Tag: memoir

Margaret muses on writing friendship

We six friends shared our Melbourne convent days together, later taking a deep dive into the buzz of early seventies’ London. 

‘Writing Friendship’

Earlier this year, The Human Writers published a story by Elwood Writer Margaret McCaffrey about her friend Jane – or, more particularly, about her friendship with Jane. A short time later, The Human Writers asked Margaret to record an audio of ‘For Jane’ to feature on their website.

Margaret then wrote a blog post about about how ‘For Jane’ came into being. The post, ‘Writing Friendship’, takes her relationship with Jane as a focus, reflects generally on the nature and peculiarities of friendship, and is rich in wonderful observations and references about writing and friendship. Here’s a quote from sculptor Louise Bourgeois that strikes a particular chord with us:

We either die of the past or we become an artist.

Louise Bourgeois

Maybe by sitting in our spaces, clicking away at our keyboards, drinking too much coffee and occasionally fretting about how the current book or story or essay or blog post or what-have-you is faring, we can take comfort in knowing that at the very least we’re staying alive. And perhaps we might be making a friend or two along the way. And maybe that’s really all that matters.

You can read ‘Writing Friendship’ below – be sure to check out Margaret’s story ‘For Jane’ while you’re there:

 Writing Friendship

Happy reading, listening, and writing!

EW

Friends Who Write, by Margaret McCaffrey

As writing can be the place where we humans reveal the deepest part of ourselves … having a person or people we trust to witness our process along the way is a precious gift.

from ‘Friends Who Write’.

We’re quite surprised to realise that we haven’t published a blog post since December last year, and it’s already almost March! Where does the time go? We’ve all been busy with our own individual projects, but now that the fortnightly group meetings have begun again after the summer holidays, Elwood Writers is eager to get back into the blogging swing.

And so, without further ado, let’s go. And what better way to start than with a short reflective essay that Margaret has written on writing groups and friendships, published last year in Working Writer, a bi-monthly publication from the US. In the essay, Margaret talks about her personal experience as a member of Elwood Writers: what the group means to her, and how it’s impacted her work. It’s a terrific piece, and you can read it for yourself by clicking here. We hope you enjoy it.

Now that we’re off and running, there’ll be another blog post along soon. See you there.

A belated Happy New Year.

EW

‘Friends Who Write’ is published in the Jul/Aug 2022 issue of Working Writer (Vol. 23 No. 4).

The Gift of Reading

It’s that time of the year again. How quickly it comes around. Maybe you’re on the lookout for some original festive gift ideas? For the reader in your life, might we suggest a copy of the Elwood Writers anthology Every Second Tuesday? We think there’s something in the book for everyone. But don’t just take our word for it:

The anthology Every Second Tuesday hangs together well. It covers periods from the First World War to the far-too-soon future, with a variety of poetry, memoir, fact and fiction. The evocation of place, from the 1916 trenches near Boulogne to Luna Park in St Kilda is marvellous. Each of the authors has their own distinct voice – the voices blend together like a great choir.

Tim McQueen | Producer and presenter of Cover to Cover, Vision Australia Radio

You can order the paperback from most online platforms. Book Depository offers free worldwide delivery, and they currently have 10% off their list price – find them at the link below:

Every Second Tuesday at Book Depository

If ebooks are preferred, Every Second Tuesday is available from all the major retailers, including the one below:

Every Second Tuesday Kindle Edition

Why not share the wonderful gift of reading this December? Books make great stocking fillers, and you’ll also be supporting Australian writing.

Happy December,

EW

podcast: all about Adelaide, on Cover to Cover

The podcast of last week’s special episode of Cover to Cover is now available. The program features Elwood Writers and our individual takes on the theme of ‘Adelaide’. If you’d like to listen to, download, or share the podcast, or browse previous episodes of Cover to Cover or other Vision Australia Radio programs, visit the following link:

https://omny.fm/shows/cover-to-cover/cover-to-cover-episode-416-15th-april-2022

If you don’t want to move away from this page, you can dive straight in and listen now, below:

Cover to Cover Episode 416 15th April 2022

Thanks as always to Tim McQueen and the team at Vision Australia Radio.

We hope you enjoy the show. Happy listening,

Elwood Writers

A question of websites: Margaret answers

Writings and Musings of Margaret McCaffrey

Why I Write my Blog

I set up the Writings and Musings blog because I wanted to have an online presence without being tied to the imperatives of the more ‘instantaneous’ or immediate social media platforms.

The focus of my blog is primarily the craft of memoir. I am fascinated by how people write in general, whether it be fiction, poetry, screenwriting or song. My musings are personal reflections, such as ‘Putting the Me in Memoir’ or ‘The Interface between Memoir and Fiction’. I mix these thoughts with other items of interest. ‘Where do you Write?’, ‘Writing in Bed’, and ‘The Car Park’ all touch on where and how one writes (the latter being about working outdoors during an interminable Melbourne lockdown).  

When my group Elwood Writers (EW) has a shared activity, such as a book launch, a soiree, or a radio presentation, I like to notify people of that.

The blog is intended for anyone who likes to write, and for people drawn to such themes as veterans of war, the relationship between fathers and daughters, and how to write about the ‘self’ – not always an easy task. Occasionally I have military folk visit my site. I am never sure if my point of view coincides with theirs. But no matter their views, I’d like to think that the posts are occasionally helpful to them.

More than anything, the blog is helpful to me. We are all surviving something, and writers are fortunate enough to have the opportunity to build worlds and stories from their experiences and imagination. Cunningly, as Chuck Palahniuk (Fight Club) has it – this is especially true for the memoirist – ‘life never works except in retrospect’. For me, discussing ideas on writing allows discourse with the wider world – which in turn helps me collect my own thoughts as I go.

Besides, it’s fun.

Don’t touch that dial

A reminder to stay tuned to 94.9 MAINfm today to hear Elwood Writers’ Helen McDonald read from the group’s anthology, Every Second Tuesday.

Helen will be on The Quiet Carriage with Paul J Laverty from 1:00pm. You can listen on the radio, or online from anywhere in the world.

For listening info, go here.

The Quiet Carriage is MAINfm’s dedicated literature show all about books and authors, hosted by Paul J Laverty. MAINfm comes out of Castlemaine in Victoria.

Happy listening!

New-Year Highs

While last year was taken up with the production and launch of our anthology Every Second Tuesday, each of us was also busy working on our individual projects. We all rounded off the year on personal highs.

Jennifer’s short story ‘The First Day’ was awarded a Highly Commended in the Port Stephens Literature Awards 2020.

Margaret’s story ‘Pastry Fever’ appeared in the Fall 2020 edition of Door Is A Jar literary magazine (Issue 16). Door Is A Jar is a US publication of poetry, short fiction, nonfiction, drama and artwork.

Helen was excited to have her poem ‘In deep blue’ selected for Democratic Poetic | Poetry Matters Issue 40 December 2020, a gathering of the journal’s finest poems from 2006 to 2019.

The successful launch of Barry’s first book Broken Rules and Other Stories in September was followed by the publication of Every Second Tuesday, and Barry is already planning and writing his next book.

The creative spirit surges. Watch this space throughout 2021 for more Elwood Writers news.

Now, Voyager

It’s one week since Every Second Tuesday was launched by Lee Kofman in a wonderful online event hosted by Readings. If you booked a ticket to the launch, you will have received a link to the recording. That link is still live, but will expire shortly. But you can save the video forever by clicking on the link and choosing the download options in the viewing window. Then you can watch it this year, next year, or whenever suits.

Now the book is sailing steadily on its journey. One of the best ways to support Elwood Writers is to read our work. For book lovers in Australia, we’d encourage getting hold of the anthology from Readings. Overseas readers might want to go here.

Or if you’d like to support a favourite bookstore but they don’t have the book in stock, why not ask if they can order it in for you. The ISBN is 978-0-6450041-0-6 and the publishing imprint is Rightword Enterprises.

The e-version is available from all the usual places.

If you have any issues or questions, do get in touch in the comments and replies box below this post.

Happy reading!

Anthology stories

The podcast of last week’s Cover to Cover is available by clicking through to the Vision Australia Radio website. You can also find the podcast on Spotify.

The program features readings by Alison Davies and producer Tim McQueen of stories by Elwood Writers from our new book Every Second Tuesday, including Jennifer’s ‘Teleférico’, a selection of Helen’s haiku inspired by Japan and Australia, Margaret’s ‘The White Woman’, and Barry’s ‘Tongue’.

Happy listening!