Tag: fiction

Vision Australia Radio update

Vision Australia Radio COVID-19 update: we’re here and on air.

As part of VAR’s current programming, past editions of Cover to Cover are being broadcast every weekday at 1PM. There’s a reasonable chance of one of the Elwood Writers specials being among those repeats. So to find out, why not tune in and enjoy some lunchtime storytelling every day. If you’re not in Australia, you can always listen to Vision Australia Radio online.

Please see the full Vision Australia Radio services update here.

For information on Vision Australia’s response to COVID-19, click here.

Back to School

Go back to school this week as Vision Australia Radio repeats a favourite episode of its weekly literary program Cover to Cover from January 2018, featuring stories written and in some cases read on air by Elwood Writers. You can hear the show in Melbourne at 8:00pm this Friday, repeated Sunday at 1:30pm. For timings in other cities and locations around Australia, check the VAR website. And as usual the show can be heard online from anywhere in the world by using the ‘listen live’ feature on the VAR website:

https://radio.visionaustralia.org/

Happy listening!

2019: Another Year Over

It’s been another lively year for Elwood Writers, both individually and collectively. There are too many highlights to pick and choose for an end-of-year wrap-up. But this might be a good opportunity to say special congratulations again to Jennifer, whose first novel Lily Campbell’s Secret was published in May, and launched at Readings in Carlton by Toni Jordan in June. And a happy hooray for Helen, whose poems were published far and wide this year, including two in the US. Two excerpts from Margaret’s full-length draft manuscript were published in American Writers Review (San Fedele Press). Well done, Margaret. And Barry had a short story included in the winter issue of Roomers magazine, and has also contributed to the brand new summer issue.

For a more comprehensive picture of all we’ve been up to, we’d invite you to take a look back at our posts over the year. You can access all our previous posts in the archives section on the right-hand side of this page.

Thanks very much for your company here on the website. We look forward to seeing you again in 2020. There are a couple of exciting projects lined up, and we’re itching to share more on these in the coming weeks. For now, happy reading and writing, and all the very best wishes of the season from Elwood Writers.

Winter 2019 Cover To Cover, Vision Australia Radio

Wintry stories and music can be enjoyed whatever the season, wherever you are. Listen to Elwood Writers read their winter-themed work on the recent special edition of Cover To Cover, Vision Australia Radio’s weekly literary program, originally broadcast 12 July 2019.

The program is available on the Podcasts & Recordings page of this site, linked here. Happy listening.

Thanks for dropping by the Elwood Writers website. See you again soon.

Cover To Cover is recorded in the studios of Vision Australia Radio in Melbourne.
Producer: Tim McQueen.

Update: Special winter edition of Cover To Cover | Friday 12 & Sunday 14 July 2019

There was a problem with our calendar and we initially gave the wrong dates for the special upcoming winter-themed edition of the weekly literary program Cover To Cover on Vision Australia Radio. The program will be broadcast on Friday 12 July at 8.00pm, repeated Sunday 14 July at 1.30pm and will feature the members of Elwood Writers performing their own work. There’s poetry, including haiku, from Helen, and stories by Jennifer, Margaret, and Barry.

Cover To Cover can be heard on the radio in Australia or online from anywhere in the world. For frequency and other information and to access online listening visit the station’s website below:

https://radio.visionaustralia.org

A podcast will be available shortly after the broadcast, and we’ll add it to our podcast page here on the Elwood Writers website, so if you don’t get a chance to tune in on the day you can listen at your leisure.

Cover To Cover is produced by Tim McQueen and recorded in the studios of Vision Australia Radio in Melbourne.

American Writers Review 2019 (San Fedele Press)

While parts of the northern hemisphere are currently experiencing very high temperatures, it’s midwinter here in the lower reaches of the southern hemisphere. This afternoon may not be too cold (16C), but it’s gloomy and wet and windy. Ideal conditions for being bookish. And there’s something especially soothing about finding a book that becomes a friend to accompany you through the long wintry nights.

And we’ve found such a book in the brand new American Writers Review (San Fedele Press). We’ve been excitedly dipping into this year’s edition and stumbling across numerous treasures. The bar was set high with last year’s AWR, and the team have done it again. Prepare to be unexpectedly distracted – this is certainly a book to lose yourself in.

We’re very pleased that three members of Elwood Writers have their work included in this year’s edition. You’ll find memoir from Margaret (The Poultry Farm; Yin and Yang), poetry by Helen (In Retreat; Stark against the Sky), and short fiction from Barry (The Birthday). A trifecta of Elwood Writers!

So whatever the season where you are, get hold of a copy of this book, cancel your plans for the evening, plump up your cushions and put your favourite beverage at your side, take your phone off the hook (we’re old school), and prepare to be delighted and moved for hours on end. There really is something in this pleasingly hefty volume for readers everywhere to enjoy. Open its pages and allow yourself to become lost in the many wonderful stories.

Happy reading, everyone.

Special winter edition of Cover To Cover | Friday 12 & Sunday 14 July 2019

Elwood Writers was in the studios of Vision Australia Radio in Kooyong on Thursday morning to record their pieces for a special upcoming winter-themed edition of the weekly literary program Cover To Cover.

The program features poetry, including haiku, by Helen, and stories by Jennifer, Margaret, and Barry, and goes to air on Friday 12 July at 8.00pm, repeated Sunday 14 July at 1.30pm.

Cover To Cover can be heard on the radio in Australia or online from anywhere in the world. For frequency and other information and to access online listening visit the station’s website below:

https://radio.visionaustralia.org

A podcast will be available shortly after the broadcast, and we’ll add it to our podcast page here on the Elwood Writers website, so if you don’t get a chance to tune in on the day you can listen anytime at your leisure.

Cover To Cover is produced by Tim McQueen and recorded in the studios of Vision Australia Radio in Melbourne.

This post originally showed the dates of the program as Friday 5 July and Sunday 7 July 2019. This was incorrect, and the information has been amended.

Winter 2018 Soiree | Margaret McCaffrey

Margaret’s notes on the Elwood Writers soiree held in August at St Kilda Library:

The Elwood Writers 2018 soiree was our third in a series of evening readings. The group’s first two events were held in a private home where we tested the performance waters with family and friends. This year we branched out a little, presenting at a local public venue and inviting a slightly wider audience.

The concept of a soiree is loosely based on the old-fashioned, European notion of a ‘salon’. People are invited to gather and enjoy themselves while being entertained with stories and musical interludes.

As my own work is mainly memoir and of a personal nature, I can find public readings to be challenging. But I have to be willing to open my soul, while protecting myself with the suited armour of a story and carefully crafted narrative.

Despite the challenges, however, in the long run I value the opportunity to leave my comfort zone (the support of my group and the patient listening of my partner), to spring into the exhilarating and expectant atmosphere of a live audience, whether this be with friends or strangers.

The audience’s response to us can be subtle. It might come in the form of a sigh of satisfaction or as a wave of relief (or even agitation) that ripples through the crowd. One might detect a murmur at the end of a story or poem, or a facial expression of pleasure or questioning. But despite any nervous apprehension on my part, I would not be willing to miss the experience for anything.


“… a sigh of satisfaction or as a wave of relief …”

The graduation from working solo to public performance is all in the path of the writer, I believe, where she must firm her step and ready herself to stride forth into the realm of the more global sphere.

All images HarrietClaire Photography

We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the lands on which we live and write, and we pay our respects to all elders past and present.