Were you at the Tidal Festival in Devonport this month? If so, you might have caught our five talented Young Writers in the City in action as they read from their experimental essays in front of the festival audience. The readings took place in the Devonport Regional Gallery and our writers were joined by Cameron Hindrum.
If you didn’t make it this time, not to worry – you can relive the experience in this fantastic photoblog. Scroll down to meet our writers and see more of their work!
All images courtesy of Dianne Sheehan, credit Kelly Slater.
Our inaugural Devonport Young Writers in the City team!
Kate Elphinstone wrote about the venue in which she gave her readings:
You can’t forget the gallery was a church because its memory is everywhere: in the high ceiling, the archways of doors, and the glossy wooden floor. The artwork hangs on its white walls. I’m sitting in a rolling chair at a desk on what was the altar, a place of the privileged few, and this lets me look down over everything new…
Lauren Hay spent her residency in the Sea FM radio station.
On the drive there – to prepare myself – I’m sure to sing loudly to whatever songs the station plays. As I don’t know the majority of these songs, the lyrics become little else than garbled and ill-glorified syllables that bleed into one and other. Good thing I sound better on paper.
Skye Cusack in action. She wrote a surreal piece called Sonder and the Lucid Dream.
Whilst not a legitimately credited word, the concept of ‘sonder’ led me to remember a theory I studied in school. The theory suggests that your brain cannot create new data whilst unconscious, so the people in your dreams are people you have seen in real life and subsequently forgotten after the moment subsided. This, in turn, inspired me to play around with the idea of dreaming about people I saw at the mall.
Jane Beeke explored the historical tales of the Bass Strait Maritime Museum and shared some stories of her own:
Harry was luckier than his father. He was born into boats. His life had been spent here in Formby, watching the ships slide from the slips into the welcoming waters of the Mersey River. He and his father had come as a package to Griffiths’ shipyard after the mines had closed, and quickly Harry became the star apprentice.
Kyle Perry spent his residency on the Spirit of Tasmania and brings us a witty account of his experience:
The live entertainment is a laid-back man called Brad with long hair and a nose ring who’s playing Clocks by Coldplay per a passenger’s request. “I’m making this up as I go,” he confides into the mic. Then he stops to tune his guitar. “Sea air and guitars aren’t always the best of friends.” I sit with a drink and Brad asks me why I’m on the ship.
Out of the blue.
From the stage.
Like he’s a real person.
