Williamstown Literary Festival this weekend

Hi, everyone,

Hope you're all geared up and ready for the Williamstown Literary Festival this weekend. Last year I went to lots of great panels and really enjoyed myself and caught up with lots of students -- present and past. As always, I'll be attending the Ada Cambridge Award, to see which of the great stories we listed has been announced as the winner. It's always fantastic to see who entered and to match faces with stories.

In the meantime, I just have to sit down and work out exactly which sessions to book -- I've already highlighted a lot, but of course there's some overlap in the sessions I want to go to, so it may be a matter of negotiating with a friend to swap notes!

For our on-campus students, there are copies of the program on the table outside our office, and on the noticeboard. Three of our teachers are involved this year: Sherryl Clark will be interviewing Tasma Walton as one of our Rotunda events on Saturday (5.30--6.30 in the supper room), Lucia Nardo is presenting a workshop on unblocking creativity on Sunday (11.30 am in the carpark marquee), and Chris Beck is "On the Couch" with Jeff Sparrow and Steve Grimwade on Sunday (3.30--4.30 in the ballroom).

Hope to see you all there!

Tracey Rolfe

Opportunity for students to read their work

Here's an opportunity I've just copied from the intranet

Dear Colleagues,

VU Library and Student Life (St Albans) are proud to showcase readings of original poetry and prose as part of VU’s sponsorship of the Williamstown Literary Festival.

The event will feature:
· Readings of original works by students, staff and invited guests
· Great prizes/giveaways

· ***Free coffee and cake for everyone!***

Date: May 3, 2010
Time: 11am til 12.30pm
Venue: Library/Learning Commons, Building 7, Victoria University, St Albans Campus

REGISTER YOUR INTEREST!
Please register at libraryevents@vu.edu.au by April 26, 2010

· Please include a brief description of your work (Including title and if poetry or prose)
· Each reading will be limited to 2 poems or 3 minutes of prose

Classes are welcome! Just let us know your approximate numbers by sending your RSVP to the address above.

PLACES ARE LIMITED AND SELECTION OF PARTICIPANTS WILL BE BASED ON A FIRST COME FIRST SERVED BASIS

Just want to be part of the audience? Great! Come along, bring your lunch and enjoy the programme!



Janetta Mascilongo
Marketing and Information Literacy Librarian
LibraryVictoria UniversityPhone 61 3 9919 2980

Rotunda at the Willy Lit Festival

A message from Bruno, our events organiser:

Professional Writing and Editing (TAFE) , Victoria University

Presents


Rotunda in the West: Conversations with Australian Writers

Special Collaboration: Rotunda goes to Williamstown Literary Festival (http://www.willylitfest.org.au/)

Tasma Walton (debut novel “Heartless”)
-actor, scriptwriter, artist and novelist
-“Blue Heelers”, “The Secret Life of Us”, “City Homicide”

in conversation with

VU’s Sherryl Clark (“Farm Kid”, “Sixth Grade Style Queen(Not!)), over 40 books published.....poet, (former) broadcaster on 3CR

5.30pm-6.50pm
Saturday, 1st May 2010
Supper Room
Williamstown Town Hall

$7 adults $5 concession

· Bookings Essential through Williamstown Literary Festival Website.
· http://www.willylitfest.org.au/
· Please see website for full program.

Grazie mille!
Bruno Lettieri
bruno.lettieri@vu.edu.au (0422 29 86 43)

Williamstown Literary Festival

VU have a close association with the Williamstown Literary Festival as sponsors, but also through associations with various courses, ours being one of these. Each year we encourage our students to attend the festival, and indeed this forms part of our Industry Overview subject for our on-campus students. (We also run this subject online, but as many of the students who do it online are remote, we can't use this festival as part of our coursework for these students.) I know last year's students had a great time, and many will be returning again. Our Novel 2 class work as shortlisting judges for the Ada Cambridge competition, and past students have worked on placements with the festival committee or as volunteers. It's a great festival -- and I know feedback has often been about how friendly it is compared to some of the other festivals that are around.

For more information about the festival, including the program, have a look at their website -- you can download entries there for the Seagull Poetry Prize and for the Ada Cambridge Prize for short biographical writing. Entering competitions is a great way of beginning to build your writing CV -- you never know what you might win. Last year three of our students -- Lucia Nardo, Hugh Deacon and Denise Hughes -- either won prizes or were shortlisted (and published) in these competitions. (Remember, we have competition entry forms for both competitions in the office (10.248). Closing date is 1 March, so if you're interested, you'd better get onto it quickly.

Tracey Rolfe