hi all,

this is really homework for Week 7, but if you get a chance to listen to it, there is an interview here with the author of the essay I'll be handing out in Week 6 to read for the Nature Writing week in Week 7.

for the Wednesday class, don't forget to check back here for the two workshopping pieces which I'll post as soon as they come in - I won't be online between Friday and Sunday evenings though.

Jenny

hi all,

for my Wednesday class: I won't be posting further workshopping here as foreshadowed; there may be another piece handed out on the day, but there's no need to check back here for it.

I'll mention these in class:

Voiceworks magazine is currently seeking submissions from writers under 25.

and you may find something of use to you at the Emerging Writers Festival at the end of May - it falls right on the end of semester which is unfortunate timing, but all the more reason to be organised with your assignments!

don't forget your homework: to watch and take notes on some sport you don't care about and have never watched before. the Grand Prix is on this weekend, speaking of such things... :)

Jenny

Week five looms...hi all, just for those who weren't there this week: please go along to (or watch on TV if you must) a sporting event you've never been interested in; this can be as simple as stopping by the women's cricket at the Brunswick St Oval (usually Saturdays I think, but there's Google...), or watching a golf match on late night TV; then write about the experience.

also, the writing exercise was to write a letter to a person from your "true crime" newspaper cutting, explaining why you'd like to write their story and what you plan to do; if you'd rather, you can also choose a potential biographical subject. we're going to briefly revisit that next week.

one person from Wednesday's class seems not to have brought in her writing to workshop next week; I'll be in touch with her but can that class please check back maybe Sunday night-ish in case I track it down and post it here?

thanks,

Jenny

Dear Wednesday students,

I'll try to email some of you tonight, but this is just a warning that I may be a few minutes late tomorrow. this is not good as it's a locked room and I apologise in advance if it happens; but can you tell the others if you've read this, and hang out in the corridor until I get there?

also, because of the personal stuff that's necessitated this, I'm hoping to finish the class by midday.

Jenny

dear Wednesday people,

this is Laura's piece for workshopping. if you're able to print it and make notes, please do; otherwise maybe write down comments so you'll be ready for workshopping next week. apologies it's taken a couple of days to put up; I have trouble with docx documents - plain text in the email is probably best for anyone else who's sending me material.

Laura's piece begins:

It was midnight and everyone in the Trafalgar Pub was pissed. Dozens of bearded, beer-gutted men hammered out Khe San and someone spilled Jim Beam on my dress. I half-walked, half-stumbled from our table to the bar, put on my best ‘I’m-not-drunk’ face and ordered Nick and I another beer. We were sixteen, it was our first night out and we thought we were the coolest. We were going to be eighteen soon; we were going to get out of this shithole and move to the city and leave all the hopeless drunks waiting to die amongst the cow shit on their farms. We were going to make a life for ourselves.

The alcohol was making me tired, and I was impatient for more. Chants of “fight” floated through the rumble of the pub. So with the promise of a real, live punch-up, I weaved my way through the throng and joined in the shouting. My head was all floaty and I wondered if the night would end with me throwing up in a bush somewhere. Then, through all the fog, I spotted Nick on the ground, blood on his face, mouth hanging open. Tim, a year twelve at our school, was bashing into him as though tenderising a steak. “Fuckin’ poof,” he spat out. “You want me cock up ya bum, don’t ya, you fag?” I felt sick. I stepped forward and grabbed Tim’s shoulder, but he shook me off. I stood there crying, and screaming unintelligibly at everyone around me. I was full of shame, scared that if I called the police I’d be arrested for underage drinking. So I just stood there, watching a man’s fist slam again and again into my best friend’s gay face.

#

for those interested in the Death and Illness theme: the latest Cultural Studies Review is nicely morbid. most articles available online.

Homework for Week Four - particularly for Tuesday class as i forgot to mention it. :)

in addition to the two short readings and the workshopping pieces (and the reader), please come in with a current news report, or a piece of material about a historical crime, and offer a few ideas on how you might research it in order to come up with a creative "true crime" piece.

and please bring in your in-class writing from this week, worked up into a longer piece if you like - we're still doing this on a voluntary basis at this point.

Jenny

Anna Funder reading from Stasiland on The Book Show's First Person.

When we were talking about diaries, I think I mentioned Samuel Pepys' Diary to the Tuesday class.

so there it is if you want to take a look.

Week 3 looks at Anna Funder. you can see more of her writing here at the Monthly's site, and see video of her speaking about courage and torture here.

hi all,

This is the seminar presenting/workshopping roster. If your name’s not on it or you know you can’t be there that week, please contact me asap. Please also look at the readings for the week you are assigned and choose a key reading you want to talk about – email me if possible, or be ready to tell me in class.

NOTE ON WORKSHOPPING: you are workshopping your piece in the week listed but you need to bring in your copies to hand out the week BEFORE. workshop pieces in the first round do not have to be on the themes, but if you have folio work ready, it's a good idea...

Workshopping for the second part of semester will be sorted out shortly – it’s fewer classes than the first half, but we’ll be spending more time talking about your actual writing. At next week’s classes I’ll ask for volunteers to workshop a piece for your folio in the first class after the break; ideally you’d have something ready in Week Eight, but if you need the break to write, we can do “first read” in class.

In Week Eight we’ll be doing “pitches” and discussion of your work, so you really need to have two and preferably three solid ideas ready by then – even better if they’re underway.

After that I’ll assign weeks with an eye to not having you present and workshop in the same week if possible.

s:= seminar
w: workshopping


1:

n/a

2:

T

s: Hilary, Jessica

W

s: Bec, Sasha

3: Ethics

T:

s:
Jack: Funder
Ramina: Ethics reading

w:
Jack
Tim

W:

s:
James: Funder
Annabel: Ethics reading

w: Kevin, Bridget, Charles

4: In Cold Blood

T:

s:
Terrence: In Cold Blood
Tom: Capote

w:
Tom
Sam
Claire

W:

s:
Tom: Capote
Michael: In cold Blood

w:
Morgan
Laura
Stephanie

5: Sport

T:

s:
Margaret
Connor

w:
Nicholas
Nathan

W:

s:
Lauren

w:
Ben
Lauren
Ainsley

6: Krakauer

T:

s: Emily

w:
Connor
Emily
Terrance

W:

s: Ben

w:
Tom
Michael
James
Rebecca

7: Nature:

T:

s:
Nicholas

w:
Ramina
Hilary
Margaret

W:

s:
Stephanie
Rebecca Hedley

w:
Bec
Annabel
Sasha


8: At Home

T:

s:Nathan

w:

W:

s: Laura

w:


BREAK

9: Music
T:
s: Sam

w:

W:

s: Morgan

w:

10: Illness

T:
s:Claire

w:

W:

s: Kevin

also: Bec Reardon on Oliver Sacks?

w:

11: disaster

T:
s:
Tim
w:

W:

s:Bridget
Ainsley

w:

12: David Foster Wallace

T:

s: Gabrielle ?

w:

W:

s: Charles

w:

the Calibre Prize is one of the best/best rewarded essay competitions in Australia; you can read past winners here - then start planning your entry for 2011?

For my Wednesday class: the books were Leadbelly, the TV series was Underbelly, at least according to that font of accurate information, Wikipedia. I stand corrected.

Dear all,

for anyone still needing a reader, Tony tells me they are now in the booksroom.

by the end of the weekend I’ll have fully sorted the presentation and workshopping weeks, including workshopping for second semester, and I’ll post that here.

please email me asap at j.sinclair2@pgrad.unimelb.edu.au with your preferred reading for the week you’re on for – if you are clear on your date, don’t wait for me to post the roster, just let me know. This will also help me make sure everyone has been assigned a week.

I haven’t talked about consultation times. For the Thursday class, anything beyond a quick question needs to be raised BEFORE class – I will generally be in by 9.15 if you email me and let me know. For Tuesday, straight after class is good and in some weeks I’ll be around at uni between 11.30 and 2 on Tuesdays, but not always. Feel free to make a time with me before nine on Tuesday too, if you are ever awake at that hour.

I won’t be reading drafts apart from the workshopping, but if you have questions about particular issues – problems you are striking in your work, what you can submit for the folio and so on – all that is fine. Before the break we will have some sort of pitching session to discuss ideas.

The general homework this week is:

- do the set readings

- read the supplementary material I handed out on indigenous-non-indigenous relations

- read the workshop material you were given this week, and preferably make some notes on your copy to hand back to the writer.

- come up with something you think a non-fiction writer should or should not do, in terms of ethical behaviour, for class discussion.

have a good week,

Jenny

hi all,

by way of a first post, my email from last week that includes some of the admin info and what's expected re: workshopping and presenting the readings.

Jenny


Dear all,

as the LMS hasn’t been activated for this subject, this is a quick email
with admin matters and reminders; I would like to have some sort of Web
forum going so I’ll see if I can set up a site somewhere.

anyway… as a reminder, the homework for this week is to:

- do the reading. the theoretical pieces are very short, and the Hiroshima
piece is an easy read. Please also read the Jarhead piece I handed out.
Please also look at the small part of Week One’s reading that refers to
John Hersey (pp 35-37 of the reader).

- bring in a piece of nonfiction writing you like (or strongly dislike)
and be ready to say a very few words about why you like it, and if
possible the writer.

Presentations for next week are by: Hilary and Jessica (Tuesday), Sasha
and Bec (Wednesday), on the Zinnser piece and Hiroshima/Hersey
respectively.

The presentations only need to be 5-10 minutes, and it’s up to you if you
want to hand in a written summary. Basically they should be: an outline of
the main points; any relevant background on the author (eg if it’s a
writer talking about their practice, what sort of stuff do they write),
anything you want to add about writers referenced in the piece (for those
who may not be familiar with, say, Joan Didion), and most importantly:
questions about what the points in the piece mean for you as creative
non-fiction writers, things you disagree with, important points you feel
they’ve missed. Your job in this presentation is to get the others talking
if possible – the rest of the class’s job is to have read the piece in
question so they can respond.

Workshopping: if you are on for Week Three, in Week Two – the next class –
you need to bring in twenty copies of your 250-500 word non-fiction piece,
with a short outline or statement of aims for the larger piece. This piece
does not have to be relevant to the themes of the course; you will get a
chance to workshop folio work in the second half of semester.

Tuesday class:

Tim
Rachel

Wednesday class:

Charles
Bridget
Kevin

If you haven’t workshopped your own work before and aren’t sure what it
involves, do ask me. I’ll talk about workshopping etiquette next week and
before we actually start.

Thanks,

Jenny

ps: I am working from a class list sent out last Thursday. If you have
since changed times, please let me know and I’ll stop emailing you. But if
you are on to workshop/present and don’t plan to turn up, you MUST let me
know by the Monday evening, with reasons.