Festival Reflections

The 2016 Bendigo Writers Festival was by far one of the most inspiring and educational events that I have attended.  

From creating sustainable cities from gardens on balconies, conversations about literary forms, publications, social media, journalism, politics, the environment and how we can use our experiences to not only create memoirs, but to create novels, poetry, music and many other forms of narratives.  There were so many pieces of advice given at the festival and I found that I learned more than I ever thought I would.

Indira Naidoo not only got me thinking about creating a vegetable and fruit garden but gave me the resources to do it in her book The Edible Balcony. Not only does this book detail how to set up a garden in a small space, Indira has listed the plants that will grow the best in each season. Incredibly helpful for those who have not started a garden before and are looking for a place to start. 

Anne Summers inspired me to continue to write on events that I am interested in and help to break down the barriers for others.

Moreover, it was in a discussion with Anna Goldsworthy that I learned about the process of creating a memoir. Using her memoir written about her childhood piano lessons, how important it is to first gain permission of all the people who have been written about in your book before publishing can go ahead. How, for her it was more important that her teacher like the memoir, more than anyone else does. It was easy to see how much Anna respects her piano teachers, and to hear her talk about the amount of dedication and time that she and many other musicians put into learning and practising their playing, gave a sense of appreciation and awe as to how disciplined and motivated Anna is with her work.

Overall, I am really glad that I had the opportunity to attend the Writers Festival, not only was it a great education experience, I had the opportunity to work with new writers and see the festival in a new light. 

Saturday Festival Reflections

Saturday was by far the busiest day that I had scheduled for the writer’s festival. 

There were many highlights across the day, so I narrowed it down to the two sessions that I found the most interesting.

Di Morrissey, not only was she enchanting her session, but incredibly supportive when I spoke to her afterwards with her advice. Di explained in her session that although it is difficult, you should write from the heart and not try to write to sound or be smart. As a writer who has published countless books, she never reads her works once it has been published because she may feel like she could have written something better or wants to change something. As a writer myself, to hear that someone as accomplished as Di Morrissey wants to change her finished works when she revisits them is very reassuring.

Another aspect of Di’s writing practices that I found to be very interesting is the way that she researches the places that she writes about, by going and staying in these places, meeting the town folk, exploring and hiking around the areas surrounding it. To me, this seems to be a fantastic way to begin writing a new novel. Sitting in a room surrounded by piles of research that have been pulled from the internet and out of books, now seems to be a mundane way to go about things. As Di put it ‘there are still places of extreme beauty’ in Australia just waiting to be found and explored.

One of the biggest sessions that I attended was with Tim Flannery as the speaker. Tim, who had replaced another author who was unwell, delivered an engaging and thought provoking discussion about climate change and the reality of it. A key moment was when an audience member suggested that the younger generations and the current technology were a part of the problem, an idea that Tim straight away gave insight too. He explained that the only reason the younger generations have this technology is because the older ones created them and people cannot be held responsible for something that they have grown up with. Education all generations about climate change and the impact that the human race has on the environment is one of the major keys in combatting climate change. If we can understand what is causing these changes and what can be done to minimise or even prevent these changes from occurring, the earth’s atmosphere and environment will stand a much better chance in the future. Therefore, no one nor any generation is to blame for these changes and blame will not change anything, whereas understanding and action will.

These two sessions formed very different discussions, which continued on throughout the weekend over social media and in person.

Equality for Australian Women

Break down the barriers to get what you want from life

It was a real treat to hear Australia’s Anne Summers speak about the feminist movement and the state of equality in Australia and around the world today during the Bendigo Writers Festival.

One of the best things about this session was that there was a wide range of people that had come to hear Anne speak about women’s equality in Australia. Families with young children, teenagers and adults of both genders sat in the filled Capital Theatre to hear how far Australia has come and what more needs to be done.  

Anne’s book Damned Whores and God’s Police first published forty years ago, has undergone numerous reprints and updates, and is still popular today. Looking at society, first in the 1970’s and continuing until now, Damned Whores and God’s Police is a wealth of information about the past of women’s rights, liberation, roles and much more. For women to know and understand the past and how far society has come is important in moving forward and creating a better future for the next generations.

What about the society that we live in now. Is it any better than 40 years ago?

Well, society still holds on to colours representing gender types. Why do we as a community believe that we can only purchase pink items for girls and blue items for boys?

 I honestly cannot say.

Toy and clothing companies are creating items that are then marketed as being for a specific gender. This practice is outdated. We are now in a place in where gender is becoming irrelevant, once old enough to make their own decisions individuals now have the opportunity to dress in a way that expresses their personality and choose the toy’s they want. Sadly, this still comes as something that a minority of society bully people for, because they do not believe that they should play with or wear those colours or clothes.  

  

Not just children and teenagers are falling subject to needing to fit into society’s ideal model person. Adult women are regularly challenged on their life choices, especially when it comes to having a family. As Anne Summers explained during her session, the ultimate role for women is still motherhood; there is still a notion around that you are less of a woman if you have chosen not to have children.

With that being said, higher education, career paths and other options are being given to women across Australia, and many believe that it is possible men are the more successful applicants in these situations still, showing that while Australia has made some progress towards equality there is still much more to be done to make things fair.

Song writing at the festival

Bendigo Library was the home of the Write on the Fringe Festival during this year’s Bendigo Writers Festival.

This year the Write on the Fringe held a range of free events for individuals of all ages and interest.

One of these sessions featured former Powderfinger member, now solo artist Darren Middleton.

               

Darren and a number of music enthusiasts spent their Saturday morning discussing song writing, being in bands, learning new techniques and ideas for their music.

As well as providing feedback on their own songs, the overriding theme of the session was song writing.  
Through discussions, the main concerns of the aspiring songwriters were brought forward. This lead to an important conversation about some of the key elements: chords, lyrics, melody and structure. While Darren believes that there is no ‘method to the madness of songs’, it is best to be in a moment of inspiration and use past experiences.   
 

Established through the groups’ conversation song writing needs to taken as a process that is about building connections, not just about the lyrics. While the vocal and the lyrics are the connection with the listener, the instrumental components are just as important. A major factor in the band environment is lyricists thinking that once they have handed over their lyrics that their involvement in that song is over. However, that is not the case vocalists and lyricists for bands need be a part of the instrumental aspect of the writing process to ensure that everyone is being involved in music production and the desired results achieved.

The most interesting practice of the day was the idea of listening to songs backwards. Darren, who has used this method before told session goers that he found new melodies, tunes through this practice.

Overall, the techniques, ideas and concept given throughout the session were both inspiring and helpful. The approach that Darren took to his session allowed everyone attending to become actively involved in the session.