News

Autumn News

The AGM was held in April. Very exciting news: We have a brand new executive. Congratulations to the following people.

President: Lorraine Munt

Vice President: Mandy Byrne

Secretary: Carolyn McCulloch

Treasurer: Esther Schifano

Summer News

The very last–and best–of the summer news. The Wyong Writers collection of short stories has been published. Massive thanks to Sam Munt for the fantastic illustrations and to Bob Venning for all the intricate and time consuming techy work necessary to bring our stories to publication. Copies available at the next few meetings. Cost $10.00. Cash or online payment in advance. Non members may buy by post,( + $4.00 for P&P) within Australia.

And our first news of 2024. The inaugural meeting of Scribblers 3 took place on Friday 5th January at the Wyong Golf Club. Thereafter Scribblers 3 will meet on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of the month from 1.00pm — 3.00pm  at the Wyong Golf Club. Provision of a meeting room will be available at that time. Please buy a soft drink to support the club who is so generously giving us space. This will be run and managed by Elizabeth so any questions to her.

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Val Derry received a certificate for a poem from Lane Cove Literary Awards 2023.

Jocelyn Freeman’s poem ‘DR Zhivago’s Lament’ has been published in Booranga Writers 4W Anthology 34th edition. She performed the poem at the launch in Sydney on

 

 

Saturday 2nd December.

No December meeting. Some of the members met for lunch at Hadleys.

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Spring News

The Wyong Writers Poetry trophy was won by Pat. Runners up were Jan and Maureen. Congratulations to all.

 

 

 

Winter news

September: Jan and Mei-Ling attended an author(s) talk hosted by Erina Library. The authors were Fiona McArthur and Janette Paul. They interviewed each other regarding writing approaches, methods and style. Fiona, a midwife, writes medical romances and was celebrating her latest book, As the River Rises. Janette’s latest book is called The Summer Place.

August meeting: We welcome new member, Jocelyn Freeman.

August meeting: Pat has had a short story accepted for the 2024 FAW/Seniors competition. This will be published in the FAW/Seniors anthology for 2024. Some of the stories, including Pat’s, will also be made into an audio recording.  Congratulations Pat.

August meeting: Veronica has had a new story about an another ancestor accepted by the Canberra Historical Society. Congratulations, Veronica.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

July meeting: Mavis Gunter was presented with Life Membership to Wyong Writers. Congratulations, Mavis.

Elizabeth won a competition in a community newspaper. The competition was to write exactly 25 words on ‘Writing for Pleasure’. Congratulations, Elizabeth.

60 Years of Writing
Elena’s family emigrated to America   
while mine to Australia – 60 years of
writing –
first with a pencil, then fountain pen,
now a biro –
still writing …
ElizabethMcVie

 

Autumn News

The 2023 Collection of First Fleet stories have been printed. Some of the authors pictured here, and proud to introduce two new young illustrators: Lachlan Galloway and Harry Galloway who provided us with the beautiful artwork for both front and back cover.

The in house trophy results are in.                                                       

1st place: Forget me Not by Mei-Ling Venning

2nd place: Friends for Life by Mavis Gunter

3rd place: Red House Mystery by Val Derry

Highly commended: The Power of the Ring by Jan Forrester

 

 

Val Derry has published a book of poems called At the gate of the Moon. Congratulations, Val

Summer News

FAW has announced the Seniors Card Short Story Competition will be running again this year. Details on FAW website and on their Facebook page.

Mavis Gunter’s second book of memoirs has been printed and edited by Colleen Parker. Congratulations, Mavis.

 

Spring News

Anne Neilson attended the FAW/Seniors competition anthology launch in Sydney. The keynote speaker was Abla Kadous, NSW Senior of the year. Anne’s story ‘Flower Power’ won a place in the anthology.

Results of the in-house prose competition were announced.                                                           

1st place Mandy Byrne

2nd place Val Derry

3rd place Anne Nielsen

Highly Commended Mei-Ling Venning

Commended: Esther Schifano

 

 

Liz and Mei-Ling’s short prose work for the Bravewords project was displayed at Parkhouse Gallery in Gosford.

Winter News

Cate Plink from Lake Macquarie FAW talked to Wyong Writers at the June meeting. The subject was “Writing Outside your Comfort Zone”, and included some exercises  whereby each writer was to respond to a visual cue by writing in an “unfavourite” manner.

June 2022, Val Derry’s book, “The Gallery of Loss” has just been published. Many congratulations, Val.

http://www.vividpublishing.com.au/thegalleryofloss/

Autumn News

And just squeaking in at the end of autumn at the end of May  – the printed editions of ‘For Better for Worse’.

 

Pat Webb won the in-house poetry competition. The form set was that of a ballad and the winning poem was “Murphy’s Law”.

NEW prose WW in-house competition due in September is the be in the genre of Speculative Fiction. Max 1500 words, double spaced TNR font 12, no identifying information on the actual story but to be accompanied by a cover sheet with contact details, title and name of competition to be sent to the convenor — Anne Nielsen.

Mei-Ling Venning and Siobhan Martin attended a lecture given by Graeme Simsion in Pearl Beach, and both Mei-Ling and Liz Shaw attended Bravewords workshops in Lake Haven and Woy Woy, respectively.

Jessica Anscome has been writing the book reviews for the most recent editions of the local magazine, On The Coast For Over Fifties.

Veronica O’Brian entered the annual competition conducted by the Family History Genealogy Society – Canberra. It was deemed of a high standard and was accepted for publication. Congratulations Veronica.

 

 

Summer News

December 2021: Christmas party for Wyong Writers.

November 2021: Wyong Writers received a commendation from our state member of parliament, Mr David Harris. We are honoured by the commendation for our efforts during the difficult times which were brought about by the Covid 19 pandemic. We will continue to meet using a mixture of platforms including Zoom, until our first face-to-face meeting which is scheduled for February 2022. Our next poetry competition has been announced and will be due 26th March 2022.

 

 

November 2021: The winner of the Wyong Writers in-house prose competition is Jess Anscombe with her story “Deal Breaker”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Winter News

Stop Press: Anne Neilson has again been successful with her short story for the Seniors/FAW competition. Her story will be published in the forthcoming anthology. Well done Anne.

And another  Pat Webb’s story has also been successful with for the seniors/FAW competition and will also feature in the forthcoming anthology. Just so everyone knows, most years hundreds of people enter this competition from all over New South Wales, so this is no mean feat.

Wyong Writers just squeaked in our June meeting before news of the lockdown to start at 6.00pm that evening.

Our July and August meetings went ahead via Zoom. Until further notice we will continue to meet in this way.

22nd May 2021

Anne Nielsen won the poetry trophy for her haiku. Many congratulations Anne. Mavis Gunter placed second. Well done Mavis.

Heather Yates from The Central Coast Family History Society with Ray Myers. Heather talked to us about finding information for writing about family history. She brought a wealth of fascination information regarding sources and how to find them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

L to R: Anne Nielsen from Wyong Writers,

and Heather Yates and Marlene Davidson

from The Central Coast Family History Society.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

April 24th: Wyong writers enjoyed an excellent talk by Tracy Sorensen about the various ways of publishing, the advantages and disadvantages of pitching to agents and publishers. She also talked about the importance of knowing and understanding the market and the genre in which we are writing.

March 17th A second critiquing group was set up. So far a few meetings have taken place and have been a success.

 

Summer News

January 30th: Wyong Writers met in person for our first meeting in 2021.

December 7th: A few Wyong Writers gathered at the Wyong Milk Factory to celebrate Christmas.

We are pleased to announce that the winner of the Wyong Writers’ pandemic short story competition is Alison Ferguson with “Covid Corpse.”

Judging criteria were: beginning, characterisation, plot, conflict, style, mechanics, setting, dialogue and the use of literary devices. The quality of all entries was high making the choice of a winner an exacting task. Huge thanks to all who entered and congratulations to Alison who has received our $100 prize.

 

 

 

 

 

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Winter News  2020

 

The results of the Wyong Writers in house prose competition are below.

The competition was to write a short story using the theme Reflections. Congratulations to all!

1st place:  Emergence by Pat Webb

2nd place:  Bar Two Six Eight, Oboe One by Jennifer Godfrey

Commended: Family Secrets by Elizabeth McVie

And                 Eileen Donan by Pat Webb

 

The competition below is now closed, but watch this

space for the winner, who will be announced at the end of November.

 

The autumn meeting was held using the paid  platform Zoom which allows us a longer meeting. Visitor, Tracy Sorensen and four other published members talked about the inspiration behind their books–three novels, one history and one travel book.

The July 25th meeting was also held using the platform Zoom. The focus was research for writing. Each member gave a brief overview of the research he/she did for his/her writing. Research methods included face to face interviews with people who hold specialist information, the looking up of records–births, deaths, marriages, joining relevant societies, browsing of bookshops and libraries for similar books, googling specific information needed being careful to check sources and of course not forgetting the old fashioned resource of newspapers and magazines for past events. One member also found a personal archive of receipt books and accounts which will enhance her personal memoir.

Congratulations to Derek Recsei whose poem Silver Princess has been selected for the anthology of 2020 Poetry d’Amour Love Poetry Contest.

Wyong Writers monthly meeting on 27th June used the platform Zoom. The focus of the meeting was Point of View with reference to a well-known author who uses/used that POV.

Exciting June news: Mavis Gunter’s short story, I’m Here and I Care, has won a place in the Seniors/FAW competition. It will be printed in the 2020 anthology. Many congratulations, Mavis. Also in June, Wyong Writers again met using the the Zoom platform. Our focus was Point of View with regard to author usage.

Autumn News  2020

During May, Wyong writers took part in a virtual meeting using the platform Zoom. Eight people participated. The winner of the in house competition was announced.  I would like to thank Gail Hennessy for her thorough and thoughtful judging. We all appreciate the time and effort that she took to give us useful and informative judge’s comments.

1^st  Habitat by Jennifer Godfrey.

2^nd To Ponder a Sonnet by Pat Webb

3^rd Trisomy 21 by Mei-Ling Venning

Highly Commended: Liquid Skin of Earth by Jan Forrester

Commended: Australia Fair by Mei-Ling Venning

Each participating member gave a brief over view of her reading and writing during isolation. Almost every participating member gave a brief talk about a favourite author and read from that book. Unfortunately we ran out of time for everybody. I have since learned that one or two other members did try to join the meeting but were unable to.

This was Wyong Writers first attempt at a Zoom meeting and for those who managed to get to the meeting, it was successful. We hope that next month we can either resume a face to face meeting or have more people able to access a Zoom meeting.

 

 

During April, various members have taken part in three different challenges. Over Easter about six people took part in a surprisingly difficult challenge to write for 10 minutes  the following:

⛵         ⚔    We had some creative results, in one of which the clown morphed into a postal delivery person and the bird became a goat among other inventive strategies.

Finally over the ANZAC weekend we had a crossword challenge.

 

Since the start of social isolation, Wyong Writers have not been idle. During what would have been the March meeting, every member was sent a 10 minute writing prompt. Those who wished, wrote for 10 minutes and results were published here. In a hiccup of the website they have disappeared. That challenge was …. “if only she had a bicycle”.

On 7th March 2020

Johan launched his book, Ship of the Week at the Green Point Community Centre.

 

On March 6th the Central Coast Council hosted the Love Lanes Festival. Wyong Writers were proud to have a market stall to showcase our collection of short stories. the stall was attended by Veronica, Elizabeth and Mei-Ling. We thank Toowoon Bay SLSC for the borrowed gazebo. Possible inclement weather and a weekday night saw numbers down on previous years, but we were pleased to have the opportunity for some publicity for Wyong Writers and as a bonus sold 10 copies of our anthology.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Summer News 2019/ 2020

On February 20th, Pat, Anne, Siobhan and Mei-Ling attended a talk by Jason Foster entitled ‘The Writers Mix’ run by Erina Library. Jason writes for the  YA Adult crossover readership and gave much useful information about the processes around marketing a published book.

Margaret Young launched her book of poems Round Eye in Vietnam on 22nd September at the Doyalson RSL club. Margaret read three poems and signed copies for those wishing to purchase.  She was introduced by Louise Berry, convenor for the Blue Room Poets. The poems reflect Margaret’s experiences during her service in Malaya in 1967 and Vietnam in 1968.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wyong Writers Book Launch

The news we’ve all been waiting for!

On Saturday 16th November Wyong Writers Launched our 2019 Anthology. We are grateful to the Central Coast Council for the grant which enabled us to print enough copies to sell. Thank you to Trevar Langlands, president of FAW, to councillor Lousie Greenaway and to member of parliament Emma McBride for helping us launch the anthology.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trevar Langlands president FAWNSW                      Treasurer Elizabeth selling books            Members of Wyong Writers

Louise Greenaway, councillor Central Coast

Emma McBride, MP for Dobell

 

Anne Neilsen attended the awards ceremony for the FAW/Seniors Card story competition at Parliament House on 18th November. Both Anne Neilsen and Pat Webb were successful in the FAW/Seniors card competition.

 

Spring News 2019

On 2nd November 2019, Anne, Carolyn, Elizabeth, Mei-Ling and Yvonne attended the FAWNSW  annual lunch in Sydney. Anne and Pat were given certificates marking their successes in the FAW/Seniors competition.  Anne collected on Pat’s behalf. Me-Ling received a Distinguished Service Award.

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the AGM in October the following were elected.

President: Mei-Ling Venning,  Vice-President: Yvonne Sorensen, Treasurer: Elizabeth McVie, Secretary: Mavis Gunter, Publicity Officer: Pat Webb, Returning Officer: Johan Luidens.

A single inspection copy of the anthology has been received, and a further 300 copies have been ordered!

And the winner of the in-house prose competition is Pat Webb.

Mei-Ling’s new novel, Grace, was launched at the Toowoon Bay Surf Life Saving club on 28th September. She was introduced by Emma McBride, the federal Member for Parliament for Dobell.

 

Winter News 2019

July – news just in

Wyong Writers’ bid for a council grant has been successful. We will therefore be able to publish our anthology for sale to the public. Reminder– oru launch is November 16th at the Tuggerah Library in Westfield Shopping Centre.
Both Anne and Pat’s story submissions for the FAW/Seniors card competition have been successful and their stories will be published in the anthology later in the year. Congratulations to Anne and Pat.

Mei-Ling and Derek took part in the 5 Lands Art Collective festival At Avoca Surf Life Saving Club. Derek read his poem, Swell, and Mei-Ling read the opening pages from her forthcoming novel Grace.

Shari gave a presentation on Show not Tell, including a breakdown of sentence level, paragraph level and scene level.

Autumn News 2019

Mei-Ling won the in-house Poetry Competition with her poem Waking.

Paul’s play Old Harry was one of the plays featured in the Gosford Uniting Church’s play readings. (Calling all playwrights–Gosford Untiting Productions are always on the lookout for promising plays. Check out their website.)

 

The newspaper Seniors Central Coast have an article on Barbara and her new book, Tracking Mr Sharpe. You can read the article here: https://www.seniorsnews.com.au/news/reverend-made-his-mark-along-historic-trail/3733149

Elizabeth, Yvonne and Mandy read from their own fiction and memoirs at the Tuesday Discussion Group at the Wyong Neighbourhood Centre.

 

 

At the April meeting Pat talked about writing for children. She included “story time”  with  audience participation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Congratulations to Barbara Appleton whose book Tracking Mr Sharp was  launched on April 13th.

It was lovely to see and listen to past Wyong Writers junior members Emma, Hannah and Luke playing at the book launch.

 

 

 

 

Many congratulations to Margaret Key — who writes under the pen name of Chelsea Locke.

 

Summer News 2018/2019

Very exciting news: We have a date, time and venue for the book launch of our 2019 anthology. It is:

 ***Saturday 16th November 10.00am at the Tuggerah /Library in Westfield.***

On 5th February Anne, Elizabeth and Mei-Ling attended a Council information afternoon regarding the application of  grants for community projects. We are in the process of information gathering with a view to applying for a grant for our 2019 anthology which will be fictional short stories of community and belonging set on the Central Coast.

On 16th January 2019, Barbara and Mei-Ling participated in an Arts and Cultural Stakeholders workshop at the Art House, Wyong. Attendees were asked to contribute ideas regarding their opinions on: the strengths of the arts on the Central Coast, the opportunities and challenges and some possible solutions. This is part of an ongoing development of the  Central Coast strategic development plan.  There are more workshops planned. If interested please contact Rebecca Cardy. Rebecca.Cardy@centralcoast.nsw.gov.au

Spring News 2018

At the November meeting, Shari brought boxes full of our long awaited anthology. She has led the team of people compiling this and has been responsible for pulling it all together. This anthology is the result of many month’s hard work. All members are pleased with the result and feel it will provide the inspiration for another one this time  next year.                         

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paul has had a play shortlisted for the Theatre Script Prize in the Lane Cove Literary Awards. He was very impressed with the council’s website which contained full details of its writing-friendly project. He feels the council deserves praise for such a professional presentation which is a benchmark for similar council cultural exercises. Well done, Paul.

Sadly, we have learned of the death of past-member, Karl Pleins. Karl was at one time a member of both Central Coast FAW and Wyong Writers.

At the beginning of November eight members of Wyong Writers attended the FAW luncheon in Sydney. Three members of Wyong Writers (and one past member) received Awards of Distinguished Service. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Barbara received a grant (a Create NSW Cultural Grant 2018) on behalf of the Dharug & Lower Hawkesbury Historical Society towards the publication of her coming biography of Thomas Sharpe.
Don Harwin, the NSW Minister for the Arts, came to the annual conference of the Royal Australian Historical Society at Port Macquarie and handed out the certificates himself.

 

 

Elizabeth, Mandy and Mei-Ling visited the Tuesday Discussion Group at The Wyong Neighbourhood Centre at Rankens Court. We talked about Wyong Writers and read out some of our own stories. The group enjoyed our visit and have requested another one next year.

 

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Also — the winner of the in-house prose competition is Jan Forrester.

Congratulations, Jan. Jan’s winning story will be in the, soon to be released, Wyong Writers Anthology. Release date will be published very soon.

We bid a sad goodbye to Mark Peterson, who will be moving to Bulahdelah next month. We hope he will keep in touch, and once settled, will join North Arm Cove FAW.

Competition entries by Anne Nielson, Mavis Gunter and Mandy Byrne have all been successful in the short story competition run jointly by the Fellowship of Australian Writers and by the Seniors Card. All three have had their stories accepted as one of the 100 to be published in the competition anthology. Congratulations.

 

 

Winter News 2018

In the June meeting, writing coach, Kathryn Coughran, facilitated an excellent workshop on ‘Writing from Photographs’. This was well attended by members and visitors and encouraged a deeper understanding of the power of the photograph and the ability of the writer to find the story behind the story.

Autumn News 2018

Results of the In House poetry competition are in: Elizabeth McVie won with “Once a Soldier”.

Pat Webb attended a talk, “Love between the Pages”  at Belmont Library on Wednesday 18th April 2018. This is her report.

As part of the ongoing event calendar for the Lake Macquarie Libraries, I attended an informal chat with three contemporary romance novelists, facilitated by Kaz Delaney.

Fiona McCarthur’s latest novel is “Mother’s Day”. Set in a small country town in NSW, Fiona called upon her considerable obstetric knowledge to write about the coming together of Noni and Iain, and his pregnant daughter, Jacinta.

Janette Paul’s book is called “Amber and Alice”. The back cover tells us to ‘take a hilarious road trip into the Australian outback in this witty romantic comedy, with an enticing family mystery thrown in’.

Sandie Docker’s story, ‘The Kookaburra Creek Café’, interweaves the lives of ‘three women in a small town with a lifetime of secrets’. This is Sandie’s first novel.

These ladies were a delightful mix of laughter and warmth. They all spoke highly of love, families and children, and all three admitted to always being romantics at heart.

They talked of being able to draw from deep within themselves for the emotion in their stories, and chatted about the different settings – small towns and the outback.

Janette spoke of being able to use snappy dialogue, and quick comebacks, and that she could take ‘quirky people a long way’, but coincidentally, the main characters in each book didn’t have a mother!

Despite each author writing a different story with different characters in a different setting, overall they talked of love, a sense of belonging, and home, and like to have a woman as the hero in her own story.

All in all, a delightful evening, with book signings afterward.

Pat also attended the Newcastle Writers Festival. This is her report.

On Saturday 7^th  April, 2018, I attended a talk called ‘Beyond the Headlines’. Held in the Newcastle City Hall, and part of the overall Newcastle Writer’s Festival, it was facilitated by Jane Hutcheon, who hosts the ABC TV programme “One Plus One”.

Her guests were investigative journalists Nick Toscano and Louise Milligan.

Nick works for The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald newspapers. Multi-award winning, he has received the Grant Hattam Quill for investigative journalism and has been the recipient of the prestigious Walkley award.

Nick proceded to tell the audience about the book he has co-written with Beau Donnelly. Titled, “The Woman Who Fooled The World”, it is about the exposure of Belle Gibson, who recently had the world at her feet with the pretence of fighting off her brain cancer with a change of diet.

He told of how he and Beau had a tip-off that Ms. Gibson wasn’t what she claimed to be. At this stage, she already had a book published through Penguin, had appeared on various shows across America, and been interviewed by most major magazines and American talk-show hosts. She had been paid tens of thousands of dollars, bought a new home near the beaches and a new car. However, promises to donate to charities never eventuated and most of what she earned couldn’t be accounted for.

The tip-off (on which so many investigative journalists rely), was from one of her inner circle of friends, and Nick and Beau began to unravel her scam from there. They marvelled that there were so many inconsistencies in the story and a complete lack of scrutiny before her book was published. They kept digging until the lady and her lies were exposed.

Their book was published in November, 2017.

Summer News 2017/2018

February, 2018

Cate Plink, Vice President of FAWNSW  (from Lake Macquarie FAW) introduced the FAW/Seniors Card competition. This was followed by a brief facilitation on memoir writing by Mavis Gunter and  one on writing family history by Pat Webb. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

December, 2017

Elizabeth McVie’s short story won 2nd place in the Lambing Flats competition.

The dedicated Scribblers critiquing group kept going until the Monday before Christmas. We look forward to a fruitful, creative and  productive new year.

Autumn News 2017

November, 2017

The results are here for the in house competition with the theme of ‘ a room’.

Elizabeth McVie was placed first with, ‘New Life’.

Jan Forrester was placed second with, ‘Will to survive’.

Yvonne Sorenson was placed third with, ‘Grandad’s Room’.

Congratulations to all.

We say ‘goodbye’ to Shirley Goodbar, who has been a long standing member and who has contributed much to Wyong Writers over the fifteen years of her membership. We wish her well with her new membership of Isolated Writers.

 

October, 2017

Wyong Writers AGM has returned the following:

President: Mei-Ling Venning, Vice President: Yvonne Sorensen, Secretary: Mavis Gunter, Assistant Secretary: Margaret Young, Treasurer: Elizabeth McVie, Publicity Officer: Jan Forrester, Returning Officer: Shirley Goodbar, and Webmaster: Derek Recei.

 

Pat and Mei-Ling both attended a SCBWI (Society for Childrens’ Book Writers and Illustrators) conference in the Brahama Kumaris centre. Authors and publishers were at hand to advise on specific projects undertaken during the weekend. Peer-group critiquing furthered the project’s completion.

September, 2017

Mei-Ling attended a weekend workshop “Spinning Straw into Story Gold” run by the Society of Women Writers NSW. This took place in the beautiful  Brahama Kumaris centre in Wilton, with an impressive lineup of authors, editors and publishers.

The Scribblers group have had another successful ‘brainstorming’ afternoon.ideas flowed in regarding (1) adding layers to the basic plan of a new novel (2) sorting out a time line for a multi-generational novel (3) revisiting a short story with a view to using the main character in a stronger and longer and very different short story.

 

August, 2017
Shirley’s poem ‘A Cautionary Tale’ has been awarded Highly Commended in the recent Scribes Traditional Verse Poetry Competition.
July, 2017
Kathryn Coughran to facilitated an excellent workshop on ‘Writers’ Block’.

Wyong writers welcomes new member Shari Whittick.

 

June, 2017
Barbara’s poem ‘Barriers’ was published in Writers Voice.
Wyong Writers welcomes three new members: Jonn Christie, Holly Jones and Ray Myers.
Mei-Ling’s play ‘The Germophobe’ was given a staged reading by Gosford Uniting Productions on 23rd June.
May, 2017
Jan won the in house Poetry Competition.

Elizabeth, Yvonne and Mei-Ling went to the opening night of the Tuggerah Lakes Arts Society exhibition at the Wyong Art House. Writing by Wyong Writers was displayed along with pictures by Karen Williams.


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April, 2017
Margaret has had a poetry “Chat Book” published by Ginninderra Press.

Margaret and Shirley both took part in the Australian Spirit exhibition.

Service No. 2950000
Memories do not grow old
as bodies grow old;
they live forever
with the clarity of their creation
in the mind of their creator.
She was
a young woman
called like young men to
an unsuspecting adventure.
From Malaysia she still sees
armies of ants
parading their cockroach captives
through her sleeping quarters;
feels the hypnotic stares
of black cobras
at her entry door.
In Viet Nam her heart clenches
and cries dry tears.
She reads letters from home
for eyes that cannot see…
writes letters to loved ones
for arms that cannot move…
listens to the hopes of souls
scarred by terror…
She marvels at the bravery
born of Fear
and lives the courage
born of Caring
She is Red Cross Volunteer
Army No. 2950000
© Shirley Goodbar
January 2017

March, 2017
Jan’s poem “Blue Ocean” was published in the March edition of “Your Coast Local Magazine”. We have also had one more ad hoc “Fix-it” session. Writing problems addressed included a back-story for a major character towards the beginning of a novel and a possible change of direction at the end of another novel.

Summer News 2016 – 2017

February, 2017
Mei-Ling, Yvonne and Elizabeth were invited to talk to the Physical Disability Council of New South Wales on 7th February 2017. The focus of the meeting was poetry. Many members were not able to be there but we met Melanie Schlaeger who runs the group, Jonn Christie whose first book of poems was published in August of 2016 and a new member, Terri Lyn.
We are hoping Jonn will come to our February meeting and bring along some of his poetry books to sell to us.

*NEW* Wyong Writers now has an occasional “Writing Clinic” or “Fix-It” session. This will be run on an ad hoc basis, whenever a group of people feels it would be helpful. At present, we think this will be about once a month. The first one was held on 1st February 2017. Four people brought their current “writing problems” all of which were related to current pieces of work. One person’s quandary regarded the possible structure of a novella about a deceased relative. The second person brought a partly written children’s novel with a problematic character. The third person brought a barely begun but planned novel with a tricky stumbling block near the beginning. The fourth person brought a plan of a memoir started many years previously. Throughout the afternoon, the group provided help in the form of brainstorming. Since each of the four writers has specific strengths, the group was also able to draw on those strengths for helpful and positive suggestions in order to assist one other.
January, 2017
Margaret Young has five poems published in the Blue Room Poets Anthology

December
Mei-Ling’ short story “Keeping Track” was awarded commended in Lambing Flats FAW competition.

Spring News 2016

November
Mavis’s story “Cobwebs” was published in FreeXpressions.
Wyong Writers in-house competition results are in: 1st place: “Keeping Track” by Mei-Ling.
2nd place: “Modern Day Epiphany” by Elizabeth.
A staged reading of Elizabeth’s play “The Bequest” was read/performed at Gosford Uniting Church by the Untiting Productions company on Friday 25th November.
Elizabeth has been awarded Highly Commended, in the Central Coast Libraries competition. The story for this was “Firey Dances”. Congratulations Elizabeth.
Other news of Elizabeth’s achievements– her story “Fractured Love” was published in Positive Words.
Wyong Writers have had another productive meeting with Tuggerah Lakes Arts Society, but have now decided that a joint venture is not feasible just yet. We will meet again in another six months time.
October
Mavis had two short stories published in FreeXpressions, “The Breakfast Egg” and “The Wet Frog”. They were in a section called “Krazy Korner”.
Margaret had five poems published in an anthology of poetry published by the Blue Room Poets.

Winter News 2016

STOP PRESS: Wyong Writers will be getting together with Tuggerah Lakes Arts Society for a joint project.

Mei-Ling and Yvonne attended the Central Coast Authors’ Expo
at Erina Library on 20th July. About twelve Central Coast
authors were able to bring books and meet other local writers
for networking and selling. The Central Coast libraries also
facilitated an interesting talk by Cathie Tasker, local author and editor.

 

 

 

 

Mei-Ling’s play The Germophobe was performed at

The Woy Woy Peninsula Theatre in July.

 

 

 

Shirley won the in-house poetry competition.

 

 

Autumn News 2016

May: Kathryn Coughran facilitated an excellent workshop entitled Tips and Techniques to give your Writing the Edge. She used the novel as a model for this presentation.


Mei-Ling’s play The Germophobe has been accepted by Woy Woy Little Theatre for their Flash Festival and will be performed on July 1st, July 2nd and July 3rd. Tickets available from the theatre online.

 

Summer News 2016

Mei-Ling published Pelican Bay. Michelle has Down Syndrome.Her city childhood is protected by her parents …  until when 18 years old, the family relocate to the Central Coast. Michelle is miserable until she glimpses fresh possibilities. New activities and friendships beckon, but many hurdles, including her loving family, obstruct the road to independence.

Buy here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01C4FP4E0

 

 

 

 

 

14th February 2016: Mei-Ling participated in a day for play writing at the Peninsular Theatre Woy Woy. This was an excellent mix of presentation and mentoring and was facilitated by Suzanne Hauser.
Stop Press: 19th January  2016:  Mavis Gunter has just been inteviewed by Caroline Perryman on ABC Radio, Central Coast.

 

The Monday afternoon Scribblers group now have a closed facebook group.This is specifically for sharing information regarding critiquing. It is also a valuable tool for establishing who is coming to each meeting.

 

SPRING News 2016

November 2015

Wyong Writers Prose competition results:
1st place Rose Fox — The Halyard Thread
2nd Place Shirley Goodbar — The Pawnbroker
3rd Place Margaret Young — Going to Grandma’s

September 2015
Shirley published her book of poems Kaleidoscope. See Shirley if you’d like to buy a copy of it.
Mei-Ling’s play Grey Skies was performed at the Woy Woy Flash Festival. It gained 3rd place in the production category.

Winter News 2015

June 2015

Mei-Ling won the Wyong Writers poetry trophy for her poem “Perfect World”

Mandy’s play “Telephones” was read by Gosford Untiing Productions on Friday 26th June.

Autumn News 2015

May 2015:
A play reading of Mavis’s newest plays. “The Homecoming” and “In the Beginning” were read by Uniting Productions at the Gosford Uniting Church on Friday 22nd May.

2nd May: Yvonne & Mei-Ling attended the FAWNSW AGM in Sydney.

April 2015: Mandy’s play ‘The Op Shop Ladies’ had a staged reading at the Gosford Uniting Church, performed by the Uniting Players. This took place at the end of April, despite horrible weather conditions.

Mandy, Yvonne and Mei-Ling took part in the Woy Woy Little Theatre Flash Festival Play Writing weekend.

This was hosted by Alex Broun and was an excellently run weekend in which all participating writers

* learned much about the skills of writing for the theatre.

* actually wrote a short complete play

* got to see it performed by actors

Twelve participating writers were given an easily accessible visit to the land of make-believe together with a tool box of goodies to help create authentic characters and believable plots within credible worlds.

Some writers managed to write more than one play and an incredible sixteen plays were performed on the Sunday.

This is an amazing opportunity run by the Woy Woy Little theatre, made possible by Gosford Council not to mention the in-depth knowledge, expertise and experience of Alex Broun.