Readings at Rotunda

John King hooks the audience in with the beginning of his novel.

How fantastic are our Rotunda nights! Excuse me if I have a little bragging session, but I'm really excited about all that's going on in PWE at the moment. And this session didn't let us down. This session was entertaining and informative -- as you'll see if you read Kathy's report below. Sherryl looked like she was born for the interviewer's chair, and John Clarke was just sensational, and we followed this up with some pretty sensational PWE student readings, which John was generous enough to hang around for and to listen to.

Megan Green gets gritty in her crime novel.

I'm not joking when I say it was generous of John to stick around. I can't tell you how many readings I've been to where the guest readers get up and do their bit and then go off. If there's an open-mic session afterwards, you'll never find them there. They're long gone. And these are people not nearly as well known as John -- perhaps with fame comes grace. No, I know that's not true. It's obviously just something he has.

Christine Kowal shares some poems with the audience.

Many people find it hard to get up and read in front of an audience. Last year, we had Debra Byrne come in and do a performance workshop with the Poetry and Writing for Young Adults students, and for anyone else who wanted to join. I know, as the Poetry teacher, that it was one of the highlights of the year for most of us. Debra's workshop was lots of fun and informative, and I know it helped me deal with my own nerves -- yes, I admit it, even those of us who stand up in front of a class week after week get nervous sometimes. I know some of our readers were nervous, but they covered it well. They all looked like seasoned pros -- no-one rushed, and they all read well. They all read as if they were proud to "own" their work, and so they should be.

Lucia Nardo reads from her Ada Cambridge shortlisted entry.

One of the great benefits of Rotunda, is not just that we're engaging with the wider community, but that it does give our students a chance to strut their stuff. Last year we had performances by the Comedy 1 and Poetry 1 students -- on separate nights. I'm not sure I would've been grateful of the large audience when I was a student, but a few years on I can tell you it would've been good for me. And that's why I was so pleased with our five readers -- their readings was a late addition to the program, but you wouldn't have thought so. They looked very well prepared and did themselves proud. Thanks, guys, for having the guts to put your work out there. And, I can tell you from looking around, which I know you were too busy to do, that it was all very well received.

Hugh Deacon has everyone in stitches with his story.

John Clarke comes to Rotunda

John Clarke in coversation with our own Sherryl Clark

John Clarke was just as you imagine him to be.  Down-to-earth and straightforward.  Answering the question on everybody's lips of Why don't you ever dress up and pretend to be the person you are impersonating, he replied that he's not so good as an actor, and much better at just being himself, so rather than try and reconstruct the politicians, he deconstructs them.  (Follow that?)

Like most of us, he hates pitching to the hierarchy to get his ideas across.  Maybe we all need an agent at some time?  His conversation about his early difficult home and school life gave an interesting insight: "It's nice to be getting paid for what I got kicked out of school for".  Perhaps careers advisers might note that?  

As a mature-aged student, it was enjoyable to take my husband whose only contribution to this blog post is "the audience were in awe of him.  Everybody was silent and totally attentive".  When asked if he'd have a blog, John replied "Never", which made some of us squirm a little, but then he added "I just don't have time".  He did however, have time to chat while signing books, and to stay and listen to the five readings at the end of the night.  

One of the messages I came away with was to be true to your own style, and to write for the audience.  Try to remember what it's like to be the audience looking back at you.

Kathy Mexted

Fancy yourself as a reader?

The Williamstown Literary Festival run a People's Choice Awards every year -- it's a great chance to showcase your work, put it up before an audience and let them judge you. Several of our students have won it in the past.

Details from the flyer are:

Two sessions will be held - the Prose Awards at 2.30 p.m. on Saturday 2 May and the Poetry Awards (poems should have a link to a nautical theme – the sea, ships, sailors, the bay) at 2.30 p.m. on Sunday 3 May.

Join a fabulous line-up of writers as they share the magic of their written words. Poets, novelists, short-story writers, song writers - anyone who loves to write - are invited to read. Others are invited to listen as the writers take us on their own personal journeys - thought-provoking, engaging, insightful, amusing - and then nominate the reader whose work they have most enjoyed. The People's Choice Awards will be given to the reader who gets the most votes at each session.

Please note: There is a limit of 4 minutes per reading, and readers are booked on a ‘first come, first served’ basis, so potential readers are urged to book their spot via the website . . .

Follow the link above to the website if you want to book yourself a spot. The word is that the prose section is almost full, so if you want to enter that you'd better get in quickly, but there's still plenty of room for poetry. So, if you've got something suitable, why not give it a go? Best part is that you can take your own cheer squad!

Tracey