Dear All: Due to the current inactivity of our sponsor, FOWL, I will continue to present this report on a sporadic basis. Note that my last report was written in April, after the library shutdown began. The reason for this one, after a break of 3 months, is that there are good things happening.
Because Waverley Writers was unable to access the library in April, May and June, for what would have been our 55th, 56th and 57th meetings, we could not meet face to face. Many in the group felt reluctant to Zoom. Instead, we devised a system in which we would email chapters/pieces to each other for feedback. We wondered if it would work.
Well, work it did. In April, 7 of us participated, and in May and in June, there were 9 participants. The numbers were similar to our face-to-face meetings over the years. Providing feedback in an email has been an exhilarating and rewarding experience. One is bound to provide more detail and therefore to pay more attention to another’s work. Hopefully, when we get back to the library, we will use this experience to bolster our round-the-table feedback skills.
All comments received about the experience were positive. One member found the input from others ‘helpful, kind and supportive’. Another experienced ‘a huge learning curve’. One of us has written, ‘I’ve found the email exchange of work and feedback extremely good…It has been better than face to face as there’s more time to consider other people’s work…I’ve found it valuable to receive corrected versions, especially for the typos and grammar.’
Nevertheless, we are hoping that the July session will return us to the library. It would be good to be together again, including those members who have not yet participated in the email exchange.
Other news is that our newest member, Gabrielle Lord, participated in a Zoom Webinar session on June 23rd. Those of us who tuned in would have found it enjoyable and also revealing and helpful for writers. The session was called ‘Ask the Author: Gabrielle Lord – Australia’s Queen of Crime Fiction’. Gabrielle introduced her latest novel, Sisters. You can catch it and her on Randwick Library’s Facebook page.
Capriccio: A Novel by Waverley Writers’ member Dina Davis was selected as a finalist for the state-wide NT Chief Minister’s Book Awards 2020. Bravo, Dina! This award is held every two years, and this year had a record number of entries. Dina will be in conversation with Helene Grover in a webinar from Randwick Library on Tuesday 7 July from 4-5 p.m. They will be discussing the writing of Capriccio: A Novel. You can register for this event on:
Sharing Writing Skills by Randwick Writers’ Group is on sale through Ginninderra Press. The Waverley Writers who are represented in its authorship are grateful to those members who have purchased a copy. Hopefully they will find it useful. You can find this book at:
https://www.ginninderrapress.com.au/store.php?catalog/search/randwick/date/1
The future: Anne will let us know when Waverley Writers can return to the library. If that cannot happen in July, she will be in touch about continuing our email exchange.
Regards
Susan Beinart (Liaison Waverley Writers of FOWL)
Waverley Writers Blog 