Dael Allison, winner of the LitLink/NRWC Unpublished Manuscript Award, appeared as a guest poet along with Alison Thompson and Susan McCreery at the South Coast Writers Centre’s Rocket Readings 5 in National Poetry Week.

The evening was hosted by Linda Godfrey, and also featured open readings, with Colleen Duncan winning the Rocket Readings Cup.

A crowd of people turned out to celebrate the launch of Shady Cosgrove’s memoir of her road trip to Graceland at Wollongong City Library. Congratulations to Shady, it was a truly memorable event, the kind of launch that a book as good as She Played Elvis deserves.

There was cake

and the queue of bookbuyers ran out the door!

If you missed out, you can click on the link to get your copy of She Played Elvis.

Thanks to Wollongong City Library for their support for this fabulous night, to Rosemary Worley for making the event possible and to Sally Evans for her bookselling labour. Thanks also to Shady and Scott, and to Shady’s family, friends and supporters who helped out on the night.

South Coast Writers Centre and Woolyungah Indigenous Centre, University of Wollongong held a two day symposium for writers who are Indigenous at the University of Wollongong in May.

The Symposium was supported by the University of Wollongong’s Community Engagement Scheme and CAL’s Cultural Fund.

Presenter participants included Dr Anita Heiss, Philip McLaren, Bruce Pascoe, Jared Thomas, Elizabeth Hodgson, Aunty Barbara Nicholson and Dr Ernie Blackmore.

Aunty Barbara Nicholson, Bruce Pascoe, Jared Thomas and Dr Ernie Blackmore discuss future directions for Indigenous literatures.

South Coast Writers Centre congratulates SCWC Member Christine Paice, winner of the 2009 Josephine Ulrick Poetry prize for her poem ‘The Ministry of Going In’ and Elizabeth Hodgson, whose book Skin Painting has been Highly Commended in the 2008 Anne Elder Award.

SCWC presented I did it my way, a panel discussion, as part of Wollongong City Gallery’s Zine Fair in April.

The panel was chaired by Clementina Velasco, and featured Raquel Ormella, Leigh Rigozzi and Joseph Allen.

SCWC member Di Bates has been shortlisted for the Ethel Turner Prize for Young People’s Literature in the 2009 NSW Premiers Literary Awards for her book, Crossing the Line.

Crossing the Line is Di’s 100th published book!

Rocket Readings 3 closed the SCWC program for 2008, and what a way to end the year.

The event was hosted by Linda Godfrey. Guest readers were Sally Evans, whose work has appeared in anthologies including Tide and One Horse Town, Irene Wilkie (Love and Galactic Spiders, Gininnderra Press 2006) and Stephen Edgar – author of too many books to list, but look out for his latest Other Summers (BlackPepper Press, 2007) and the audio Cd Photography for Beginners (River Road Press, 2008).

The open section followed the guest readings, with the Rocket Readings prize, judged by guest poets, going to Sue McCreery.

Stephen Edgar reads from his new manuscript.

Irene Wilkie at the mic.

Rocket Readings host Linda Godfrey presents Sue McCreery with the Rocket Readings prize.

SCWC Management Committee member, Dr Ernie Blackmore, saw his first book, Speakin’ Out Blak, launched at the Woolyungah Indigenous Centre at the University of Wollongong last night. Speakin’ Out Blak is a discussion of Dr Blackmore’s own works as a playwright, and the urban Indigenous voice in Australia.

The book was launched by Professor Gerry Turcotte, author of the novel Flying in Silence (Brandl & Schlesinger), and poetry collections including Border Crossings (Brandl & Schlesinger), Hauntings (Five Islands Press), and Winterlude (Brandl & Schlesinger).

Thanks to Professor Kathleen Clapham, Antoinette Faddoul and everybody at Woolyungah Indigenous Centre for hosting the launch.

Artist and writer Alyson Hallett visited the Illawarra recently, to install and launch a sculpture in her Migrating Stones series. You can read her full report on her blog.

The sculpture is located at Kanahooka Point by Lake Illawarra. Sue Bessell from Cultural Services at Wollongong City Council worked with Alyson Hallett to bring the stone to the Illawarra, to find this beautiful setting and to work with the artist to install the work.

South Coast Writers Centre was pleased to be able to assist in referring Alyson to Cultural Services when she contacted the Centre to enquire about a suitable location for her work, and in supporting the contribution of SCWC member, the poet and artist Tamryn Bennett, who read some of her work to mark the occasion.

Alyson Hallett was supported by the Arts Council England.

South Coast Writers Centre and Viva La Gong presented a program of poetry readings from some of Australia’s best poets. Thanks to Wollongong City Council for their support for this event. Thanks also to Sally Evans, who MCed the event, John Purvis, who sold lots of books, and to Chris Latham, Lisa Nolan, Carrie Edwards and all the staff from the Viva la Gong festival. The event was hosted by Wollongong City Gallery, thanks to Craig Judd, Vivian Vidulich and gallery staff for their assistance.

John Tranter reads at Viva Poetry.

Susan Hampton

Susan Hampton, author of The Kindly Ones. [photo Sally Evans]

Tug Dumbly. [photo Sally Evans]

Alise Blayney

Barbara Blackman and August Blackman closed the program.

Book sales at Viva Poetry. [photo Sally Evans]