Arnhem Writers

This page is for the budding group of Writers, Poets, Song Writers & Muso’s that have surfaced from the writing workshop and performance night put on in Nhulunbuy by the NT Writers center in Sept. 2008.

Our group “Arnhem Writers”, is affiliated with the NT Writers Centre www.ntwriters.com.au

Breaking News:

In 2010 Arnhem Writers will be having a regular Monthly meetings.

They are scheduled to be held on the first Friday of the month, unless otherwise advised.

Next Event: Sat the 22nd of May, will be a Writers Workshop from well know Territory Author Phillip Gwynne.

Venue is  Nhulunbuy Community Library.

Cost is $20 for Non Members of NT Writers Center and Free for members. This is a morning Event, exact start time and Program TBA.

Whats Been Happening ?

Our last event was a writers Open Mic night at The Arnhem Club Bali Pavillion on Friday the 16th of April. The evening was a success, with about 20 people attending.

Rob Stewart and Paul Dewhurst performed some original music. TAC Head Waiter Jesse surprised all with stirring recitals of Man from Snowy River, The Man from Ironbark and his own original poem. I even managed to slip in a few poems myself !

Our History:

This page is for the budding group of Writers, Poets, Song Writers & Muso’s that have surfaced from the writing workshop and performance night put on in Nhulunbuy by the NT Writers center in Sept. 2008.

This is the story so far:

16-9-2008: Writers, Poets and performers from Nhulunbuy & Yirrikala were fortunate to have a 3 day visit from the NT Writers Centre Executive Officer, Sandra Thibodeaux. Sandra started out her visit with a Performance evening at the Bali Pavilion at TAC on Friday night the 12th. The evening attracted about 30 writers, Poets, storytellers, Singer/Songwriter/Performers, and lovers of the performing arts.

In a relaxed atmosphere overlooking the blue waters of the Arafura Sea, the creative talent that we have in the region had the chance to perform their work for the enthusiastic audience. As the evening wore on and with some tasty finger food and a few drinks, the songs, poems and stories became all the more entertaining and sometimes insightful.
The performances were all original material, some heard for the first time in Nhulunbuy !
The next day saw a creative writing workshop held at the town library for Aprox 14 eager writers, keen to hone their writing skills.

The stories written on the day showed just how much imagination and creativity is waiting to burst out in the community.

At the end of the workshop it was resolved that we would meet again as a group and explore our creative potential further.

The feedback from Sandra was one of surprise at the unexpected level of enthusiasm & depth of Talent shown, not to mention the warm welcome and hospitality extended to her from the writing community in town.

15 Responses to “Arnhem Writers”

  1. Ian, on September 17th, 2008 at 2:15 am Said:

    Have fixed up the page so you can leave comments !
    Cheers
    Ian

  2. Sandra Thibodeaux, on September 17th, 2008 at 8:11 pm Said:

    Hi Arnhem Writers!
    Good to see you’re up and running.
    Still buzzing with great memories from my time over there.
    Hey, Arnhem Writers’ Group would turn out to be the AWG which wouldn’t work because of the Australian Writers’ Guild! How about:
    Arnhem Writers Exposed - then this would turn out to be AWE!!!
    Cool …
    Happy Writing,
    Sandra

  3. Bev Johnson, on September 18th, 2008 at 5:25 am Said:

    Hi All

    I had such a great day on Saturday. I am wondering if we should put up our stories here or maybe have a get together and bring something we have written about Arnhem Land as Ian has called us “Arnhem Writers” then put edited pieces up on here….

    Bev

  4. Sharon, on September 18th, 2008 at 7:55 am Said:

    I thought everyone had so much talent , go guys ….. I am only new to writing even though I have wanted to do this for a really long time … looking forward to more writing

    Sharon M

  5. Brandon Grimshaw, on September 18th, 2008 at 5:45 pm Said:

    so are we gonna make it a regular thing, say once a week or fortnightly?

  6. admin, on September 18th, 2008 at 8:04 pm Said:

    I love your suggestion Sandra
    “Arnhem Writers Exposed”
    What do you guys think ?

    I think it would be a good Idea to set up a Yahoo Group for AWE.
    That is a much more flexible forum enviroment than the page i have set up here.
    It just mean you will need to log in to comment on Yahoo, but the forum will be unmoderated for members.
    I am also looking into using Gove online
    http://www.goveonline.com , but that will require a bit of work from the site owner.
    For now I will keep it here, where I have to moderate comments before they are published (keeps out Spammers)
    Cheers
    Ian

  7. Bev Johnson, on September 19th, 2008 at 4:28 am Said:

    Finding the prospect of being EXPOSED a tad daunting. I reckon “mob” captures the area but may be interpreted as being an Indigenous group. I am always up for a “posse” gettin out there but think that is a family thing. Can we just be the Arnhem Writers without having to be a group, mob or anything else?

    I must brush up some jottings ready for EXPOSURE!!!

  8. admin, on September 21st, 2008 at 12:16 am Said:

    OK … Arnhem Writers sounds good ……
    The first thing I would suggest is that we all become members of the NT Writers Centre.
    That will keep us up with the Latest that is happening in the NT.
    This should stimulate some Ideas for the Theme we can have when we meet up.
    Perhaps we should meet socially first up ?
    Cheers
    Ian

  9. Brandon Grimshaw, on September 21st, 2008 at 6:45 pm Said:

    where could all of us meet to sort all of this out, the name etc.?
    I like AWE but Arnhem Writers is alright i guess
    and perhaps we should join the NT writers centre as the admin suggested (sorry couldn’t remember your name)
    maybe we could meet in the library again, dunno, just a suggestion

  10. Bev Johnson, on October 10th, 2008 at 9:03 pm Said:

    I wonder if anyone is interested in doing a project like this? We could write stuff rather than do paintings. I think it would be fun.

    http://www.lookatbook.com/flash/shell.html

  11. admin, on October 11th, 2008 at 4:16 pm Said:

    Hi Bev
    That is a great concept and it obviously worked well for them (Sold Out !)
    I am still hopeful of another Open Mike night too.
    Perhaps later in November.
    Michael from http://www.goveonline.com is still working a some mods to his page to give us forum type environment there for “Arnhem Writers”
    Cheers
    Ian

  12. seo blog, on October 24th, 2008 at 12:53 pm Said:

    This is a really interesting blog post,I have added your blog to my favourites I really like it,keep up the good work!

  13. Sharon Norris - Brisbane, on October 25th, 2008 at 6:18 am Said:

    Hi everyone,
    I may be a long way away but Ian has told me a bit about what you’re doing and I have great interest in it as I’ve run a group for Australian children’s and young adult writers in the past and I am published in children’s literature. Hopefully I can offer some advice that may be of assistance.

    The name of your group is important because it will come to define who you are.

    What you do as a group is also very important. Will you meet regularly to talk about writing, markets, publishing etiquette and all of that? Will you meet to critique each other’s work? Will you plan self-publishing projects? Will you hold development activities? What goals will you set yourselves and your group each year?

    It’s so important to learn how to trust each other, particularly with critiquing. Handing over your work to someone you don’t know well is like opening up your soul to the universe. It’s really hard to do.

    If I can help in any way, I am at the click of a button away…

    All the best,

    Sharon Norris
    Children’s Writer
    Brisbane

  14. admin, on November 11th, 2008 at 4:03 am Said:

    Thanks Sharron for your support.
    Its great to have the benefit of an experienced and published author.
    We have plans to meet at the end of the moth for a group get together, hopefully an opportunity to set the direction for next year.
    Well, we have made front page on the NT Writers centre’s “Write Turn” news letter.
    Thanks to Lyn Whitford for submitting the report.
    A good sign for the birth of our group !
    Ian Maclean

  15. Brandon Grimshaw, on November 19th, 2008 at 5:04 pm Said:

    It IS harder than it sounds to hand over a piece of work to some people you dont know personally, I do it reguarly on YoungWritersSociety.com and I’ve recieved good, bad, and some nasty reviews.
    but recieving compliments from these people is a great boost and the comments and tips are very helpful.
    check it out if you have a spare minute

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