Welcome to the New Narratives Workshop Program

The New Narratives Workshop Program will feature writer’s workshops from eight new and emerging WA authors.

The program has been developed in partnership with UWAP, Fremantle Press, Magabala and WA Poets Publishing.

Proudly supported by Regional Arts WA.

New Narratives 1: Unlocking Creativity and Writing for Performance with Melody Dia

Friday 17 May – 2.00 – 4.30pm
Writers Workshop Room

It is a myth that only certain people are born creative – we all possess creativity but some of us need to nurture it more than others. Whatever you’re writing, there are many things to learn and explore when developing a story. Join playwright Melody Dia (FIFO – Fit in or F**k Off! and Because We’re Blak!) for this hands-on workshop that focuses on how to structure plays, develop characters and scenes, and unlock your creativity to keep it flowing well beyond the end of this inspiring workshop.
 
Hosted by Melody Dia
$25 Not included in Weekend and Day passes
 
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New Narratives 2: Formal Play: Mapping New Meanings with Kaya Ortiz  

Saturday 18 May 2024 – 9.00am – 11.00am
Writers Workshop Room

Join emerging poet Kaya Ortiz for this exploration of poetic forms from the sonnet to sestina, ghazal to prose poem using examples from contemporary poets. This workshop will explore the infinite possibilities of experimentation and creating or adapting poetic forms in your own writing. Participants will have a chance to write new poems in a form of their choosing, or to create a new poetic form for their work.

Hosted by Kaya Ortiz
$25 Not included in Weekend or Day passes

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New Narratives 3: Truth-telling –
Writing Family History with Edith Wright

Saturday 18 May 2024 – 11.30am – 1.30pm
Writers Workshop Room

Edith Wright writes about family history, researching stories that span three or four generations. As a proud Bardi woman, she believes we all have a responsibility to tell the truth of events of the day. In this workshop, Edith will share the tools and techniques of truth-telling within memoir writing.Workshop participants will explore truth-telling as a narrative technique within their own intergenerational stories. Edith will share tips on using primary sources such as interviews, files, church records and historical essays to construct a chronological family narrative.

Hosted by Edith Wright
$25 Not included in Weekend and Day passes

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New Narratives 4: Writing Across Time with Emily Tsokos Purtill

Sunday 19 May – 9.00am – 11.00am
Writers Workshop Room

Prepare to be inspired by the possibilities of time travel in your writing journey. Join author Emily Tsokos Purtill for this exploration of writing time travel into fiction across multiple eras and timelines, embracing past, present and future. Learn how to use what fascinates you to write fiction set in particular eras, how to ground those stories and connect them to other timelines, and how to bring depth and authenticity to every strand of your story. Using writing exercises and prompts, this workshop is for writers either starting on a project or looking to refine existing work.

Hosted by Emily Tsokos Purtill
$25 Not including Weekend and Day passes

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New Narratives 5: Tell it Slant – New Ways to Capture Old Memories with Marie O’Rourke

Sunday 19 May 2024 – 11.30am – 1.30pm
Writers Workshop Room

Poet Emily Dickinson famously implored us to ‘tell all the truth but tell it slant’. Join lecturer and author of the book Kintsugi, Dr Marie O’Rouke for this deep-dive into questions of memory and language in narratives. Learn how to find new ways to shape past experiences on the page through a combination of writing exercises, readings and sensory prompts. This workshop will help you embrace your past self, experiences and relationships while trying your hand at innovative narrative forms

Hosted by Marie O’Rourke
$25 Not included in Weekend and Day passes

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New Narratives 6: Shaping Authentic Characters
with Molly Schmidt

Sunday 19 May – 2.00m – 4.00pm
Writers Workshop Room

2022 Hungerford Award winner Molly Schmidt used skills from her career as a journalist to shape authentic characters in her novel Salt River Road. From consulting with Noongar Elders, to interviewing sheep farmers and skateboarders, Molly’s goal was to depict her characters as faithfully as possible. In this hands-on workshop, Molly will share creative writing and research techniques that will help you get to know your own characters better – and connect you more deeply to real people along the way.

Hosted by Molly Schmidt
$25 Not including Weekend and Day passes

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New Narratives 7: Writing Place
in Novels with Brendan Ritchie

Saturday 18 May 2024 – 9.30am – 11.30am
Busselton Library

2022 Dorothy Hewett Award winner Brendan Ritchie explores how writers can engage with place and the ideas, characters, and stories that can emerge as a result. Attendees will explore their own unique relationships with place and initiate writing that responds to these locations. This is a workshop focused on discovery and inspiration that may just uncover that long-lost novel waiting to surface.

Hosted by Brendan Ritchie
FREE, registration required
Proudly supported by Regional Arts WA

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New Narratives 8: Using Poetry’s Superpowers with Miriam Wei Wei Lo

Saturday 18 May – 2.00pm – 4.00pm
Dunsborough Library

Betrayal, cancer, fires, bereavement, domestic violence, infertility, drought – poetry allows us to wrestle with meaning as we face suffering and loss. In this workshop, participants will use the act of writing poetry to process difficult emotions and situations. Participants will be invited to consider an instance of pain or loss in the context of the structures of belief that make up our frameworks for meaning.

Hosted by Miriam Wei Wei Lo
FREE, registration required
Proudly supported by Regional Arts WA

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