‘But if a book has brought you from one place to another, so that you see something you didn’t see before, you’ve arrived at another point.’ James Baldwin, 1984. Our writing group, Elwood Writers, is slated to release its anthology this November. Every Second Tuesday is a collection of fiction, memoir and poetry drawn from … Continue reading Upcoming Anthology from Elwood Writers
Winter
From the website of Elwood Writers, news of a forthcoming program on Vision Australia Radio.
Writing in Bed
An original bad boy of American literature, Thomas McGuane, (Ninety Two in the Shade, The Missouri Breaks) tells us that these days he writes in bed. He’s in his seventies now and as a successful novelist is past caring what anyone thinks of his practice. The admission raises the question: where do we do we … Continue reading Writing in Bed
Ten Good Sentences
Ernest Hemingway has advice for writers: “All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know." We know this is harder than it sounds. Secretly, of course, we are looking for more than one. So was he. But one sentence is a good place to start. A while … Continue reading Ten Good Sentences
It’s Back to School for Elwood Writers
The Elwood Writers will feature on the ‘Back to School’ edition of Cover to Cover for Vision Australia Radio on Friday 26 January 2018. Our group has collaborated with producer and presenter, Tim McQueen, to compile a program comprising poetry, fiction and memoir on multifaceted notions of school. I look forward to sharing my two … Continue reading It’s Back to School for Elwood Writers
Plumbline
I was half way through my MA thesis, or so I thought, when the teacher asked: “Margaret, what is your plumbline?” I had no idea - a) what my plumbline was, or b) what a plumbline was. I knew I wanted to write about the torn relationship I had with my father who’d died in … Continue reading Plumbline
Making a Scene
‘Keep the drama on the page.' So says Julia Cameron, author of The Artists Way. In other words, make your writing dramatic, not your life. (Well, we can but try.) In my memoir drafts I have a series of themes and anecdotes, but not so much the stuff of drama. By this I mean a … Continue reading Making a Scene
The Power of the Mic
In September 2017 Elwood Writers recorded its Fathers’ Day stories for Vision Radio Australia (VAR). I accompanied Barry Lee Thompson to the studio for his reading of ‘Phase’, a story about a young man whose relationship with his father deepens and evolves as the son explores his sexuality. While Barry read his story, presenter Tim … Continue reading The Power of the Mic
The Writing Group
It is said that you can’t teach writing. Maybe not. But writers, I believe, can surely assist themselves to learn. Since 2008 I’ve been fortunate enough to be a member of Elwood Writers (EW), a group that meets fortnightly in Melbourne’s inner south. I read on one member’s blog that our group is one of … Continue reading The Writing Group
Showing Ten Good Stories
Memoirist Nick Flynn writes: 'A memoir is not simply stringing together the five or ten good stories you’ve been telling about your wacky childhood for your whole life, … you need to ask yourself why you’ve been telling those particular stories, and not the millions of others you could tell.' That, writes Flynn, is the … Continue reading Showing Ten Good Stories
WRITINGS AND MUSINGS OF MARGARET MCCAFFREY 