About ‘Duets’, by Jennifer Bryce

My short story ‘Duets’ features in Every Second Tuesday, the new anthology of work by Elwood Writers.

What inspires one to write a short story? My motivation to write ‘Duets’ was different from usual, when I’ve recalled an episode from my childhood, or been moved by a particular experience, or tried to put myself in the place of someone else. In the case of ‘Duets’, I saw that the Henry Handel Richardson competition was to be judged by my writing hero, Helen Garner, and I wanted her to read my work.

Henry Handel Richardson/ Ethel Florence Richardson

The competition required that the short story have ‘some link to Henry Handel Richardson and/or her work’. I had recently read her first novel, Maurice Guest, much of which is set in the Leipzig Conservatorium – a world that interested me because I was writing a novel set in a musical environment. The story that emerged was: ‘a glimpse into the life of Madeleine from Henry Handel Richardson’s novel Maurice Guest ‘. Madeleine is a sensible and well-organised student, never frivolous, never passionately in love and I imagined how that young woman might have become a school principal’s wife, where she would have an intellectual more than a passionate compatibility with her husband. My own maternal grandmother (only about ten years younger than Henry Handel Richardson) had made a career out of being a school principal’s wife and I drew on my childhood memories as I developed my own older Madeleine.

My grandparents lived in a flat in the grounds of the school where Grandad was principal and I used my memories of this as a setting for ‘Duets’: ‘the scuffling of feet as the boys were summoned to bed’ [page 122], the dingy sitting room in the flat, ‘furnished in deep-red brocade and dark wood, the darkness broken only by cream lace antimacassars on the back of the upholstered chairs’ [page 115].

The school boarding houses, where my grandfather was principal, taken in the 1930s

Helen Garner did get to read my story and I was awarded an honourable mention. The judge’s comment was: ‘A shocking and very touching and strong story about a child’s suffering and despair, and the breath-taking dishonesty of adults.’

Teasers

In the run up to the launch of Every Second Tuesday on Wednesday 9 December, each member of Elwood Writers will be introducing one of their pieces from the anthology. These teasers will appear on the Elwood Writers website, so if you’re not already following the blog and want to be sure of seeing every post, press the ‘follow’ button on the home page, here.

A reminder that our launch event will be online through Readings. To ensure you receive the link on the day, please register here. As it’s an online event, there are no geographical barriers to attending. The event is free, and the only requirement is an internet connection. And should the time difference be prohibitive, book a ticket anyway as the event will be recorded and a link to the video sent to all registered participants, whether they attend on the day or not.

So keep your eyes peeled for our anthology teasers over the next couple of weeks. Coming up shortly, Jennifer Bryce will talk about her short story ‘Duets’.

Stay tuned!

Armistice Day

In 2018, Elwood Writers was commissioned by Vision Australia Radio’s Tim McQueen to create the material for a special edition of the literary program Cover to Cover. The program was to commemorate the centenary of Armistice Day, and was broadcast then repeated on 9 and 11 November.

Today marks 102 years since the signing of the armistice ending the First World War. For another chance to hear our Armistice Day Centenary stories, an audio file of the commemorative edition of Cover to Cover can be accessed here.

The stories are also collected in a dedicated section of our new anthology Every Second Tuesday, available soon from selected bookstores including Readings. Every Second Tuesday will be launched on 9 December by local author Lee Kofman at an online Q&A and celebration through Readings. Details are on the Readings events page, here. Tickets are free, and booking is necessary to receive the Zoom link on the day of the launch. We’d love to have you there, and hope you can join us.

So whether listening or reading is your preference, please enjoy our Armistice Day stories, each a reminder of a time when guns across the world fell silent and peace prevailed.

Book Launch Invitation

We are delighted to have the Elwood Writers group – Jennifer Bryce, Margaret McCaffrey, Helen McDonald and Barry Lee Thompson – join us online to discuss Every Second Tuesday. A new anthology of poetry, fiction and memoir, this kaleidoscope of stories spans the globe from the trenches of France in World War One to a dystopian Australia, via contemporary Harlem and the streets of northern England. The Elwood Writers will chat about their book and their group with award-winning local author Lee Kofman.
Elwood Writers in conversation | Wed 9 Dec 2020 at 6:30pm
from the Readings events page

It’s coming! Our anthology Every Second Tuesday is about to hit the shelves, and we’d love you to join us online as Lee Kofman launches the book with Readings on Wednesday 9 December at 6:30pm (AEST). This is a free event, though booking is required in order to receive the meeting link on the day of the event.

Every Second Tuesday | Stories by Elwood Writers

As it’s an online event, geography is no bar to attending. There are no limits to how many people can come along, so feel free to share this invitation far and wide. And if you’re unable to make it on the day, book a ticket anyway to automatically receive a recording to watch at your leisure.

Here’s the event details again: Elwood Writers in conversation | Wed 9 Dec 2020 at 6:30pm. Booking info is on that page, or this link takes you straight to the booking page. It’s free, and it’s online.

So wherever in the world you might be, we hope you’re able to celebrate with us in some way. We guarantee it’ll be a night to remember.

‘Every Second Tuesday’ is coming

We may have been in lockdown for a few months but Elwood Writers has been busily putting the finishing touches to a project we’ve been working on over the past two years. We’re currently checking printed proof copies of Every Second Tuesday, an anthology of our writing drawn from over the last ten years.

Now we’re excited to share news of the anthology’s forthcoming publication in both paperback and ebook forms. We’ll keep you posted …

Winter

Here in the room, the fire crackles, and in the distance, the clatter of the roller-coaster.
So This Is Winter, Jennifer Bryce

In our corner of the southern hemisphere the weather is turning colder and the nights are drawing in. And so, a year on from its first broadcast, our special wintry edition of Cover to Cover has been scheduled to hit the Vision Australia Radio airwaves again on 10 & 12 July.

We hope you’ll be able to join us, wherever you are, and whatever your season. We’ll provide listening information closer to the broadcast date. In the meantime, stay safe and sound.

EW Meetings

It’s hard to believe that only a few weeks ago we were among throngs of people at Adelaide Writers’ Week, attending sessions in the gardens, meeting in cafes, having dinner in bustling eateries – activities that would be unthinkable now. As the world adjusts to its new realities, so too does Elwood Writers. We’re continuing to meet as we have for over ten years, every second Tuesday, but for the foreseeable future our workshops will take place not in the seaside suburb from which we take our name, but via telecon. Audio only, so we don’t have to worry about coordinating our outfits or fixing our hair. We had our first run at this last Tuesday and it went really well. I’m sure we’ll thrive under the new conditions. But I’m already missing the biscuits and cake.

Armistice Day Centenary edition of Cover To Cover, podcast

A podcast of last week’s Armistice Day edition of Vision Australia Radio’s Cover To Cover is now available at the link below:

https://varadio.podbean.com/e/cover-to-cover-9th-november-2018/

The program, broadcast Friday 9 November and repeated Sunday 11 November, marks the hundred years since the end of the First World War, and features work from Elwood Writers.

We hope you enjoy listening to the program.

Cover To Cover is recorded in the studios of Vision Australia Radio in Melbourne.

Back To School

It’s almost time for Australian schools to reopen after the long summer holiday, and this week’s edition of Cover To Cover on Vision Australia Radio looks at aspects of school life both inside and beyond the gates. The program features poetry, memoir and fiction from the members of Elwood Writers, and will air on Friday evening at 8 o’clock on 1179 AM Melbourne. For times where you are, check out the program guide here:
https://radio.visionaustralia.org/program-guides

There’s a frequency finder (if you’re in Australia) and a live streaming link (wherever you are in the world) here:
https://radio.visionaustralia.org/

If you’re not able to join us on Friday, the program will be repeated on Sunday, and will be available as a podcast shortly afterwards.

Happy listening!

ELWOOD WRITERS MEETING 14TH JANUARY 2017

Another spirited meeting of the Elwood Writers this week. Inevitably, domestic and world political affairs loomed over the general discussions again. It seems we’ve entered a new age of anxiety. Before our collective blood pressure soared too high, we made teas and coffees and got down to literary business.

Barry proposed sharpening up the structure of the group’s workshopping sessions. In place of an informal general discussion about a particular piece of writing we agreed to try a more targeted approach where we each have five minutes to deliver individual feedback. This new format will allow us to focus during meetings on the more salient or urgent responses to a piece of work. So that nothing is overlooked, all comments and observations will continue to be captured within the marked up documents that return to the writer of the piece under consideration.

In this week’s workshop sessions, Helen talked about a book she’s recently acquired, Contemporary Australian Poetry (Puncher & Wattmann). Her poetry library is growing. She has approached the form in a somewhat unconventional way, beginning to write it before studying it closely. But that may prove to be an advantage. Margaret shared a piece of work that was conceived during a writing workshop she attended last year. Barry shared the first 2000 words of a reworking of one of the stories from his linked collection. He’s been experimenting with blocks of second person narration in the piece, and was keen to see if this was working. Finally we were introduced to a new character from Jenny’s novel when she presented a recently developed section from the work.

We’re going to return to second person narration/point of view in a future meeting for a fuller discussion of its features and applications.