Here at Elwood Writers we usually like to publish one blog post per month, at least. But we’ve been so busy putting together our new program for Cover to Cover on Vision Australia Radio, among other things, that we missed September. Oh well, consider this September’s post, an interesting piece from Barry about the joys of writing. Or the pain of writing. Or both. Maybe sometimes it’s just easier to read. So, happy reading.
EW
I was enjoying a Marie biscuit and strong lungo yesterday morning when a new blog post from Barry’s website popped into the Elwood Writers mailbox. In the post – linked over there👉– Barry writes about an upcoming episode of Vision Australia Radio’s weekly literary program Cover to Cover, featuring the work of Elwood Writers. We don’t yet have a broadcast date for the program, but it’ll be sometime after the material goes to Cover to Cover‘s producer/presenter Tim McQueen in early October.
Elwood Writers has been contributing stories to Cover to Cover since 2015, featuring in roughly one special episode each year. Our first program, appropriately titled ‘Starting Over’, was broadcast in episode 38 of Cover to Cover on 11 January 2015. If you fancy a bit of a blast from the past, you can listen to that or any of the episodes featuring our work by clicking here. We’re always grateful for the invaluable support of Tim and the Cover to Cover team, and everyone at Vision Australia Radio.
Until my coffee break was pleasantly interrupted by the happy ping of that email notification yesterday, October had felt a long, long way away. And now? Well it’s closing in, but is still six weeks away – and I remember the six-week school holidays used to go on and on and on. We’ll be sure to provide more info about the radio program between now and October. To stay in the loop, make sure you’re subscribed – it’s free, and means you’ll never miss any content.
EW
Barry Lee Thompson is no stranger to the writing retreat. He wrote an essay for US-based journal Working Writer about his experiences of retreats in the Blue Mountains of NSW and on the Indonesian island of Bali. Barry’s blog post below includes a link to the July/August edition of the journal, as well as details of how to subscribe to Working Writer. If you’ve ever wondered what happens on a writing retreat, or what doesn’t happen, then please dive right in and find out.
After reading all about it, Elwood Writers is more than ever in the mood for our very own group retreat. We’ve discussed it once or twice during our fortnightly meetings, with great enthusiasm, but so far haven’t been able to finalise a plan. We will definitely make it happen, one of these days. Maybe next year, even. It’s high on our agenda. In the meantime, there’s always Barry’s article to transport us without having to leave the considerable comfort of our very warm and cosy armchairs …
Happy reading,
EW
The second half of 2024 got off to a flying start for the Elwood Writers blog yesterday with a fascinating new post from Helen, all about the power of the spoken word.
And the momentum continues today with this update on the Elwood Writers anthology Every Second Tuesday. We recently decided, for administrative reasons, to close our account with IngramSpark, the printers and distributors of the anthology. It takes 45 days for the closure to fully take effect, so the title is slowly being withdrawn, bit by bit, and by the end of July Every Second Tuesday will no longer be available from the usual channels. For now, it can still be purchased print-on-demand or as an e-book from some platforms (click here to view an example), but this is unlikely to be the case for much longer. The situation might even have changed by the time you finish reading this post!
If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you might be familiar with the voyage of Every Second Tuesday. Having discussed it for many months, Elwood Writers started to put an anthology together in early 2019, working on structural edits of the pieces in the second half of that year. In early 2020, Barry copy-edited the manuscript – when finished, he declared that no one would ever find a single typographical error in the entire anthology! So far, no one has challenged his bold claim. We’re forever grateful to David Grigg at Rightword Enterprises for his tireless and patient collaboration on designing and publishing the book, and creating a beautiful finished product. Lee Kofman launched the anthology in a glittering online Q&A event hosted by Melbourne bookseller Readings in December 2020. In the same month, the ever-supportive Tim McQueen of Vision Australia Radio generously dedicated an entire episode of Cover to Cover to the anthology. Other radio appearances included an interview on 3CR’s Published…Or Not, and readings on 94.9 MAINfm’s The Quiet Carriage. There have been many other events along the way, too many to list in this brief post, as well as wonderful reviews, a panoply of supportive readers and booksellers, and plenty of warm glows. And one of the best things is that we distributed or sold our entire print run, which means we’ve never had to remainder or pulp a single copy.
None of this means that Every Second Tuesday is disappearing. Far from it. The anthology will continue to grace the shelves of many public libraries in Australia (and maybe even beyond), as well as the shelves of any bookstores that might still be holding stock – although most of the bookstores we supplied sold out very quickly.
The upshot of this quick (ish) update is that if you’re late to the party or you’ve been here forever and still don’t have a copy of Every Second Tuesday, then you’ll need to act quickly if you’d like to get your hands on it because opportunities to buy the book are dwindling. We hear it’s a very good book, so you won’t regret it. The clock is ticking …
Happy reading,
EW
P.S. If you miss the boat, or you end up kicking yourself at the end of July because you didn’t get hold of a copy, then there is a small chance that all may not be completely lost – but more on that later.
We’re in a very sharing mood today. This wonderful piece was published on Margaret’s blog in late April.
Enjoy your reading,
EW
We enjoyed this short piece that Barry published on his blog a few days ago – so we thought we’d share it here on the Elwood Writers blog.
Happy reading,
EW
Margaret McCaffrey of Elwood Writers recently posted a short piece on her website about the turn of events that led to her essay ‘Waiting for Beckett’ being published in oxygen6, the October 2023 edition of oxygen magazine (ISSN 2653-0376). Margaret’s post, linked above, makes for an interesting read about the small coincidences and chance remarks which can direct or lead us to fortunate places – it includes a link to the journal’s website, with an email address for subscription enquiries.
Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps a singing bird will come.
http://www.greentreepublishing.com.au
oxygen is produced by Green Tree Publishing, a small publishing house that treads an independent path and is well worth your attention. You’ll find info about their other publications and initiatives, as well as subscription and purchase details, at their website – click here.
Small independent presses such as Green Tree Publishing bring tremendous diversity to the literary landscape and wider world – we all benefit hugely by celebrating and supporting them when and where we can, even if that means simply visiting their websites and taking an interest in what they’re up to.
Have a peaceful weekend. Happy reading.
EW
The podcast for last week’s episode of Cover to Cover has just dropped, and you can access it by clicking here. It’s also available to stream wherever you usually get your podcasts, including over at Spotify. We’ve downloaded the episode from our preferred platform – you can too, but to save you the work the sound file can be accessed by clicking here. Why a sound file? Because podcasts are available only as long as the platform hosts them, whereas sound files are forever. Sort of. Anyway, there’s many ways to listen. (And very few excuses not to. But no pressure.)
This episode of Cover to Cover was broadcast on Friday 2 February, repeated Sunday 4 February. For information on the content of the program, visit our 23 January blog post here.
It’s a hugely entertaining program, and well worth your time.
Happy listening.
EW
A quick reminder that in about 15 minutes you’ll have another chance to catch Friday’s episode of Cover to Cover on Vision Australia Radio, featuring work from Elwood Writers, including our stories published in the latest issue of 20 Artists magazine. That’s 1:00pm local time, but you can listen live wherever you are in the world (click here), unless you’re asleep or busy or not in the mood. There’s more info in the post linked above. Hope you can join us. You’ve just got time to make your favourite beverage.
And if you can’t join us today, don’t worry, there’s always the podcast, which we’ll share on this site as soon as it’s available.
Happy listening.
EW
In December, 20 Artists launched Handwritten Issue One, the inaugural literary edition of their magazine: 20 literary pieces by 20 Port Phillip artists includes work by all three Elwood Writers. This is 20 Artists’ fourth print publication – previous magazines have featured visual arts and photography.
The pieces from this latest issue are now available at the 20 Artists website. To read Helen’s poem ‘Behind the Mask’, click here. For Margaret’s ‘A Pocket Handkerchief at the Edge of the World’, click here. And for Barry’s short story ‘Portrait’, click here. You’ll find all 20 authors and their stories by clicking here.
20 Artists is supported by the City of Port Phillip Cultural Development Fund.
And a quick reminder: the Elwood Writers stories from the magazine will feature in this Friday’s episode of Cover to Cover on Vision Australia Radio, produced and presented by Tim McQueen. In print, online, and on the radio – how good is that! Click here for more info on the radio broadcast.
Happy reading.
EW
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