children had to compete for a place on the camp by presenting a piece of work in which they considered the word ‘RESILIENCE.’
During the camp we looked at various aspects of writing from how to structure a story, to poetry – blank verse to bush poems and haiku - to writing about animals and finally, to the publishing and editing processes.
Also presenting workshops were Damien Bester, journalist from The Mercury in Hobart and artist, Barfield who showed the children how to draw cartoons.
An evening bonfire on the banks of the Esperance River gave local historian and writer, Paddy Prosser the opportunity to provide a dramatic presentation of the French connection in southern Tasmania. Dressing a dozen of the kids in French costumes and handing round a 10 year old hard tack biscuit were just two of the highlights.
The only lowlights were the mosquitos and the leeches which were attracted to one of the boys legs when he went hiking through the bush.
2 comments:
Enjoyed your blog. I too write historic novels. The first one is called Cross of Lanu and is a naval story. I am also Tasmanian and now live on a yacht. My partner and I crewed on a yacht from Darwin to South Africa in 2001. We are presently based at Port Hinchinbrook Marina half way between Cairns and Townsville. My second novel is due out in January and there is already a third in progress. I am interested in you because of your Aborigine background. My first two books are set in Trowenna in the 1500s [The Aborigine namee for Tasmania] I claim that long before Tasman [1642] a portuguese caravel was wrecked oon the south west of Tasmania and the two survivors lived with a wonderful Aborigine tribe called the Toogees. My books would interest you, I'm sure. We seem to be thinking along the same lines. I will be interested in hearing from you. Who designs your lovely covers?Della Madeline Kerrison
Dear Della,
I would like to reply to your post but have no email address for you.
You can contact me through my website's CONTACT ME page at:
http://www.margaretmuirauthor.com
I look forward to hearing from you.
Marg
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