Writers’ Festival celebrates 10th birthday
with the ‘unsettling’
The 10th Write
Around the Murray Writers’ Festival was held on the weekend, showcasing 30
acclaimed authors and poets and musicians for general lovers of writing and
reading from across the state.
Located in the cultural heart, and revamped arts precinct,
of Albury-Wodonga, Write Around the
Murray is a big-hearted festival that offers something for everyone: young,
old, writer, reader, muso, or uni student.
The theme of this year’s festival Unsettling The Story – Memories and Imagination had the presence of
a beating heart through every aspect of this very personal and intimate
five-day event.
Big-time political journalist Barrie Cassidy set proceedings
off with a bang on the first evening, discussing his memoir Private Bill – the remarkable story of a
long-lost brother and heartbreaking secret his mother kept for 50 years. As
well as being entertained with Cassidy’s full armoury of political tales and
intriguing insight – he thinks Malcolm Turnbull’s leadership is in trouble – the
audience was also treated with an incredible personal story that Cassidy (with
permission from his family) felt compelled to tell. For a journalist, who
started out as a cadet with Albury Wodonga’s Border Mail, getting to the truth appeared to be Cassidy’s greatest
motivation, regardless of unpopularity or political consequence. Cassidy is
certainly not afraid to ‘unsettle’ if it means getting to the truth. His honest
account of both his personal family story and high-flying days as media advisor
to Prime Minister Bob Hawke, and regularly rubbing shoulders with political
powerbrokers as host of ABC TV’s Insiders,
was both humble and insightful.
As a Bachelor of Arts student with La Trobe University
student I, and a collection of other students, attended the festival for the Writers In Action program. This fabulous
program provides an insider’s look into a writers’ festival and back stage access
to authors and festival organisers.
At times this ‘outside your comfort zone’ experience was
unsettling and true to the festival theme.
Early on the Thursday morning the ‘unsettling’ theme came to
the fore during the curator’s Talk at the Murray Art Museum Albury (MAMA).
What I learnt from the curator's tour at MAMA, despite not being
an art fashionado of any description, was the importance of storytelling -
regardless of the medium. I was able to appreciate the collection of works in
the Unsettling exhibition at MAMA in terms of
narrative and the story behind the story.
Much of the art on display carried a strong theme of interpreted
‘unsettling’ and I found some of them difficult to admire for this reason.
Art, like great storytelling, means different things to the viewer
and can be interpreted by our knowledge, our backgrounds and personal
experiences. This session was a great example of the breadth of the Writers in Action experience, for which
I was extremely grateful.
Solo Monologues,
held at Wodonga’s Butter Factory Theatre, was a delightful couple of hours on
Thursday evening where local performers read other people’s work.
The variety and talent – many of them students – who
performed the stories was incredible and subject matter varied from crazy bus
trips to the big question of ‘who am I?’ and the trappings of extending life.
This evening was another great example of storytelling
through another medium and many of the monologues were personal and moving –
and some quite unsettling. The artists filled the monologues with personality
and emotion and it was a delight. This event was another first for me and it
took me to a place of insight and storytelling where I had not been before.
‘Unsettling’ was again on the agenda for the Mother Lode panel, hosted by our talented
La Trobe lecturer Dr Sue Gillett on Friday evening. Discussing their memoirs,
Biff Ward, Helena Pastor and Benjamin Law delved into sharing their family
stories (and secrets) and the associated joys and challenges.
Biff’s memoir discussed growing up with a mother who
suffered from severe schitzopheana. She described how “she did 23 years of
therapy and them wrote her book” and how she “wrote the book because she had
to”.
She also described how “memory (and memoir) is a form of
grief,” and how humour can help in this process.
The incomparable Benjamin Law discussed when writing his
memoir about his eccentric Chinese-Australian family how he “wrote with the
door closed and edited with the door open,” when considering what to leave of
his memoir.
Helena Pastor wrote about her challenges with one of her
sons and the pain and relief it had given her. She urged writers to “write your
emotional truth as it’s what makes the story powerful”.
When discussing the problematic scenario of writing about
family members, Helena suggested, “to pretend that everyone you’re writing
about is dead”.
Probably the highlight for me during the festival was the Stereo Stories – A Song. A Place. A Time.
This incredible evening encompassed music and memoir,
narrative, story and song – and delightful live music.
As described by Director of the Newport Folk Festival,
Michael Stewart “Stereo Stories has emerged from a melting pot of writers and
musicians to become one of the most interesting ways for people to enjoy,
understand, and connect with the live performance of songs that have been
pivotal in people’s lives”.
Billed on the program as an ‘evening to enjoy a superb night
of storytelling and song as you drink, feast and chat with friends and festival
guests’ Stereo Stories didn’t
disappoint. The stories were poignant, moving, emotional, funny, often tragic
and insightful.
The story and song of the night, for me, was the hilarious
and very talented writer Anson Cameron, who had been one of our author mentors
across the weekend. Anson had been open, honest and frank during the time we
had spent with him, and very entertaining. However when he revisited a story
about offending a friend in his regular column in the Age, Anson referred to
this chapter in his life as ‘the death of a friend’ and the memory of him being
his ‘new album’ friend or ‘new book’ friend: the guy you call when you hear a
new song on the radio. This stereo story was moving and emotional and provided
a window into the devastation this ‘loss’ of his friendship had delivered. It
was truly unsettling and gave an insight into the challenges and potential
damage of writing from the heart about the people you love.
The entire experience of Writers
In Action was like being in a reading and writing bubble and was akin to
falling down the long rabbit hole of literary learning. And by the end of the
weekend I felt closer to being a writer than ever before. The world of writers
seemed a little less foreign and more within reach than it did beforehand.
During my experience I wrote down an array of quotes and
themes that were touched on, including:
Quotable quotes from the festival:
Anson Cameron:
“I write on trust and that a story will appear in front of
me… let your writing effect you.”
“Everyone’s life is as valid as someone else’s when is comes
to writing memoir.”
“You owe a debt of truth to the people in your memoir – and
dignity.”
“You have to choose a ‘self’ to write about.”
On memory: “The writing of the event becomes the memory.”
On persistence with your writing: “Fire enough shots so you
eventually hit the target.”
“Humour is a variety of wisdom.”
Benjamin Law:
“To see the world differently is a good prerequisite for
being a writer.”
On humour: “If you’re going to tell someone the truth, make
them laugh.”
Jen McDonald:
“The less you tell the reader the more they want to read
on.”
Deborah Oswald:
“I pummel my characters into a terrible place and then I do
my best for them.”
“I love the joy in creating a character that readers don’t
like and the relish of turning this around.”
“I love character and I also love story, and the power of a
moment in a plot.”
“Enjoy the process of writing and don’t worry about the
outcome, otherwise it leads to madness.”
Themes from the festival:
·
The unsettling
·
Identity
·
Stereotypes
·
Memoir
·
Memory
·
Creativity
·
Music and words
·
Character
·
Being human and having flaws
·
The power of the story
