Elwood Writers reflects on a year of milestones

Elwood Writers recently had its last meeting of the year: last Tuesday, 9 December — coincidentally five years to the day since our anthology Every Second Tuesday was launched by Lee Kofman at Readings. Half a decade’s worth of water has passed under the literary bridge since that glittering night. And how quickly the stream has flowed. Happy fifth birthday, Every Second Tuesday.

But let’s look back at the year just gone. A busy year, 2025, and one of some notable firsts and lasts.

Our first ever writing retreat occurred in February, at beautiful Daylesford and Hepburn Springs in Victoria’s spa country, on the land of the Dja Dja Wurrung people. This was very much a week of intense focus, and we loved it so much that we followed up with a second retreat in July!

We were invited to judge the 2025 American Writers Review literary contest, with its theme “Buyers’ Remorse”. And we were blown away by the quality of work submitted.

We turned 18 in June. Yes, Elwood Writers has been around for an entire generation. Was there cake? You bet there was!

In October, we recorded our twelfth edition of Cover to Cover for Vision Australia Radio. ‘Stories of Change and Place’ was broadcast on Friday 14 November, repeated Sunday 16 November. Check out the podcast if you didn’t catch the original airing.

Which brings us back to Tuesday 9 December, and our last fortnightly meeting of the year. Nothing remarkable there. Except this was Barry’s last formal meeting. After co-founding Elwood Writers with Jennifer Bryce in 2007, Barry is bidding a fond farewell to the group. Everything must change, it’s often said. Very best of luck to you, Barry. We’ll miss you in too many ways to name. Thank you so much for your camaraderie and invaluable contributions over the years. We can’t begin to say how much we appreciate the work you’ve put into this website — now I guess we’ll finally have to start reading the operating manual.

But, Barry’s not getting away quite that easily — he’ll remain ‘on the books’ as an Honorary Member of Elwood Writers. And who knows, there might be a radio collaboration in the works for the not-too-distant future.

So we begin to cast our thoughts towards 2026: a new chapter for all of us. What lies in store for this changed writing group, we wonder. Whatever happens, we think it’ll be well worth reading about. So make sure to keep watching this space.

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Wishing everyone a peaceful festive season. All the best for 2026.

EW