tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63739715279194120252024-03-05T03:08:24.865-08:00Writing On Tuk Tuks.fotolithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707211993990153467noreply@blogger.comBlogger34125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373971527919412025.post-10916079056610122272018-11-12T03:50:00.003-08:002018-11-13T14:48:14.972-08:00Nourishing the writer <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
We are just back from our writer's residency in Bali where eight people hunkered down on their writing projects. Morning workshops and early evening readings offered valuable guidance, feedback and support leaving the rest of the day to write.<br />
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It is always wonderful to have the input and camaraderie of fellow writers and you can save a lot of time discussing various challenges you may be facing in your writing craft and writing process.<br />
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It's lovely too being looked after while you write. Not having to worry about cooking, cleaning and the daily chores. Your one chore being — to write.<br />
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On our Bali Residency our cook Nyoman and her team know how to nourish our writng process with their wonderful cooking. See some of their art below.<br />
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Breakfast: black rice pancakes and tropical fruit salad<br />
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Morning tea after our morning workshop. Sweets of the pasar (market).<br />
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Lunch: fresh salads <br />
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and my favourite soto ayam (chicken soup)!<br />
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the makings for soto to add...<br />
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Saté, saté, made with fish and coconut<br />
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Not to forget homemade pasta!!<br />
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Here I am posing with our wonderful cook Nyoman<br />
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and our hostess with the mostess publisher Sarita Newson<br />
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And here is our exceedingly well nourished writer's group<br />
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We will go again in April 2019<br />
Find more info<a href="http://www.writersjourney.com.au/journeys/backstage-bali/"> here</a><br />
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fotolithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707211993990153467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373971527919412025.post-36516805053671987802018-05-09T18:52:00.004-07:002018-05-09T19:20:30.903-07:00People power fuels a writer's festival in Makassar<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It's been a while since I attended a festival in Indonesia. <br />
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Last decade I was a regular visitor to Java, taking part in Utan Kayu Bienale, (Jakarta, Bandung, Lampung) Salihara Biennale( Jakarta), Perfurbance (Jogjakarta) and Mata Air (Salitiga).<br />
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When I told aussie friends I was going to attend <a href="https://translate.google.com.au/translate?hl=en&sl=id&u=https://www.makassarwriters.com/&prev=search">MIWF,</a> a writer's festival in Makassar, many replied, where's that?<br />
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Makassar is a busy port town on the west coast of Southern Sulawesi, the orchid shaped island formerly known as Celebes (named by the Portugese) and the festival has been running annually since 2011. Each year founder/ director Lily Yulianti Farid with her team of curators and volunteers gathers an impressive line up of international and local authors, poets, musicians and artists for a five day feast of stimulating ideas and art.<br />
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As well as writers from all over Indonesia, this year's line up included authors from India, Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, Japan, The Netherlands, Australia and Turkey with most events being held at Fort Rotterdam, a cluster of Dutch colonial buildings near the port, and others taking place at nearby university campuses.<br />
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Around seventy events over four days (May 2-5) featured discussions, book
launches, workshops, readings and performances culminating each night with programs on the main outdoor stage where audiences of a thousand-plus young Makassans gathered to hear their favourite authors and poets.<br />
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This year the festival was commemorating 20 years of Reformasi, Indonesia's reform era after the collapse of Soeharto's authoritarian regime and many of the panels discussed the ways in which Indonesian literature was affected by the new freedoms. While censorship of literary works by government is a thing of the past, academic and editor <a href="https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=id&u=https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melani_Budianta&prev=search">Melani Budianta</a> warned the threat to freedom of expression now comes from conservative groups within Indonesian society. The festival theme Noise/Voice reminded us of the importance of finding and raising our own voices against the noise of multi media and political static that is all around, especially in Indonesia with elections coming up in 2019. It is interesting to note that many authors of note writing since the beginning of Reformasi are women and a number of them were participants in this festival.<br />
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Ayu Utami's novel <i>Saman</i> was the first to tackle women's sexuality and other taboos and was launched in 1998 just ten days before Soeharto's resignation. It sold over 100,000 copies and has been translated into 9 languages. Her most recent books still feature Indonesia's political history. Born in 1968 she is typical of her generation of authors. She says "Everything
about me is political: my writing, my work at Komunitas Salihara and my
private life." (en.qantara.de). Always a forthright speaker and original thinker Ayu spoke on a number of panels.<br />
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Like Ayu,<a href="http://www.leilaschudori.com/about-me/"> Leila Chudori</a> is also a journalist. Her novel<i> Home (Pulang)</i> published in 2012, tells the story of an exiled
journalist living in Paris who can never return home due to the policies
of the New Order. It quickly became a best seller in Indonesia and has since been published in English by<a href="http://lontar.org/product/home/"> Lontar. </a>Leila has been busy working on two new novels including a prequel to <i>Home</i> titled <i>Namaku Alam</i> (My Name is Alam). "She is considered one of Indonesia’s boldest story-tellers; her style is
unconventional and her themes include such taboo subjects as state
absolutism, chauvinism and the hypocrisy of public mores." With limited time to attend Leila was in demand as a speaker. Her panel with Australian artist Alana Hunt, moderated by film producer and activist Olin Montiero, discussed their personal response to political, economic and socal conflicts. Alana's art project Cups pf Nun Chai is a must see. Find out more on her website <a href="http://here./">here.</a><br />
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One of the festival curators, journalist<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXyHzSEXZ6A"> Linda Christanty</a> (Jakarta) writes short stories and essays and has won numerous awards for her work, the most famous being <i>The Flying Horse of </i><i><i>Maria Pinto.</i></i> For a number of years she lived and worked in Aceh. Her fiction writing is described as political magic realism and it was interesting to hear her in conversation with<a href="https://www.makassarwriters.com/speakers/ziggy-zezsyazeoviennazabrizkie"> Ziggy Z</a>, a writer of the younger generation to Ayu, Linda and Leila. Ziggy's early works were in the YA horror and fantasy genre and her recent manuscript, <i>Semua Ikan di Langit -All The Fish in the Sky,</i> was the winner of
the Jakarta Arts Council Award in the year 2016. This book was showcased in London Book
Fair 2017. Linda observed that while Ziggy's stories are not obviously political they carry tragic overtones. In one story the protagonist is a child to which terrible things happen, in another a bus falls in love with a dead boy. Ziggy's latest book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Continuum-Ziggy-Z/dp/6024525842"><i>Continuum</i></a> (she kindly gave me a copy) is an illustrated (also by Ziggy) story book for children and adults.<br />
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The huge difference between this festival and those I attended last decade is that in the past few years thanks to the tireless efforts of people like John McGlynn and his team at <a href="http://www.lontar.org/">Lontar Press</a>,
many more Indonesian writers have been translated into English. As a
result they were the featured country at The Frankfurt Book Fair in 2015
and will be featured at The London Book Fair in 2019. A visiting group of British publishers and members of the British Council were in attendance at the festival checking out the talent and having meetings with Indonesian authors and publishers. At MIWF Lontar was selling books alongside Gramedia and other booksellers and I am happy to say I came home with a bunch of them.<br />
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One of the launches I attended was for the book <a href="https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=id&u=https://keponih.com/en/featured/happy-yummy-journey-perjalanan-durian-dan-kebahagiaan/&prev=search">Happy Yummy Journey</a> by South Korean writer and traveller Eje Kim. Already in a number of
languages but not yet in English, the Indonesian publication was launched
by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gramedia_(bookstore)">Gramedia</a>, complete with a durian tasting. Eje's book details
her journeys in SE Asian countries in search of durian fruit, that
creamy tiramisu like delight that people either love or hate and which
smells so bad it is banned from hotel rooms across Asia. Eje Kim is a
durian lover and reports that Indonesia has the largest and most
delicious tasting fruit. It relieves stress and brings happiness and Eje
travels to Indo as often as she can to partake of her pleasure.<br />
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It was interesting also to meet other Australian writers with a connection to Indonesia. <a href="http://transitlounge.com.au/book-author/mark-heyward/">Mark Heyward</a> (Tas) has lived and worked in Indonesia for 25 years and at the festival launched the Indonesian translation his book <a href="http://transitlounge.com.au/shop/crazy-little-heaven-an-indonesian-journey/"><i>Crazy Little Heaven</i>.</a> I read the English version (Transit Lounge, 2013) on the way to the festival and couldn't put it down. It tells of a trekking adventure he made with six friends crossing from one side of Borneo to the other. Beautifully written, Heyward weaves stories of his childhood and life in Indonesia into this journey through" Indonesian culture and geography – a hymn to this ‘sweet disappearing world’." <br />
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Apart from being one of Indonesia's closest neighbours if you are wondering what the connection between Australia and Makassar might be, contact between the two islands predates European settlement and trade was being carried out between 1700 and 1907 by Makassan fishermen who sailed regularly to Arnhem land to harvest sea cucumber - <i>trepang. </i><br />
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<a href="http://www.leonienorrington.com/">Leonie Norrington </a>(Darwin) is an Australian children's author who is writing a historic novel set in the 1600s about this connection and <a href="http://www.alanahunt.net/">Alana Hunt,</a> an Australian artist from WA spent 2 weeks before the festival in residency with Rumata Artspace talking to fishermen and visting rock art in the area. Together with myself and <a href="https://sandrathibodeaux.wordpress.com/about/">Sandra Thibodeaux,</a> a playwright and poet from Darwin, we formed a panel to discuss our work and gauge whether it might be of interest to Indonesian audiences. Sandra is currently working on a film script about an Indonesian boy who gets thrown in an Australian jail for working for people smugglers and I spoke about my collaboration with Indonesian short story writer Triyanto Trikiwroko, reading an excerpt from one of my short stories set in Jogjakarta. Our audience at the university campus were students of English and while they said they had never read any Australian literature, we hoped after our talk we may have opened the door for them at least a crack.<br />
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Other writers I met...<br />
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<a href="https://www.shivajidas.com/bio">Shivaji Das </a>is an Indian travel writer who lives in Singapore. His beautifully described books <i>Angels by the Murky River </i>and <i>Journeys with the Caterpillar </i>feature Indonesian travels, the latter through the islands of Flores and Sumba. His partner <a href="https://www.makassarwriters.com/speakers/yolanda-yu">Yolanda Yu</a>, originally from NE China is an award winning poet and took part in a panel with creator Rani Pramesti and illustrator Cindy Saja. Cindy and Rani's digital graphic novel <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEd36y8G8O4">The Chinese Whispers </a>describes the chaotic events of 1998 when many Chinese Indonesian women were raped by marauding gangs. View a trailer for the installation of their work <a href="http://here./">here.</a><br />
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<a href="https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%25E5%2592%258C%25E5%2590%2588%25E4%25BA%25AE%25E4%25B8%2580&prev=search">Ryoichi Wago</a> is a Japanese poet from Fukushima who has been dubbed Samurai Poet for the extraordinary performance style of his poems. One long poem he performed on the main stage in fully vocalised Japanese, sounded at times like a train, like thunder, like the roar of a jet. In repetition he would return to the same sound refrains with the tension building and the audience cheering each time he built to a climax. In 2011 when he witnessed an earthquake trigger the Fukushima Nuclear disaster in his home town, Ryoichi 's mind exploded in words. "Just as I was thinking that Fukushima - that Japan - was over, the
poetry just started to bloom in my head almost like a storm. It was only
the words that I wrote, one by one, that allowed me to accept the
unheard of calamity before me, as my feelings switched to those ready to
confront the shadow of radioactivity." He began tweeting his poems to an audience that grew from 4 to 14,000 within months. He compiled the tweets into a book of poetry called <i> Shi No Tsubete</i> or <i>Pebbles Of Poetry.</i><br />
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Magic always happens when I travel to Indonesia and this time it occured before I even got there. On my Air Asia flight from KL, I was sitting next to a couple of young guys who on seeing I had the festival program out (doing my homework for the four panels I would speak on) told me they were poet/publishers from KL and were also participating in the festival. They were travelling with two other women poets and the singer Wani Ardi. Their presentation on the mainstage: Syukri Borhan (poetry) and Wani Ardi (music) was extremely moving.<br />
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I was also lucky to meet the Makassan singer/songwriters, Sese Lawing and Is Pusakata who have made a name for themselves on the Jakarta music scene and are back in Makassar working on local environmental amd social development projects. Our panel title was Singing Your Poetry and for the occasion I had composed a melody which I performed acapella for a poem by the renowned Indonesian poet Sapardi Djoko Damano. I had met Pak Sapardi many years ago at another festival and was very much looking forward to seeing him but sadly he was unable to attend due to ill health. Sandra Thibodeaux read her poem to accompaniment by Is and our moderator, classical composer and pianist, Ananda Sukarlan finished off the session by playing composition employing Makassan rhythms.<br />
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In the afternoons a large audience would gather on the grassy area near the food stalls to listen to A Cup of Poetry. Young poets, male and female, were busy reading and performing their work, including six emerging writers chosen from around the archipelagogo. I was lucky to meet the young poets from Ambon and Makassar at an afternoon tea put on by the Australian Consulate who have been a sponsor of the festival for the past three years. The Consul-General, Richard Matthews is very keen for more Australians to visit the region and get to know some of the fascinating history that links our two countries.<br />
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Never before at a literary festival have I heard
the director thank the volunteers first. Usually they are well down on
the list after the famous writers, important dignitaries, sponsors and
so on. But this is what makes MIWF so special. As Lily Yulianti Farid
stressed, without the volunteers there would be no festival. With no
government funding, and just a few major sponsors this festival is run
on people power. The army of young drivers, liason people, graphic designers,
sound engineers, backstage runners, roadies, riggers, MCs, cleaners,
ushers, film makers, and more, kept the whole thing going 24/7. At the
same time they are gaining valuable experience in people handling,
collaborating, organising, problem solving, trouble shooting and having
a jolly good time!<br />
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Thanks to Lily and the team and a special thanks to my translator Sudarsono Sonom and my PA Ridwan Limpo. Terima kasih banyak!! <br />
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The day before I left Abdi Karya took Leonie and I on a tour of <a href="https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=id&u=http://rumata.or.id/&prev=search">Rumata Artspace</a> in nearby Tamalate. As well as producing MIWF, Rumata has hosted hundreds of events: exhibitions, readings, theatre/ music performances, residencies, discussions, community events, even weddings and local celebrations. They are keen for artists of all modalities to come and make art in Makassar and can provide contacts with local artists and artisans. At this stage they are unable to proved stipends or free accomodation so the residencies must be self funded but there is a huge rehearsal space, exhibition space, studio space at your disposal. Contact them for more info <a href="https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=id&u=http://rumata.or.id/&prev=search">here.</a><br />
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I'm sorry I wan't able to mention everything and everyone. Find a list of the speakers at MIWF 2018 website <a href="https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=id&u=https://www.makassarwriters.com/&prev=search">here </a>and check out all the photos on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/miwf2018/">MIWF 2018 Facebook page.</a><br />
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fotolithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707211993990153467noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373971527919412025.post-73744890000528885232016-09-01T17:52:00.001-07:002016-09-17T02:20:50.705-07:00 Mountain Echoes Literary Festival, Bhutan, 2016<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I am a great fan of Asian literary festivals and have been lucky to take take part in a number in the region over the past decade. So when I heard the seventh edition of the <a href="http://www.mountainechoes.org/">Mountain Echoes Literary Festival</a> was to be held in Bhutan this August, I knew I had to be there. I had met one of the directors <a href="http://mitakapur.com/about/"> </a>the previous year at
the <a href="http://www.irrawaddylitfest.com/">Irrawaddy Literary Festival </a>in Mandalay, and was
delighted when Mountain Echoes producer <a href="http://mitakapur.com/about/">Mita Kapur </a>(CEO of Siyahi Literary Consultancy in Jaipur) asked me to be involved. My task at Mountain Echoes 2016 was to be in
conversation with best selling Australian author <a href="http://graemesimsion.com/?page_id=309">Graeme Simsion</a> on his
books <i>The Rosie Project </i>and <i>The Rosie Effect</i>. We were the Aussie contingent among a list of seventy-eight authors and commentators (mostly Indian and Bhutanese) and proudly so. It was a great privilege to be sharing the festival bill with festival patron, <a href="http://www.mountainechoes.org/speakers/her-majesty-the-royal-queen-mother-ashi-dorji-wangmo-wangchuck/">Her </a><a href="https://jaipurliteraturefestival.org/boulder/the-royal-queen-mother-of-happiness/">Majesty the Royal Queen Mother of Bhutan</a><a href="https://jaipurliteraturefestival.org/boulder/the-royal-queen-mother-of-happiness/">, Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuk</a> (herself an author), <a href="http://www.amitavghosh.com/bio.html">Amitav Ghosh</a>, <a href="http://picoiyerjourneys.com/index.php/about/">Pico Iyer,</a> <a href="http://www.noblebhutan.com/why-us/">Damey Tenzin Norgay</a> ( the son of Everest climber Tenzin Norgay Sherpa), <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kunzang_Choden">Kunzang Choden</a> ( Bhutan's first female novelist) and all the other esteemed guests. See the full list <a href="http://www.mountainechoes.org/speakers/vasundhara-raje/">here.</a><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A lucky autograph hunter gets a signature from Her Majesty, The Queen Mother of Bhutan.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Full house for all sessions at the Royal Bhutan University Auditorium.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Amitav Ghosh also signing autographs, Dhamey Tenzin Norgay in foreground.<br />
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Myself in conversation with best selling author Graeme Simsion (The Rosie Project)</td></tr>
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As is my habit I organised an itinerary for other writers to join— a twelve day tour of Bhutan including two days at the festival and a climb to the famous Tiger's Nest Monastery for our grand finale. By the time we arrived at Mountain Echoes we had a little more understanding of what it means to live in a country of tall mountains and rushing rivers, where the only way to anywhere is via a single wild, winding mountain road (made even wilder by the national road widening project currently underway). A journey from one valley to the next, timed to take four and a half hours, took eleven, due to landslide delays, rain and mud — all grist for the writer's mill, with some great poems and stories eventuating from my group. Each valley so different from the next, each monastery, temple, dzong, totally unique. How perfect then to arrive at the festival with so many questions on our minds about this extraordinary mountain nation we had been traversing.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our Writer's Journey group, happy they have made it across another pass.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The famous iron link bridge.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Dzong in Trongsa, with moody Sept skies.</td></tr>
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Sessions on Climate Change (with Amitav Ghosh), Brand Bhutan, Retelling Our Stories and Histories, Of Everest and Unclimbed Mountains, Story of The Lotus Born Guru, all helped to expand our knowledge and fuel our group's discussion on the Bhutan Government's aspirational policy of Gross National Happiness. Is it working or not? How can a government gauge if its people are really happy, or not quite happy yet? It was interesting also to witness the close relationships between Indian and Bhutanese writers, and the support given to this event by one of their chief sponsors, the Tourism department of the Rajasthan Government. Represented at the festival by their Chief Minister, <a href="http://www.mountainechoes.org/speakers/vasundhara-raje/">Vasundhara Raje </a> who spoke in the session enitled, Of The People For The People, about her hands on approach to governance and helping to empower village women.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Chief Minister of Rajasthan in converation with <span style="color: black;">Malvika Singh.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A wonderful introduction to Kashmiri poet, Lal Ded.</td></tr>
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In a performance event by <span style="color: black;">Mita Vasisht and
Sangita Kathiwada we learned of the fourteenth century Kashmiri poet <a href="https://www.amazon.com/I-Lalla-Poems-Lal-Ded/dp/0670084476">Lal Ded. </a>Married
off at age 12, and mistreated by her husbands family, she renounced material
life and marriage to wander naked as a follower of Lord Shiva. Her poems are
the earliest compositions in Kashmiri language and she is still quoted and
worshipped by everyday Kashmiris. How wonderful to discover her in this
place!</span><br />
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At the writer's dinner at the Taj Tashi Hotel, I was able to catch up with Bhutanese authors I had met on my first trip to Bhutan. Rinzin Rinzin and Chador Wangmo were launching their new books at the festival— Chador's novel <i>Kyetse</i>, is the tale of a girl born in a time rife with superstitious beliefs, and Rinzin's <i>Depa Bondeypa's Relatives</i><span class="text_exposed_show"> tells "of the world of
a legendary mermaid and riches, and also to the times of kings when modern
road was not even a dream." Launching with them was Lingi Jamtsho's <i>Gyalo</i> — a sneak peek into the life of a Bhutanese soldier. It was great to see local and emerging writers being supported by the festival. Chador introduced me to Bhutan's grand dame of letters, Kunzang Choden. I'd read her wonderful novel<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Circle-Karma-Zubaan-Classics/dp/9381017883"><i> Circle of Karma</i></a> and a number of her childrens books after my last trip and was thrilled to experience in person her softly spoken wisdom and generosity of spirit. </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYFLcsv99087mJIiWPir4LXbguriwVQahP7OuW4Iwf0J4HcxKGnjPbmXS2ca0PV2K8J3XWBFqQPUcOPCpckj28DJS7RS_JZftrPwyOjdZ8_OwPtd5r0_YwmwmdsckDjB9JF4VR7fScdEI/s1600/Jan+Ciler+Chador.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYFLcsv99087mJIiWPir4LXbguriwVQahP7OuW4Iwf0J4HcxKGnjPbmXS2ca0PV2K8J3XWBFqQPUcOPCpckj28DJS7RS_JZftrPwyOjdZ8_OwPtd5r0_YwmwmdsckDjB9JF4VR7fScdEI/s320/Jan+Ciler+Chador.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ciler Ilhan, myself and Chador Wangmo.</td></tr>
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<span class="text_exposed_show">I also met festival co-director <a href="http://www.mountainechoes.org/speakers/siok-sian-dorji/">Siok Sian Dorji</a>, a wonderfully intelligent and articulate speaker who gave the opening address, along with </span><span class="text_exposed_show"> screen writer and author <a href="http://www.mountainechoes.org/speakers/venita-coelho/">Venita Coelho </a>and Turkish writer <a href="http://www.mountainechoes.org/speakers/ciler-ilhan/">Ciler Ilhan</a>. Ciler's collection of short stories, <i>Exile</i>, won the EU Prize for Literature in 2011. Each monologue tells of the suffering of fictional and real life characters caught up in global injustice. While the moderator at her first session, Zak O'Yeah, a Scandanavian crime writer and translator, described her work as dark, if not very dark, Ciler is a delightfully bubbly person.</span> At the same table I met <a href="http://www.mountainechoes.org/speakers/sadaf-saaz/">Sadaf Saaz, </a>poet, writer, entrepreneur and women’s rights activist who co-founded the Dhaka Literary Festival in 2011 and is the author of <i>That Which Cannot Be Said</i>, a collection of stories about Bangladeshi women's experience. Another festival to add our wish list!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pico Iyer in conversation with Namgay Zam</td></tr>
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On day two, the renowned Indian travel writer, <a href="http://picoiyerjourneys.com/index.php/2006/08/the-secret-journey/">Pico Iyer,</a> stole the show with his session on The Art of Stillness, telling how after his family home burnt down he went to stay for three days at a Benedictine retreat centre As well as stillness, he discovered that "home is not where we live, but what lives inside us"and urged everyone to try just sitting still for at least five minutes a day. (See his Ted talk on stiillness <a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/pico_iyer_the_art_of_stillness?language=en#t-74785">here). </a><br />
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Another highlight of the day was the session with singer and ex diplomat, <span style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.mountainechoes.org/speakers/dasho-tshering-wangda/">Dasho Tshering Wangda</a>, and Indian musician<a href="http://www.mountainechoes.org/speakers/rahul-ram/"> Rahul Ram</a>, in conversation with <a href="http://www.mountainechoes.org/speakers/kunga-tenzin-dorji/">Kunga Tenzin Dorji.</a> Each told their musical history in song, playing and singing together and apart, treating us to Hindi and Bhutanese favorites that had the crowd swaying in nostalgic bliss. The Memory Project introduced us to the writings of<a href="http://www.mountainechoes.org/speakers/renuka-narayanan/"> Renuka Narayanan</a>, whose memoir, <i>A Madrasi Memoir </i>details her story of growing up female in a high caste Brahmin family in Tamil Nadu. Her Bhutanese counterpart <a href="http://www.mountainechoes.org/speakers/lily-wangchuk/">Lily Wangchuk,</a> author of </span><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><i>Facts about Bhutan: The Land of the Thunder Dragon,</i> </span>recalled her journey to discover the father she never knew, through the photographs he took from the 50s until his early death. </span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">In the afternoon, following a delicious lunch, I listened to<a href="http://www.mountainechoes.org/speakers/omair-ahmad/"> </a></span><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.mountainechoes.org/speakers/omair-ahmad/">Omair Ahmad</a> (India), <a href="https://penguin.com.au/authors/90-witi-ihimaera">Witi Ihimaera</a> (New Zealand) and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/The-Circle-Karma-Kunzang-Choden/dp/8186706798">Kunzang Choden</a> (Bhutan) in conversation with Sadaf Saaz (Bangladesh) on Retelling Our Stories and Histories. Each had important things to say on the value of storytelling, and when Witi began his talk in Maori song, I found myself moved to tears. His way of story telling had much in common with the next panel, where oral story tellers, grandmother <a href="http://www.mountainechoes.org/speakers/angey-nagley/">Angey Nagley,</a> and ex monk <a href="http://www.mountainechoes.org/speakers/agey-dregang/">Agey Dregang</a>, told tales in dzongka, with translations on the screen for non dzongka speakers. They introduced us to<a href="http://www.himalaya2000.com/bhutan/lozey.html"> <i>lozey,</i></a> stories told in poetic form, sometimes sung, which were commonly performed at festival times or when workers gathered together in the village.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dancers at the festival entertaining the writers and delegates.</td></tr>
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Outside in the tea breaks writers and students attending the festival gathered for delicious snacks entertainment by dancers and a roving jester. Groups of students had came from Rajisthan, Nepal and other parts of Bhutan and had asked some of the best questions at the end of sessions. I was thrilled to meet a group of literature students from a college in Trongsa (where we had spent a magical day and night) and was more than happy to be mobbed by autograph hunters from Mayo College, Rajasthan. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With the students of Mayo Colllege from Rajasthan.</td></tr>
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<span style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.amitavghosh.com/essays.html">Amitav Ghosh</a> in conversation with journalist <a href="http://www.mountainechoes.org/speakers/namgay-zam/">Namgay Zam</a> ended the panels for the day, describing how writing a character is a long process — slowly you get to know them, then you find you can't let them go, which is why he ended up writing his<a href="http://www.amitavghosh.com/flood_of_fire.html"> Ibis trilogy</a>.</span> To finish the day a group of Rajasthani folk musicians took to the stage as a warm up for a free evening concert in the Clock Tower Square with Rahul Ram's band <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Ocean_(band)">Indian Ocean</a> and local band Yangchen and The Able. The square was packed as young and old came out to see and hear their compelling raga rock rhythms.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Singer, songwriter Shisir at the open mike. Photo Mt Echoes.</td></tr>
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Sadly we had to leave on day three, but with two venues running it was even more jam packed with great panels and events. The festival ended with an open mike event where many visiting and local authors and poets gave readings and performances. Catch up with all the fun<a href="https://www.facebook.com/mountainechoes/?fref=ts"> here.</a><br />
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While it is impossible to mention all the sessions and writers, I hope to have given a taste of the literary and cultural delights that Mountain Echoes offers. With its efficient team of organisers and volunteers it is surely one of the best festivals in Asia and maybe one of its best kept secrets. It usually takes place in the second half of August, attendance is free for all, so start making your plans now to visit the hidden kingdom of Bhutan, with Mountain Echoes as an added bonus. <br />
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Mountain Echoes Festival is produced by the Sihayi team in association with the India Bhutan Foundation and the Rajasthan government's Department of Tourism.<br />
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Many thanks to festival producer Mita Kapur and her team at Siyahi, as well as directors: Siok Sian Dorji, Namita Gokhale, Pramod Kumar KG, Tshering Tashi, and all officials and volunteers! <br />
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View Mountain Echoes website <a href="http://www.mountainechoes.org/NEW/about">here</a> and their Facebook page <a href="https://www.facebook.com/mountainechoes/">here.</a><br />
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<a href="http://siyahi.in/about-us/">Siyahi</a> is India's leading literary agency and works towards carrying Indian literature to the world. They also organise literary events of all types, from international festivals to intimate readings and book launches. <br />
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<a href="http://jancornallportfolio.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/about-jan-cornall.html">Jan Cornall </a>is a writer, performance poet and singer based in Sydney Australia. Since 2004 she has taken part in a number of festivals in the Asia Pacific region, including: Ubud Writers and Readers Festival (Bali) Utan Kayu Literary Biennale (Java) Irrawaddy Literary Festival (Myanmar), Hong Kong International Literary Festival, The Northern Kingdoms Poetry Festival (Cambodia),Open Art Festival (Beijing), Women's International Playwrights Conference (Mumbai), Wordstorm (Darwin), Two Fires Festival ( Braidwood), Woollongong Writers Festival, Sydney Writer's Festival.<br />
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Jan also teaches writing and runs international writing retreats. Her next writer's journey is to Morocco in Jan/Feb 2017. Find out more at <a href="http://www.writersjourney.com.au/">www.writersjourney.com.au</a><br />
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In Bhutan Jan travels with <a href="http://www.bhutan.com.au/">Bhutan and Beyond </a>and the <a href="http://www.tourism.gov.bt/">Tourism Council of Bhutan.</a><br />
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(c) Jan Cornall Sept 2016. Photos by Jan Cornall except first and second last pics from Mountain Echoes Facebook page. </div>
fotolithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707211993990153467noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373971527919412025.post-220288540664902022016-07-02T02:09:00.007-07:002016-09-05T16:23:39.075-07:00Stitch, Weave, Write <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Last month we were fortunate to have a new venue for some new writing workshops. Author Jennifer Smart (her novel <a href="http://www.randomhouse.com.au/books/jennifer-smart/the-wardrobe-girl-9780857982513.aspx">Wardrobe Girl </a>is published by Random House) invited us to workshop in her new venture in Newcastle, Mulberry and Flax, a wonderful store filled with fine fabric, yarns and wool.<br />
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I asked writers to bring a piece of favorite fabric and our exercises were based around this and other memories we had of stitching, sewing, and messing around with yarns, wools and threads.<br />
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Helen Stevenson brought an embroidered table cloth she purchased in pre war Syria. <br />
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Others brought a piece of clothing, a woven cloth from Burma, an embroidered piece from Laos, and we had a bunch of remnants to inspire us as well.</div>
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Attendees included poet, Samantha Ogilvie and her seeing eye dog Roscoe, novelist Jennifer Moore who took the train from Sydney, poet and memoir writer Helen Stevenson, former midwife and teacher Cath Whelan (working on a history of the midwifery movement in Newcastle in the 80s and 90s, jeweller, former fashion designer, Cyd Joyce, her kids (my grandkids) Alfie and Vivian and our host, novelist and blogger, Jennifer Smart.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sam and her faithful Roscoe</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Such a patient being!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My grandkids Viv and Alfie</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cath and Sam exlporing the feel of Syrian embroidery</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip3tKjraPtrAzP-MpugxQSjx2rRSfz1i7E3f-bDkpvoaWHcddMI9nCisgCXkdaKm2JIuvU1ivEyKLCCr6TE65zCyrRB32kDsxsgfhudMMqee4lfh8tQXvPnzCsBtm4-S_nMDUQb3AcaXs/s1600/20160622_111813.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip3tKjraPtrAzP-MpugxQSjx2rRSfz1i7E3f-bDkpvoaWHcddMI9nCisgCXkdaKm2JIuvU1ivEyKLCCr6TE65zCyrRB32kDsxsgfhudMMqee4lfh8tQXvPnzCsBtm4-S_nMDUQb3AcaXs/s320/20160622_111813.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jennifer stitches and writes in her Mulb &Flax workshop space</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Helen is a quilter, knitter and embroiderer from way back</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> My daughter Cyd and her daughter Alfie</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV8gjiM-IEmK4BoZTO70TWETNtN1XQzU7frtvIEv6CgTNLi0Cq-jQrXW7236jfeRMY2yudyV9kCiOSJE-83rKID36kqSF2AgLL_uA6IIJiSf5ULYcs7U3GnCs87CZi-tt_tEiVDuMlYc8/s1600/20160622_125417.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV8gjiM-IEmK4BoZTO70TWETNtN1XQzU7frtvIEv6CgTNLi0Cq-jQrXW7236jfeRMY2yudyV9kCiOSJE-83rKID36kqSF2AgLL_uA6IIJiSf5ULYcs7U3GnCs87CZi-tt_tEiVDuMlYc8/s320/20160622_125417.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yummy snacks courtesy of Mulb & Flax</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We did do some writing too!</td></tr>
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fotolithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707211993990153467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373971527919412025.post-61716634854161016832016-01-11T23:45:00.000-08:002016-04-07T04:34:07.147-07:00 Loneliness and the long distance writer<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Over the holiday period I was fortunate to have the offer of a log cabin for a writing stint. Just an hour or so out of town, the idea seemed perfect to me.Tucked away in a eucalypt forest beneath a magnificent rocky outcrop, just me on my ownsome with no neighbours in sight and no convenience store just around the corner (none for miles in fact). My expectations were high. I would arrive with all the food I needed, and dig in. I would write all day and all night, I would not allow myself to be distracted by anything. I would turn off my phone and I pad and luckily with no wifi I wouldn't have all the distractions of Facebook, YouTube and email to lead me astray. Besides it was Xmas Hols and all would be quiet in the virtual world.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsTbJ_EzQsFMpXax7ZmWmKj0WkUXOCVr2yT-ymj4eaj8uwlrjNEUjXy90gDlZr5-l6TspTY9keS0q8TPL2MfY3wY_LHLlck3tP9D-7wxmEtMNonPOaGDsY3g3van7IKArLk3Nik8QlTug/s1600/12431305_10153221903141434_758479540_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsTbJ_EzQsFMpXax7ZmWmKj0WkUXOCVr2yT-ymj4eaj8uwlrjNEUjXy90gDlZr5-l6TspTY9keS0q8TPL2MfY3wY_LHLlck3tP9D-7wxmEtMNonPOaGDsY3g3van7IKArLk3Nik8QlTug/s320/12431305_10153221903141434_758479540_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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It started out well and ended quite well too. I managed to reread my draft manuscript, make notes for rewrites, make lists and maps of where to next, put all the existing scenes on one set of index cards, put all scenes I need to add on another set of index cards, make jottings and notes and forays into the new bits. I had relevant reading materials too, so in my non-writing times I could lounge about and immerse myself in the world of my book.<br />
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But, despite all this, I still managed to fall into a hole which opened into a tunnel which opened into such a huge underground cave of lonlieness and negative self talk, I could have been buried alive if it were not for the advice of a number of experts who came to my rescue.<br />
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Experts you ask? Where did I find them? Wasn't I way out in the woods with no wifi?<br />
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When I realised things were getting desperate I turned my trusty phone into a hot spot and called on the gods of the internet: The Ted Talkers, the Homespun Gurus, The Wise Women, the Spiritual Soothsayers.<br />
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I thought I would share some dos and don'ts and new found wisdom with you in case you need it on your next writer's getaway.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijnxdjclUiimMGhXNAAqEKQ6l8S8izK5rzRhjYi4NmdBtu6ZmPp75_KbQay6IMkDqRyfFlfaW_yBtuh3MZ4L5Fnv9Y1MURuOSYMIrnkjVTLNnaT6glk8FUxnsyG-mGae2qNdHM6npiv5k/s1600/20151220_145656.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijnxdjclUiimMGhXNAAqEKQ6l8S8izK5rzRhjYi4NmdBtu6ZmPp75_KbQay6IMkDqRyfFlfaW_yBtuh3MZ4L5Fnv9Y1MURuOSYMIrnkjVTLNnaT6glk8FUxnsyG-mGae2qNdHM6npiv5k/s320/20151220_145656.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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DON'T start your personal writer's retreat on Christmas Day. Even though you had Xmas a week earlier and think you will be ok being alone on the one day of the year when everyone is not only playing happy families but sending pics to each other about how happy their happy families are, it is not a good idea.<br />
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If you already spend most of your days alone as writer in the city, DON'T assume that spending even more time alone in the country, will lead to writing bliss. It won't. If anything it will be much harder.<br />
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DON'T trick yourself into believing that solitary confinement is neccessary for the writing process.It's not.<br />
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DO take an array of delicious treats to reward yourself with when you have a good day on the page.<br />
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DON'T eat them all on the first day after you fail to get any words on the page. <br />
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DON'T listen to the voices that tell you:<br />
you can't write<br />
you are pathetic<br />
you are alone<br />
you are a fake<br />
you are a fraud<br />
nobody likes you<br />
nobody loves you <br />
nobody wants you<br />
nobody cares about you<br />
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DON'T be afraid to have a good cry when it all gets too much. Crying releases toxins and has many health benefits. <a href="http://www.medicaldaily.com/cry-it-out-6-surprising-health-benefits-shedding-few-tears-333952">Read more here. </a><br />
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DO program yourself when you wake and several times a day, that:<br />
today the writing will flow<br />
today the writing is effortless <br />
today brilliant ideas come to you<br />
today you write all day and into the night and can't stop<br />
(If this works and you do write all day and all night and you are afraid you will never sleep again, DON'T worry, it won't last).<br />
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If your writing getaway heaven is slowly turning into a writing getaway hell, DON'T worry. Just remind yourself it happened last time and you survived. At least you are alive with a roof over your head and you will live to write another day.<br />
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If you are gripped by fear, any kind of fear, DO watch this clip with rocket scientist, Olympia LePoint on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PV7Hy_8fhA">reprogramming your brian to overcome fear.</a><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1PV7Hy_8fhA" width="560"></iframe>
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DON'T forget that writing is a lonely business. It's one of the hazards of the job. You have to look after yourself when you write. <a href="http://ideas.ted.com/how-to-beat-loneliness/">Psychologist Guy Welch tells you how here.</a><br />
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DON'T get cold feet and think that writing is not your life purpose. If you have any doubts you can check them here.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vVsXO9brK7M" width="560"></iframe>
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DO keep going back to the wise ones who have helped you in the past. DON'T forget it takes courage and bravery to write, to face the blank page and yourself. Listen to my favourite wise woman, buddhist nun, Pema Chodron, reminding us of this very fact.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TQr97YTyzaA" width="420"></iframe>
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Happy Writing Getaway!!<br />
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fotolithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707211993990153467noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373971527919412025.post-64460632567695616822015-09-16T16:26:00.001-07:002016-04-01T21:00:12.643-07:00Meeting Bhutanese Writers<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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In Aug/Sept 2015, our group was lucky to meet and workshop with a number of Bhutanese writers.<br />
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In Thimphu we met Pema Gyaltse, Chador Wangmo and Karma Norbu, also Rinzin Rinzin (not in this pic).<br />
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After our workshop an impromptu book signing with Pema. her childrens books are widely available in bookstores across Bhutan. <br />
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Karma Norbu also brought copies of his novel. Here he is signing a copy for Australian author <a href="http://www.waltermason.com/">Walter Mason.</a><br />
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In Punakha we met with Dechen and friends<br />
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It was fantastic to have them join in our workshop<br />
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In Paro we met another Karma<br />
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And his poet colleague Ugyen Tshomo<br />
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It was an excellent exchange!</div>
fotolithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707211993990153467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373971527919412025.post-70672672742269731092015-09-10T05:06:00.001-07:002016-01-17T13:24:48.334-08:00Writing in the Kingdom of Bhutan<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
In late August fourteen adventurers left Bangkok, headed for the Kingdom of Bhutan.<br />
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We stopped in Kolkata but didn't get off, and not far past Mt Everest (yes this pic the real thing, not a mountain shaped cloud!) our small plane, imagining it was a helicopter, wound its way through a narrow steepsided valley (so close we felt we could reach out and touch the valley sides) and landed on the short runway at Paro airport.<br />
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Our guide Tenzin, tall, handsome and elegantly dressed in a traditioal <i>goh</i>, shook each of us by the hand and said in his slow, calm voice 'welcome to Bhutan.'<br />
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On the way to Thimphu, he took us to the famous chain bridge, one of <a href="http://aglimpseofbhutan.weebly.com/iron-chain-bridge-and-tachog-lhakhang-dzong-paro.html">108 chain bridges</a> built in the 1300s. <br />
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The river rushes beneath the chain mesh, not as easy as it looks to
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Thimphu is the capital of Bhutan and consists of a charming sprawl of
houses and apartment buildings built along the Thimphu Valley. Mist hung low over the surrounding mountains giving the hill town a suitable air of mystery.<br />
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First stop was the Memorial Stupa, to join the locals in circumnabulation.<br />
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Next stop, the Takin Reserve. The takin is the national animal and looks like a cow with a goats head. It is said that when asked to perform a miracle, local saint, Drukpa Kunley (see more below) took the head of a goat and placed it on the skeleton of a cow, and so the takin was born..<br />
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After lunch we browsed the local shops and craft market...<br />
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On the second day of our writing workshops we were joined by Bhutanese writers Chador Wangmo, Pema Gyaltsen and Karma Norbu, Namgay and Sonam. One of our group Carolina, told of her journey to Bhutan in 1968, when Mrs Ghandi came to open the first sealed road.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihKNhDNyZFLAMy89TMgTISAIKcrFijyulCBvwUsyDTVvh3uJ6PlNtZOjewvmuYcE6_PAovyn715N0eDQf0JPHkFEYdRN2QR_Ck1LtQEqNrpWCuPg31pSFrUrbdJLTQBOzkb-3DF6XiHW0/s1600/800px-1968_Bhutan_P%2526T_first_multi-color_postcard_showing_the_Dungchi_Lhakhang.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihKNhDNyZFLAMy89TMgTISAIKcrFijyulCBvwUsyDTVvh3uJ6PlNtZOjewvmuYcE6_PAovyn715N0eDQf0JPHkFEYdRN2QR_Ck1LtQEqNrpWCuPg31pSFrUrbdJLTQBOzkb-3DF6XiHW0/s320/800px-1968_Bhutan_P%2526T_first_multi-color_postcard_showing_the_Dungchi_Lhakhang.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Postcard circa 1968</td></tr>
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Some of the other sights we visited were the impressive Trashi Chhoe Dzong where monks were reahearsing their mask dances for the festival in Sept.<br />
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And the sun broke through the misty clouds on our visit to the giant Buddha watching over Thimphu valley. In its final stages of erection it should be ready next year.<br />
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We were invited to come to Sonam and Pema's school to meet their students.<br />
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And we stopped in at a paper factory before lunch.<br />
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The Natonal Library was a treat...<br />
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But the highlight of the day was a visit to the School of Thirteen Arts. The college was is sponsored by the 5th King of Bhutan. Here tuition is free and students are instructed in the major arts and craft skills. <a href="http://www.bhutantravelservice.com/13-traditional-arts-crafts-of-bhutan">Read more here.</a><br />
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On Day 4 we headed up and up along steep windy roads to Dochala Pass.<br />
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The pass was shrouded in mist so we missed the view of the Himalayas, but we could imagine...<br />
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We coasted down into the Punakha Valley to visit the temple of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drukpa_Kunley">Drukpa Kunley,</a> The Divine Madman. Known as a practioner of 'Crazy Wisdom' he loved women and ara (local wine) is still revered as an irreverant saint. Animated representations of his phallus adorn houses all over Bhutan as a symbol of fertility and women come from all over the world to take part in a fertility ritual at his temple.<br />
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At our new hotel, the glasshouse by the wide glacial river was the perfect spot for our workshops. More Bhutanese writers joined us, Karma, Dechen, all teachers from the area.<br />
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Next day we visited the stunning Punakha Dzong, built at the confluence of the the confluence of the Pho Chun and Mo Chuu Rivers...<br />
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and hiked through the rice paddies to Khamsum Yulley Namgyel Chorten.<br />
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Inside was a treat for those of us who knew a little about Tantric Buddhism — four floors of sculpted wrathful deities and wall paintings (no photos allowed), with a spectacular view over the valley from the top.<br />
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We all agreed we could have spent an extra day in Punakha Valley.<br />
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Back over Dochala Pass and on to Paro, we visited Paro Dzong (no, we were not Dzonged out yet!)<br />
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And then checked into our red carpeted cottages at Olathang Resort. This was the first hotel to be built when Bhutan opened its doors to tourism in 1974, and it has lost none of its charm.<br />
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Day 7 and it was time for the climax of the trip, our hike to Taktsang Monastery, or the Tigers Nest, which is perched way up on a cliff side in the Paro Valley and is where the legendary Guru Rinpoche (Padmasambava, who brought Buddism to Tibet and Bhutan) is said to have flown in on the back of a tigress and meditated in a cave there for three months.<br />
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It's an hour's steep walk to the teahouse and viewing point ( you can do this section on horse back) and then another hour to the monastery.<br />
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It's a great spot to view Tigers Nest and hikers have the option of continuing on to the next stage of the walk.<br />
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Paro Taktsang was shy at first, hidden in the mist.<br />
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But then the clouds parted and revealed her splendour.<br />
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At the end of the walk there are a thousand steps along the cliff face that take you down to the cave of Yeshe Sogyal ( Padmasambava's consort — it was she who transfomed her self into the tigress to bring him to this extraordinary place), and up to the Tigers Nest.<br />
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No gadgets allowed here either, no phones, cameras, not even pens or note books. There is even a mantra singing police man to frisk you as you enter.<br />
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We arrived in the small gonpa that has been built around Guru Rinpoches's cave (we could see the door to the cave that is rarely opened) and thirteen monks an their lama were doing a long life puja for the Queen Grandmother (she is a great supporter of the Dharma). Chanting and sounding the trumpets, drums and cymbals —it really is a deeply primordial sound. We visited other small temples, rang the big bell given to the monastery by the people of Kobe, Japan. Its sonorous tone sounded out across the valley and one could imagine the flight of the tigress with its valuable charge, and its arrival in the small gap in the rock our guide called the landing strip.<br />
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We lit butter lamps in a room next door and each made a wish. The lamps would burn on for 24 hours sending their smoke out into the mist that swirls around the Taktsang cliffs and up to the heavens.<br />
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Lunch time for the monks and the policeman meant closing time for us so we picked up our things from the locker room and started the climb down. A few of us visited the cave of Yeshe Sogyal just below, no time limits there.<br />
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We said some more prayers and wishes at her altar and took note of the sign, Quiet Please Hermit in Residence. In a small closed room built above the cave we imagined and old nun sitting with her prayer wheel sounding out her mantras as everyone here loves to do; the chef at our first hotel, the doorman with his deep low timbre and the police man we had just left behind.<br />
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On the way down some of us found time to write<br />
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others practcally skipped down the track<br />
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and while we may have just experienced the highlight of our trip, we knew it wasn't over yet.<br />
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To be continued... <br />
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/writersjourney/albums/72157658432577705">More pics here</a><br />
<br />
Read some of our writing <a href="http://ramenwriting.blogspot.com.au/2015/09/writing-from-bhutan.html">here </a><br />
<br />
We will visit Bhutan again in August 2016 to attend the Mountain Echoes Literary Festival and explore the valleys we didn't get to this time. <a href="http://www.writersjourney.com.au/journeys/bookish-in-bhutan/">All details here.</a><br />
<br />
Jan Cornall leads international writer's workshops and retreats.<a href="http://www.writersjourney.com.au/"> Find out more here</a><br />
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fotolithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707211993990153467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373971527919412025.post-18995385010048911142015-06-30T20:42:00.003-07:002015-07-01T17:08:08.167-07:00Women Writers in Turkey<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
While nobel prize winner Orhan Pamuk may be the only Turkish author many westerners are familiar with, I was happy to discover a wealth of other Turkish writers in
local bookstores in Istanbul during my residency at <a href="http://www.maumauworks.com/">maumauworks </a>in June. I was drawn in particular to two short story collections by
Turkish women: <a href="http://www.milet.com/books/istanbul-in-women-s-short-stories-p3798.html">Istanbul In Women's Short Stories</a> (editor, Hande Ogut)<span class="bld"> </span>and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Europe-Womens-Stories-Turkish-Literature/dp/1840597674/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1435712128&sr=1-3-fkmr1&keywords=europe+turkish+women+writers">Europe in Womens Short Stories from Turkey,</a> (editor, Gultekin Emre). Both are published by <a href="http://www.milet.com/books/istanbul-in-women-s-short-stories-p3798.html">Milet Publishing.</a><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZyKbzy_DOiw7aqhf2PwH3dTRTDtyWzDbOoviV8WOa_SbnQMISFi6WKRt71yJnzLMqBlePHlNJpX7ajGPHiDj8O6d5pWYCFkHggxRXf3eCG9k05WA-lEL_35NBidW69wHOgQ-VEveLt_U/s1600/yazar_e15236e48d71a23eaef981ecc3335c3dd8a838c3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZyKbzy_DOiw7aqhf2PwH3dTRTDtyWzDbOoviV8WOa_SbnQMISFi6WKRt71yJnzLMqBlePHlNJpX7ajGPHiDj8O6d5pWYCFkHggxRXf3eCG9k05WA-lEL_35NBidW69wHOgQ-VEveLt_U/s1600/yazar_e15236e48d71a23eaef981ecc3335c3dd8a838c3.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Asli Erdogan</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Sadly my friend <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asl%C4%B1_Erdo%C4%9Fan">Asli Erdogan </a>was out of the country during my stay. I met her at a literary festival in Indonesia 10 years ago and would love to have caught up. She is on the wikipedia list of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_women_writers">Turkish women writers</a> along with popular authors <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elif_%C5%9Eafak" title="Elif Şafak">Elif Şafak</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buket_Uzuner" title="Buket Uzuner">Buket Uzuner</a> whose novels are best sellers in Turkey. However there are many other authors not included on this list like writers <span class="entity _4v1s" data-fulltext="Naz Cuguoğlu" data-group="all" data-icon="null" data-select="group" data-si="true" data-text="Naz Cuguoğlu" data-type="ent:user" data-uid="694066025"><a href="http://www.artfridge.de/2015/03/interview-naz-cuguoglu_17.html">Naz Cuguoğlu</a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null">,</a> </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5989271.Sine_Erg_n"><span class="entity _4v1s" data-fulltext="Sine Ergün" data-group="all" data-icon="null" data-select="group" data-si="true" data-text="Sine Ergün" data-type="ent:user" data-uid="681380336">Sine Ergün</span></a><span data-si="true"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5989271.Sine_Erg_n"> </a>and </span><a href="http://www.gonulkivilcim.com/"><span class="entity _4v1s" data-fulltext="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-group="all" data-icon="null" data-select="group" data-si="true" data-text="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-type="ent:user" data-uid="100005505572144">Gönül Kıvılcım</span></a> who I met at maumauworks during my stay. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDXRS6xMD5Ut6uDJ1SPQxZA0LB0U2xxns9eBc28I7fzXQdqt6SLCstLLI-KLv5NRhbeKOYLg8iJPz0EUYv85pFH4CXPE1Jmj2DODLqxRNI_kZ952s_lGTiDy6IKKwnbawfc67FXHwDo_o/s1600/16736274641_fdff041c71_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDXRS6xMD5Ut6uDJ1SPQxZA0LB0U2xxns9eBc28I7fzXQdqt6SLCstLLI-KLv5NRhbeKOYLg8iJPz0EUYv85pFH4CXPE1Jmj2DODLqxRNI_kZ952s_lGTiDy6IKKwnbawfc67FXHwDo_o/s320/16736274641_fdff041c71_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="entity _4v1s" data-fulltext="Naz Cuguoğlu" data-group="all" data-icon="null" data-select="group" data-si="true" data-text="Naz Cuguoğlu" data-type="ent:user" data-uid="694066025">Naz Cuguoğlu</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a href="http://lethe.ku.edu.tr/?p=94"><br /></a>
<a href="http://lethe.ku.edu.tr/?p=94">Naz <span class="entity _4v1s" data-fulltext="Naz Cuguoğlu" data-group="all" data-icon="null" data-select="group" data-si="true" data-text="Naz Cuguoğlu" data-type="ent:user" data-uid="694066025"> Cuguoğlu</span></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null"> </a>is a short story writer who has been writing since she was young. She used to write memoir but now prefers the short form. Her magic realist stories centre on male characters dealing with everyday issues. A graduate in social psychology she has volunteered in culture labs in Turkey,
Nicaraguara and the US. She has worked in an Istanbul-based gallery and
frequently contributes <a href="http://www.timeoutistanbul.com/en/artculture/article/3129/Istanbuls-Underground-Art-Scene-myth-or-reality">reviews and interviews to publications</a> like
Istanbul art news, Artful Living, Trendsetter or KLOK. Naz currently curates exhibitions and manages residencies at maumauworks. She recently took part in a writer's residency in Barcelona.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJYt5junLFHbzONNMYUhU_VMjK0qK-0vQnIUkpJDWqhq66T_F5cV6lITHhJXE4ZA9NVPK5VLH3YgrQjqnNmmOSsyJDz22_GlAGCUTf2s2DDY4rOJz3o2qhmMrYtDl20y_wpb8U-39nUjY/s1600/20150613_195929.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJYt5junLFHbzONNMYUhU_VMjK0qK-0vQnIUkpJDWqhq66T_F5cV6lITHhJXE4ZA9NVPK5VLH3YgrQjqnNmmOSsyJDz22_GlAGCUTf2s2DDY4rOJz3o2qhmMrYtDl20y_wpb8U-39nUjY/s320/20150613_195929.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5989271.Sine_Erg_n"><span class="entity _4v1s" data-fulltext="Sine Ergün" data-group="all" data-icon="null" data-select="group" data-si="true" data-text="Sine Ergün" data-type="ent:user" data-uid="681380336">Sine Ergün</span></a><span data-si="true"> the founder of maumauworks, also likes magic realism and Raymond Carver. Her stories are about the small details of life. She has published two short story collections, </span><span data-si="true"><a class="bookTitle" href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14287857-bazen-hayat" itemprop="url">
<span itemprop="name">Bazen Hayat</span>
</a> and </span><span data-si="true"><a class="bookTitle" href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14287856-buras-tekin-de-il" itemprop="url">
<span itemprop="name">Burası Tekin Değil</span>
</a> and is part of an anthology </span><a class="bookTitle" href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20884265-kad-nlar-aras-nda" itemprop="url"><span itemprop="name">Kadınlar Arasında</span></a> edited by
<span itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person">
<a class="authorName" href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/346422.Murathan_Mungan" itemprop="url"><span itemprop="name">Murathan Mungan</span></a>. Currently working on her third short story collection she was recently a writer in residence in Iran and is now in Buenos Aires working on her publishing deadline.Sine (in her early 30s) has a plan to publish seven books and then stop writing. She is curious to see what it will be like to live life without writing about it. </span><br />
<span itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMs_URT8vPIZHz25qkbqGNAePuBdR9YUYJauMbvnHmr93osUZ8oVwVhTutIpQy0uzSgGmgSoSQ-Y8llWV9aOzmOk2FS1KotOh0t7oxDnTWNT2tcysuD8M0REICMSEvwMAjG4wy3PpJM8o/s1600/10157150_1452293068339198_1160911012_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMs_URT8vPIZHz25qkbqGNAePuBdR9YUYJauMbvnHmr93osUZ8oVwVhTutIpQy0uzSgGmgSoSQ-Y8llWV9aOzmOk2FS1KotOh0t7oxDnTWNT2tcysuD8M0REICMSEvwMAjG4wy3PpJM8o/s1600/10157150_1452293068339198_1160911012_n.jpg" /></a></div>
<span itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person"><br /></span>
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<a href="http://www.gonulkivilcim.com/"><span class="entity _4v1s" data-fulltext="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-group="all" data-icon="null" data-select="group" data-si="true" data-text="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-type="ent:user" data-uid="100005505572144">Gönül Kıvılcım</span></a> has published a number of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Gonul-Kivilcim/e/B00JXZUPVC">novels </a>and written for magazines, online journals and the theatre. She lived and worked as a journalist in Germany for many years before returning to Istanbul to live. <span class="notranslate">After returning home she worked at Channel 6 and Radikal.</span> Her books are: <br />
<span class="notranslate">"Small Town Lies", Life Publications, 2001, "Razor Boy.", Life
Publications, 2002, "Partially Love" Everest Publishing, 2004,
"Karakoy The Living Witness", Heyamola 2010, "Crime Palace" Support
Verlag, 2011, " Dad's Best Photo " Detail Publications, 2012.</span><br />
<br />
<span class="notranslate"><span class="entity _4v1s" data-fulltext="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-group="all" data-icon="null" data-select="group" data-si="true" data-text="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-type="ent:page" data-uid="1452020728366432">Gönül</span> brings a journalists's sensibility to her work, dealing with issues of homelessness and street kids in her novel, Razor Boy, </span>and the stories of ordinary people in Small Town Lies. Her fourth novel which she spent a whole year researching, will soon be finished. <span class="entity _4v1s" data-fulltext="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-group="all" data-icon="null" data-select="group" data-si="true" data-text="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-type="ent:page" data-uid="1452020728366432">Gönül</span> is passionate about writing, telling me she takes over every corner of her apartment pinning notes and paper to the walls. She doesn't mind the lonlieness of the long distance writer either. You have to be alone to write, she says. When I have a bad day, I just read.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRHQULRgk3C5GjYEmcQGuL-7IHLfJAegsV1xksOSzvDhguCkSzWoYJKn5G4Fu1NhyphenhyphenJW_H10psaYoMAt5y0JnB_ncpN-bg7HAHQRlBMov-F_jTIoXJQb8cfj79NYDVTgDawFCQVHLaJJR0/s1600/51HP4U0wIOL._SY344_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRHQULRgk3C5GjYEmcQGuL-7IHLfJAegsV1xksOSzvDhguCkSzWoYJKn5G4Fu1NhyphenhyphenJW_H10psaYoMAt5y0JnB_ncpN-bg7HAHQRlBMov-F_jTIoXJQb8cfj79NYDVTgDawFCQVHLaJJR0/s320/51HP4U0wIOL._SY344_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" width="211" /></a></div>
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I took <span class="entity _4v1s" data-fulltext="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-group="all" data-icon="null" data-select="group" data-si="true" data-text="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-type="ent:page" data-uid="1452020728366432">Gönül's advice and when the <a href="http://ramenwriting.blogspot.com.au/2015/06/room-in-foreign-country.html">writing wasn't flowing</a> I disappeared into</span><span class="entity _4v1s" data-fulltext="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-group="all" data-icon="null" data-select="group" data-si="true" data-text="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-type="ent:page" data-uid="1452020728366432"> the two collections I had bought. In fact for a while, day became night became day, as I couldn't stop reading. I read <i>Europe</i> first and next <i>Istanbul</i>, and was glad I had this smorgasbord of women writers to dive into.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8eZxCQ54B6o8R-wSoUMnxDxV-LQdAA9TjAOZXN6rGvHw9GtGG8kN55RAkVsfPavUbcZiTQ9k7xEfN7gaOx8H1wtwfURhJEqTq6Lhv1TYtmmhVgyYdNIQYSXi9VhvDqKwuu72AATZ0h5k/s1600/images-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8eZxCQ54B6o8R-wSoUMnxDxV-LQdAA9TjAOZXN6rGvHw9GtGG8kN55RAkVsfPavUbcZiTQ9k7xEfN7gaOx8H1wtwfURhJEqTq6Lhv1TYtmmhVgyYdNIQYSXi9VhvDqKwuu72AATZ0h5k/s1600/images-3.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mine Sogut</td></tr>
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<span class="entity _4v1s" data-fulltext="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-group="all" data-icon="null" data-select="group" data-si="true" data-text="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-type="ent:page" data-uid="1452020728366432"></span><br />
<span class="entity _4v1s" data-fulltext="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-group="all" data-icon="null" data-select="group" data-si="true" data-text="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-type="ent:page" data-uid="1452020728366432">One of the reasons I wanted to read Turkish women writers was that on the street (especially my street which I renamed, Yelling Street),</span><span class="entity _4v1s" data-fulltext="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-group="all" data-icon="null" data-select="group" data-si="true" data-text="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-type="ent:page" data-uid="1452020728366432"><span class="entity _4v1s" data-fulltext="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-group="all" data-icon="null" data-select="group" data-si="true" data-text="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-type="ent:page" data-uid="1452020728366432"> Turkish men are the dominant presence, and I longed to know where the women were, what they were doing, what they were thinking and feeling. These two volumes containing women writers of varied ages and varied writing styles gave not only answers, but connected me with feminine insights so exquisitley expressed I was able to recognise a shared experience of womanhood while appreciating the huge cultural difference between us. It was as if I was reading the stories of sisters from whom I had been separated at birth.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB9ZPXVaSoz5bXaTz2eoLyWGssCp511pvrY4G51WgHcMa2_G68NgPJqtMw5CZZXX-5bOmPPx64IZoglm-aLmqSCuHNKxX07op39y84DNeaRi8N7BDa_gFsUjxy0ATMQnq0NdtjM9Uq6TU/s1600/Suzan-Samanci_9950_1417905556.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB9ZPXVaSoz5bXaTz2eoLyWGssCp511pvrY4G51WgHcMa2_G68NgPJqtMw5CZZXX-5bOmPPx64IZoglm-aLmqSCuHNKxX07op39y84DNeaRi8N7BDa_gFsUjxy0ATMQnq0NdtjM9Uq6TU/s320/Suzan-Samanci_9950_1417905556.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Susan Samanci</td></tr>
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<span class="entity _4v1s" data-fulltext="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-group="all" data-icon="null" data-select="group" data-si="true" data-text="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-type="ent:page" data-uid="1452020728366432"><span class="entity _4v1s" data-fulltext="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-group="all" data-icon="null" data-select="group" data-si="true" data-text="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-type="ent:page" data-uid="1452020728366432"><br /></span></span>
<span class="entity _4v1s" data-fulltext="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-group="all" data-icon="null" data-select="group" data-si="true" data-text="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-type="ent:page" data-uid="1452020728366432"><span class="entity _4v1s" data-fulltext="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-group="all" data-icon="null" data-select="group" data-si="true" data-text="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-type="ent:page" data-uid="1452020728366432">My favorite authors are <a href="http://www.erendizatasu.com/eng/index.php?id=1">Erendiz Atasu,</a> <a href="https://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzan_Samanc%C4%B1">Susan Sumanci</a> and <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/4285432.Mine_S_t">Mine Sogut</a>.Gonul has a story in <i>Istanbul </i>as well. Gaye Boralioglu's story about a working woman who watches her husband gasp and die on the long train trip home from work, and just gets off the train without him, is stunning. As is Erendiz Atasu's story of a woman making love to a gondolier. There's </span></span><span class="entity _4v1s" data-fulltext="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-group="all" data-icon="null" data-select="group" data-si="true" data-text="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-type="ent:page" data-uid="1452020728366432"><span class="entity _4v1s" data-fulltext="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-group="all" data-icon="null" data-select="group" data-si="true" data-text="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-type="ent:page" data-uid="1452020728366432"><span class="entity _4v1s" data-fulltext="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-group="all" data-icon="null" data-select="group" data-si="true" data-text="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-type="ent:page" data-uid="1452020728366432"><span class="entity _4v1s" data-fulltext="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-group="all" data-icon="null" data-select="group" data-si="true" data-text="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-type="ent:page" data-uid="1452020728366432">strength and fragility in the writing of all these stories, a tender eroticism and power,</span></span> humour and irony, and there is no better way to get to know a city than through its literature.And they give a nice balance to the melancholy of Pamuk's writing. A friend warned me against reading Pamuk while I was here. She said she had read his novel <i>Snow</i> before she went and </span></span><span class="entity _4v1s" data-fulltext="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-group="all" data-icon="null" data-select="group" data-si="true" data-text="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-type="ent:page" data-uid="1452020728366432"><span class="entity _4v1s" data-fulltext="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-group="all" data-icon="null" data-select="group" data-si="true" data-text="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-type="ent:page" data-uid="1452020728366432"><span data-reactid=".4w.1:4:1:$comment10152858568741434_10152863119546434:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1"><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".4w.1:4:1:$comment10152858568741434_10152863119546434:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body"><span class="UFICommentBody" data-reactid=".4w.1:4:1:$comment10152858568741434_10152863119546434:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0"><span data-reactid=".4w.1:4:1:$comment10152858568741434_10152863119546434:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$text0:0">couldn't shake the feeling that it was haunted by the ghosts of empire. There is no risk of that in these stories. While melancholy may weave its way through some of the narratives, it is always imbued with the practical realism of a Turkish woman's point of view.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQpgj17RFbrwCC8mh-1NeDTCHfWwXeKUn6LkclOEsUv6xaLIx1bCd0wvSH4Y7G_hH72m-t2spmFso80lqaijDyKjsqFvPX4ltVDZAkNlV2OdD9yCzQa3O14w_L7dPQFjk3S180do7z2EM/s1600/1ayeP6GQm2W.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQpgj17RFbrwCC8mh-1NeDTCHfWwXeKUn6LkclOEsUv6xaLIx1bCd0wvSH4Y7G_hH72m-t2spmFso80lqaijDyKjsqFvPX4ltVDZAkNlV2OdD9yCzQa3O14w_L7dPQFjk3S180do7z2EM/s320/1ayeP6GQm2W.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Erendiz Atasu</td></tr>
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<span class="entity _4v1s" data-fulltext="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-group="all" data-icon="null" data-select="group" data-si="true" data-text="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-type="ent:page" data-uid="1452020728366432"><span class="entity _4v1s" data-fulltext="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-group="all" data-icon="null" data-select="group" data-si="true" data-text="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-type="ent:page" data-uid="1452020728366432"><span data-reactid=".4w.1:4:1:$comment10152858568741434_10152863119546434:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1"><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".4w.1:4:1:$comment10152858568741434_10152863119546434:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body"><span class="UFICommentBody" data-reactid=".4w.1:4:1:$comment10152858568741434_10152863119546434:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0"><span data-reactid=".4w.1:4:1:$comment10152858568741434_10152863119546434:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$text0:0">The foreward to the English version of <i>Istanbul</i> by translators <a href="http://www.transcript-review.org/en/issue/transcript-32-new-prose-fiction-from-turkey/ahmet-buke/more-about-the-translators">Idil Aydogan</a> and <a href="http://www.papertigers.org/interviews/archived_interviews/pbillings.html">Patricia Billings </a>states...</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="entity _4v1s" data-fulltext="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-group="all" data-icon="null" data-select="group" data-si="true" data-text="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-type="ent:page" data-uid="1452020728366432"><span class="entity _4v1s" data-fulltext="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-group="all" data-icon="null" data-select="group" data-si="true" data-text="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-type="ent:page" data-uid="1452020728366432"><span data-reactid=".4w.1:4:1:$comment10152858568741434_10152863119546434:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1"><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".4w.1:4:1:$comment10152858568741434_10152863119546434:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body"><span class="UFICommentBody" data-reactid=".4w.1:4:1:$comment10152858568741434_10152863119546434:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0"><span data-reactid=".4w.1:4:1:$comment10152858568741434_10152863119546434:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$text0:0">. </span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="entity _4v1s" data-fulltext="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-group="all" data-icon="null" data-select="group" data-si="true" data-text="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-type="ent:page" data-uid="1452020728366432"><span class="entity _4v1s" data-fulltext="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-group="all" data-icon="null" data-select="group" data-si="true" data-text="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-type="ent:page" data-uid="1452020728366432"><span data-reactid=".4w.1:4:1:$comment10152858568741434_10152863119546434:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1"><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".4w.1:4:1:$comment10152858568741434_10152863119546434:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body"><span class="UFICommentBody" data-reactid=".4w.1:4:1:$comment10152858568741434_10152863119546434:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0"><span data-reactid=".4w.1:4:1:$comment10152858568741434_10152863119546434:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$text0:0">"This collection does not present its reader with an idealised Istanbul, where East meets West. Rather Istanbul is a place where over the centuries East and West have engaged in a testy relationship, pushing and pulling, repelling and attracting with the ebb and flow of the Bosphorous, leaving its inhabitants in a constant struggle — a struggle for their identities, those they express for all to see and those they feel inside.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span class="entity _4v1s" data-fulltext="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-group="all" data-icon="null" data-select="group" data-si="true" data-text="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-type="ent:page" data-uid="1452020728366432"><span class="entity _4v1s" data-fulltext="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-group="all" data-icon="null" data-select="group" data-si="true" data-text="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-type="ent:page" data-uid="1452020728366432"><span data-reactid=".4w.1:4:1:$comment10152858568741434_10152863119546434:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1"><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".4w.1:4:1:$comment10152858568741434_10152863119546434:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body"><span class="UFICommentBody" data-reactid=".4w.1:4:1:$comment10152858568741434_10152863119546434:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0"><span data-reactid=".4w.1:4:1:$comment10152858568741434_10152863119546434:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$text0:0"> With contributors born mainly between 1940 -1970 who are not just Turkish but Greek, Kurdish and Armenian backgrounds this collection represents the works of different generations and cultural groups."</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span class="entity _4v1s" data-fulltext="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-group="all" data-icon="null" data-select="group" data-si="true" data-text="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-type="ent:page" data-uid="1452020728366432"><span class="entity _4v1s" data-fulltext="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-group="all" data-icon="null" data-select="group" data-si="true" data-text="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-type="ent:page" data-uid="1452020728366432"><span data-reactid=".4w.1:4:1:$comment10152858568741434_10152863119546434:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1"><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".4w.1:4:1:$comment10152858568741434_10152863119546434:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body"><span class="UFICommentBody" data-reactid=".4w.1:4:1:$comment10152858568741434_10152863119546434:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0"><span data-reactid=".4w.1:4:1:$comment10152858568741434_10152863119546434:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$text0:0">I cannot sign off without mentioning the excellent team of translators in both volumes. Without them we foreigners would miss the great pleasure of losing ourselves in these stories. </span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span class="entity _4v1s" data-fulltext="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-group="all" data-icon="null" data-select="group" data-si="true" data-text="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-type="ent:page" data-uid="1452020728366432"><span class="entity _4v1s" data-fulltext="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-group="all" data-icon="null" data-select="group" data-si="true" data-text="Gönül Kıvılcım" data-type="ent:page" data-uid="1452020728366432"><span data-reactid=".4w.1:4:1:$comment10152858568741434_10152863119546434:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1"><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".4w.1:4:1:$comment10152858568741434_10152863119546434:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body"><span class="UFICommentBody" data-reactid=".4w.1:4:1:$comment10152858568741434_10152863119546434:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0"><span data-reactid=".4w.1:4:1:$comment10152858568741434_10152863119546434:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.1.$comment-body.0.$end:0:$text0:0">Watch a fanstastic talk on <a href="https://www.blogger.com/%3Ciframe%20width=%22560%22%20height=%22315%22%20src=%22https://www.youtube.com/embed/wx4m_WuDrJo%22%20frameborder=%220%22%20allowfullscreen%3E%3C/iframe%3E">You Tube </a></span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/%3Ciframe%20width=%22560%22%20height=%22315%22%20src=%22https://www.youtube.com/embed/wx4m_WuDrJo%22%20frameborder=%220%22%20allowfullscreen%3E%3C/iframe%3E">by Patricia Billings "Turkish Literature in Translation"</a><br />
Recent Developments, Ways Forward and Global Trends, given at the London Book Fair in April 2015.<br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/%3Ciframe%20width=%22560%22%20height=%22315%22%20src=%22https://www.youtube.com/embed/wx4m_WuDrJo%22%20frameborder=%220%22%20allowfullscreen%3E%3C/iframe%3E"></a><br />
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<a href="http://jancornallportfolio.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/about-jan-cornall.html"><br /></a>
<a href="http://jancornallportfolio.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/about-jan-cornall.html">Jan Cornall </a>was writer in residence for three weeks in June 2015 at <a href="http://www.maumauworks.com/">Maumauworks</a> in Istanbul.<br />
Her residency was funded by CAL, <a href="http://www.copyright.com.au/">The Copyright Agency.</a><br />
Many thanks to Naz and Sine from Maumau, and to CAL for a great residency!<br />
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Jan leads international writer's workshops and retreats. Find out more at <a href="http://www.writersjourney.com.au/">www.writersjourney.com.au</a><a href="http://www.writersjourney.com.au/">http://www.writersjourney.com.au/</a><br />
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<span style="color: white;">Heading out next is</span> <a href="http://www.writersjourney.com.au/journeys/moroccan-caravan/">Morocan Caravan, Feb 20 - Mar 5.</a></div>
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fotolithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707211993990153467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373971527919412025.post-5754243270317169042015-06-30T17:14:00.001-07:002015-07-01T17:04:19.880-07:00Pamuk's Istanbul and my Garage of Memories<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
On the day I arrived at <a href="http://www.maumauworks.com/">maumauworks</a> in Instanbul for my three week writers residency, Sine (maumau founder) and Naz (maumau administrator) told me about the <a href="http://en.masumiyetmuzesi.org/">Museum Of Innocence</a>. It's just nearby, they said. Have you read the book?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5_u9QchcOvJElKVpvTukkAmpun0VToLB2matLa98ejBPZEXBCsE7dEl5_vnV4r15h-JBAaEE4tmvrINMROPTbivUXVeTXv7fbnt9gcsDcXHvZeBJWXM3eLGvwz8JvMM95D_8pKShIeqw/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5_u9QchcOvJElKVpvTukkAmpun0VToLB2matLa98ejBPZEXBCsE7dEl5_vnV4r15h-JBAaEE4tmvrINMROPTbivUXVeTXv7fbnt9gcsDcXHvZeBJWXM3eLGvwz8JvMM95D_8pKShIeqw/s1600/images.jpg" /></a></div>
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I'd been reading Orhan Pamuk's book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Istanbul-Memories-City-Orhan-Pamuk/dp/1400033888"><i>Istanbul</i></a> in preparation for my trip, but hadn't heard of his novel<i> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307386244/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_2?pf_rd_p=1944687462&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=1400033888&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1VT2XAC95D9198ZYTJVY">The Museum of Innocence</a></i> which was written only after he started collecting for his museum.<br />
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Sometimes you have to travel half way across the world to receive a special book recommendation, but I had no idea I would be able to enter the world of his novel is such a tangible way. <br />
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I'm always reminding my students of the importance of creating the world of their stories, suggesting they make a scrapbook or collect objects in a bag or a box. I did this even before was a writer and still do. I have a garage full of secret caches stashed a way containing pieces of fabric, old letters, trinkets, photos, postcards, keys, fragments of soap, empty perfume bottles, rings, cufflinks, my father's psalm book, my mother's sheet music, my childrens umbilical chord clips, and so on. The bags and boxes line the wall draped with various collected pieces of Japanese, Rajastani and Batik cloth. Some of my mothers paintings are there and a couple of Matisse prints torn from a calendar that used to hang in her kitchen. Random things too like an America Indian headress from a costume shop, some antique <i>wayang kulit</i> puppets, a naked shop dummy strung with leather belts, a moth eaten Chinese parasol. <br />
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In the middle I've set up a large work table, big enough for six or eight people to sit around, where I sometimes hold<a href="http://www.writersjourney.com.au/workshops/book-making/"> petite bookmaking workshops</a>, but mostly it's a place where I go to order my thoughts, to rustle about, to move memories around or to muse on my next creative project.<br />
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While some might want to call my collecting habits hoarding, I always defend myself, muttering about the importance of archiving, referencing, keeping creative materials on hand etc. but since visiting Pamuk's museum and reading his novel, I am able to understand something new about my garage of memories.<br />
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Pamuk says in an interview for the<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/24/orhan-pamuk-museum_n_4662010.html"> Huffington Post.</a>..<br />
<br />
"The habit of collecting, of attachment to things, is an essential human
trait. But Western civilization put collecting on a pedestal by
inventing museums. Museums are about representing power. It could be the
king's power or, later, people's power.....In my novel, where (the protagonist) Kemal collects the tea cup, cigarette butts,
bedroom door handle and other items of Fusun, he is building a museum
not to power but to the intimate experience of love, to an individual
life. My point is that, whatever a life is made of, its dreams and
disappointments, is worth taking pride in."<br />
<br />
If you haven't read the novel here's the blurb... <br />
<br />
"It is 1975, a perfect spring in Istanbul. Kemal and Sibel, children of
two prominent families, are about to become engaged. But when Kemal
encounters Füsun, a beautiful shopgirl and a distant relation, he
becomes enthralled. And once they violate the code of virginity, a rift
begins to open between Kemal and the world of the Westernized Istanbul
bourgeoisie. In his pursuit of Füsun over the next eight years, Kemal
becomes a compulsive collector of objects that chronicle his lovelorn
progress—amassing a museum that is both a map of a society and of his
heart. Orhan Pamuk’s first novel since winning the Nobel Prize is a
stirring exploration of the nature of romance."<br />
<br />
In the Huff Post Pamuk goes on to say... <br />
<br />
"In building my own museum in Istanbul, I am very close to my character
Kemal. I don't want to exhibit power but express my interiority, my
spirit. A museum should not be flags--signs and symbols of power--but
intimate works of art. It should express the spirituality of the
collector. "<br />
<br />
He adds...<br />
<br />
" I identify with Kemal's attention as a lover to his beloved because it
is like a novelist's attention to words. In the end, being a novelist,
in a way, is loving the world, caressing the world with words. It is
paying attention to all the details that you have lived and experienced.
This book is my most personal, intimate book. It is all the things I
have lived and seen in Istanbul in my entire life. It is a panorama
written with loving detail."<br />
<br />
"At the age of 60 I am less experimental and more mature. I want most
of all to convey my understanding of life. And writing novels for 35
years has taught me great humility. It has taught me to be respectful of
how marvelously detailed the world is. Again, this is very close to a
lover's attention to his beloved's every movement, her gestures, angers
and silences. To notice everything is to care for it.<br />
<br />
There is indeed a kind of Sufi or Pan-theistic quality to this love for the world, as is also suggested by Buddhist mindfulness."<br />
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My apolologies for pulling out such lengthy quotes from the interview, but so much of what Pamuk says about life, love and writing is immensely inspiring and validating.<br />
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Visiting his museum has helped me understand the peace I feel deep in my garage surrounded by the memorabilia of my life, and why as much as I try, I can't throw my bits and pieces away yet. As Pamuk says, they are a touch stone to all the ways one has lived and is still living; a life filled with all its happinesses and sadnesses, all its successes and dissapointments.<br />
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I enter my garage in a different way since returning from Istanbul. I view my objects with more love. The tinge of shame is gone. I'm thinking to make an inventory. If I don't have time to tell each story I can at least give each object a line. Instead of having a garage sale, I'm thinking to have a viewing time, maybe on Sunday afternoons. I can serve tea and scones, on the family china that sits in a box at the bottom of one of the stacks.<br />
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Yes, that's what I'll do, I'll let you know when. <br />
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<br />
Read a <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/jan/09/orhan-pamuk-novel-james-lasdun">Guardian review of the novel Museum of Innocence here. </a><br />
<br />
Read all about the actual<a href="http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/04/the-right-stuff-orhan-pamuk/?_r=0"> Museum of Innocence here</a><br />
<br />
If you can't get to Istanbul, the book Pamuk has written about the museum, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Innocence-Objects-Orhan-Pamuk/dp/1419704567">The Innocence of Objects, </a>is almost as good as the real thing. It details the background to the museum project and takes you through the exhibits chapter by chapter with excellent photos and excerpts.<br />
<br />
Read about other Turkish authors I discovered in another great book by contemporary Turkish women writers, - I<a href="http://writingontuktuks.blogspot.com.au/2015/06/women-writers-in-turkey.html">stanbul in Women's Short Stories. </a><br />
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<br />
<a href="http://jancornallportfolio.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/about-jan-cornall.html">Jan Cornall </a>was writer in residence for three weeks in June 2015 at <a href="http://www.maumauworks.com/">Maumauworks</a> in Istanbul.<br />
Her residency was funded by CAL, <a href="http://www.copyright.com.au/">The Copyright Agency.</a><br />
Many thanks to Naz and Sine from Maumau, and to CAL for a great residency!<br />
<br />
Jan leads international writer's workshops and retreats. Find out more at <a href="http://www.writersjourney.com.au/">www.writersjourney.com.au</a><a href="http://www.writersjourney.com.au/">http://www.writersjourney.com.au/</a><br />
<a href="http://www.writersjourney.com.au/journeys/bookish-in-bhutan/">Creative in Bhutan, Aug 29 -Sept 7</a><br />
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<span style="color: white;"></span><a href="http://www.writersjourney.com.au/journeys/moroccan-caravan/">Morocan Caravan, Feb 20 - Mar 5.</a></div>
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fotolithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707211993990153467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373971527919412025.post-4822077673955769252015-05-12T00:06:00.002-07:002015-05-12T18:38:15.887-07:00Creative Spirit <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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When the weather turns cold and winter fires start to crackle, it is
a perfect time for igniting your creativity. This chilly season three
artists bring their creative skills together at Namgyalgar South Retreat Centre,
nestled on the southern slopes of Mt Gulaga near Central Tilba.<br />
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Painter Glenda
Morgan, writer Jan Cornall and movement artist Suze Smith, will add meditation
to the creative mix when they lead their weekend retreats for residential or
daily participants. In between delicious food, warm fires, envigorating walks,
meditation and movement sessions, there will be a chance to play with colour
and line, movement and dance, poetry and sensual story telling. </div>
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Evenings will be filled with stimulating
discussions, performance soirees, video talks, laughter and hot-water bottle
dreaming. It<span style="font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';">’</span>s a mid winter opportunity to spend a long weekend with
like-minded spirits in a winter green mountain hermitage and to keep the
creative conversation going long after you return home.<br />
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Two weekends are planned: Creative Spirit, on
June 26,27,28, a long weekend exploring writing, painting and meditation, and Mind Body Movement, on July 17,18,19, a weekend opportunity to uncover organic pathways of movement through improvisation, directed touch and embodied anatomy.<br />
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Your workshop leaders, all members of the Dzogchen Community
(following the teachings of Tibetan Master Chogyal Namkai Norbu) have been
practicing meditation for many years and are well established in their own
artistic practice.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZAi8dQhs64vNUiDvcsx9W8gTR5-2PsxzOsd_NtOZEp0zCSmGQmrSMUYnOLRMMYwMfr8aZJVRbpgtNXvRfRn_EDdDhBHX_sCeKCIXqT9SBTxgEbl43LmQpCGKp27qtO5ukVONO0_wl35Q/s1600/Rinpoche+saddle+picnic+ribbon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZAi8dQhs64vNUiDvcsx9W8gTR5-2PsxzOsd_NtOZEp0zCSmGQmrSMUYnOLRMMYwMfr8aZJVRbpgtNXvRfRn_EDdDhBHX_sCeKCIXqT9SBTxgEbl43LmQpCGKp27qtO5ukVONO0_wl35Q/s320/Rinpoche+saddle+picnic+ribbon.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chogyal Namkhai Norbu in a playful mood at Namg South, 1990s. </td></tr>
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<b>Your Tutors</b><br />
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Glenda Morgan has been painting and exhibiting for 25 years and
has taught drawing, printmaking and design at Universities and art schools in
Sydney She is a certified instructor in Qigong and Tai Chi.<br />
<br />
Jan Cornall is a
published writer who has written plays, screenplays, musicals, a novel, short
stories, travel articles and songs. She
has an MA in Cultural and Creative Practice, has taught writing at universities
in Australia and Indonesia and leads international writing and creativity
retreats. </div>
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Suze Smith is a contemporary
theatre maker and somatic movement teacher. She is a dance artist, writer,
director and lighting<span style="font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';"> </span>designer. Her theatre making
practice is informed by her ongoing study<span style="font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';"> </span>of post modern dance and
improvisation, embodied anatomy and Body-Mind Centering<span style="font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';">®</span>. <br />
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<b>Retreat details</b><br />
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<b>3 Day Residential Retreat</b><br />
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Cost: $300 (Friday 2pm to Sun 4pm)<br />
2 nights accom + all meals<br />
Accom in private caravan, dormitory, camping. (B&B accom off land can be arranged at extra expense) <br />
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<b>Or Attend 1 Day workshop</b><br />
Cost: $90 (9.30am to 5 pm+lunch)<br />
<b><br />Bookings: </b><br />
E: glenda.energyarts@gmail.com<br />
P: (02)6493 4417<br />
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Make plans for warming up your winter now! <br />
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fotolithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707211993990153467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373971527919412025.post-68570290427022625382015-04-23T00:14:00.000-07:002015-04-23T02:56:31.541-07:00First Page to First Draft<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Semester One, First Page to First Draft, began this week in the book cave at Ampersand Cafe and Bookstore in Paddington.<br />
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I arrived a bit early, around 10 am, and there was a man reading a blue book in the winged arm chair
at the end of the room. (Did I mention he was handsome? I thought at
first it was Rupert Arrowsmith who I had met only weeks before at the
Irrawaddy Literary Festival in Burma. But how could that be, he was now in New York). Next time I turned around he was
sleeping, head resting on the wing of the chair, book on his tummy, an
absolute picture of peace.<br />
<br />
I hoped he might stay that way well into our
workshop, then wake up and join us, but sadly after twenty minutes or so a
waiter touched him on the shoulder to ask if he would like something
else to drink. I guess they have a no-sleep-while-reading policy. But it got me
thinking, what a good idea! Like the hammock cafes in Vietnam only you
get a book as well as your hammock and fresh coconut!<br />
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I invited him to
stay but he said he had to be somewhere and that it had been a perfect nap.
I took it as an auspicious beginning to our workshop series.<br />
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Soon the writers arrived and after hearing about their writing projects we got down to some serious writing. Three memoirists, two poets et moi. (I'm not sure what I'm writing next but it will probably be memoir based). Oh, and Roscoe the seeing eye dog, who was under the table. I will get a pic of him next week! Samantha, one of my ex students from UWS (left below), is vision impaired and Roscoe comes along to help her find her way. He sat on my feet most of the workshop and I have to say I did enjoy it. Lets add dog foot warmers to the hammock cafe idea!<br />
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Then I invited people to read and we had a tantalising taste of what's to come over the next five weeks. People's stories are just so fascinating. I can't wait to hear more!<br />
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First Page to First Draft is run in three modules over nine months, designed to give you the opportunity to finish your draft by October. You can join any time. <a href="https://www.blogger.com/.http://www.writersjourney.com.au/workshops/semester-one/">Read more here.</a></div>
fotolithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707211993990153467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373971527919412025.post-10573737709094707652015-04-22T15:07:00.002-07:002015-04-22T15:41:36.232-07:00Writing Among the Ruins - Angkor Wat<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
In March 2015 our group of writers met in Siem Reap for our Temple Dreaming Retreat.<br />
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Our base was <a href="http://www.coconut-hotel-angkor.com/www2/html/">Villa Loti</a>, a traditional guest house by the river, five mins by tuk tuk from the heart of town.<br />
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Mornings were spent in the ruins exploring some of the lesser known sites out of town. <br />
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Halfway through the week we had a workshop with guest tutor, comic artist and illustrator Louie Joyce on the art of visual story telling.<br />
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Walter Mason flew in from Vietnam and artist Chhai Kakkada from Battambang arrived in time for happy hour evening readings at Raffles and the Hyatt.<br />
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Our preferred mode of travel was by tuk tuk of course!<br />
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Though it looks like we were on holiday, lots of work was acheived, with breakthroughs a plenty!<br />
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Merci beaucoup to our Villa Loti hostesses, Jade and Anne who so charmingly looked after all our needs.<br />
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<br />
Read blog posts by some of our participants:<br />
<br />
Rob Schneider<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.expat-journal.com/why-you-should-attend-an-expat-writers-workshop/">Why You Should Attend an Expat Writers Workshop </a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.sihanoukville-cambodiajournal.com/2015/03/22/a-holiday-in-siem-reap/">A Holiday In Siem Reap</a><br />
<br />
Diana Plater<br />
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<a href="http://www.dianaplater.blogspot.com.au/2015/03/the-sounds-ofsilence.html">Sounds of Silence</a><br />
<br />
Coming up next with <a href="http://www.writersjourney.com.au/">Writers Journey </a><br />
<a href="http://www.writersjourney.com.au/journeys/backstage-bali/"><br /></a>
<a href="http://www.writersjourney.com.au/journeys/backstage-bali/">Backstage Bali, July 11-18</a><br />
<a href="http://www.writersjourney.com.au/journeys/bookish-in-bhutan/">Creative In Bhutan, Aug 29-Sept 7</a><br />
<a href="http://www.writersjourney.com.au/journeys/bookish-in-bhutan/">Moroccan Caravan, Feb 20 - March</a></div>
fotolithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707211993990153467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373971527919412025.post-80737492027173690232015-04-02T06:32:00.001-07:002015-04-02T17:29:26.157-07:00The Third Irrawaddy Literary Festival <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The third Irrawaddy Literary Festival (March 28-30) in Mandalay, Burma, may have drawn smaller crowds than the first two, but as the saying goes, it was quality not quantity. If you were lucky enough to be there as I was, you would have been party to one of the most intimate festival experiences possible. Like the early days of the Ubud Writer's and Reader's Festival, it felt as if you had portalled into the heart of a warm and friendly literary family as you rubbed shoulders with Booker Prize Winner, Anne Enright, had a drink in the bar with best selling author, Louis de Bernieres and got to know some of Burma's top poets, short story writers, novelists and journalists.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rupert Arrowsmith adresses the crowd at the opening ceremony.</td></tr>
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Sadly festival patron Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, on doctor's orders, wasn’t able to join this year, but her well wishes and presence were keenly felt. Despite her absence, in the setting of the Mandalay Hills Resort at the foot of the famous Kuthodaw Pagoda, there was an air of relaxation and friendship, as the crowd moved between simultaneous sessions running throughout the day. With around 100 Burmese writers present including both Yangon and Mandalay groups (Mandalay writers boycotted the festival last year), and a line up of 30 or so western writers, it wasn’t possible to catch everyone though we did our best.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Traditional dance at the opening ceremony.</td></tr>
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Here are some highlights...<br />
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Rupert Arrowsmith's talk on The Face of The Buddha gave a big ‘aha’ moment as he described the work of William Empson in uncovering asymmetry in Buddhist iconography. Poet Joseph Wood’s presentation on fellow Irishman Maurice Collis and his writings about Burma in the 20s and 30s and Barnaby Phillips talk on his book, Another Man’s War were similarly fascinating. An hour with Burmese women writers, Phyu Mon, Lae Win Kyi Cho, Hnin Wai Nyein on the Sound Of A Poem, was insightful and emotionally powerful, particularly the poem read by Kyi Mwe Eain dedicated to the young people injured and imprisoned in the most recent student demonstrations at Letpadan.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN3-eZpL8cNjPHxgMFyjlsNcxKH-QDJfjvbQv58lzCtEaVq6DHXToTSZxk3snvQ3wRs0Z-0F3UgqfgS3mSUHHIdPyIUINSpgPjAiIuwUaapECU1GXyotF5xDPPOu9Uh46yy8EvLlGlDmo/s1600/10989241_10152712464946434_6782932785505202337_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN3-eZpL8cNjPHxgMFyjlsNcxKH-QDJfjvbQv58lzCtEaVq6DHXToTSZxk3snvQ3wRs0Z-0F3UgqfgS3mSUHHIdPyIUINSpgPjAiIuwUaapECU1GXyotF5xDPPOu9Uh46yy8EvLlGlDmo/s1600/10989241_10152712464946434_6782932785505202337_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Burmese women writers discuss The Sound of A Poem.</td></tr>
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An enthusiastic band of young student volunteers were manning all sessions and providing translations via ear piece, Burmese to English, English to Burmese. Burmese writers were discussing such topics as Worlding Burmese Literature, Narcotics in Literature, Myanmar Literature and Media Freedom. In the session before mine, Kyaw Saw Min (journalist and vet) was giving a talk on the Poems of Min Thuon. His audience, a group of Burmese women writers promised to hurry back from lunch to hear me perform my <a href="http://archipela-gogo.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/about-archipelagogo.html">Love Songs to Indonesia</a>. What kind of translation they heard in their ear pieces, I will never know, but when I tried out a <a href="http://ramenwriting.blogspot.com.au/2013/08/hand-holding-in-rangoon-rd.html">love poem</a> written during my last visit to Yangon they seemed to approve. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbdMxr4W94u5GyScQJSiqPOdRhyphenhyphenQG5OleAOqVURZhPWr2wsPp5Zro-iyS1jxp48R-xJ418G-6e-duzztlKDbtCY0TzwpJEhyqyIHVOCiD9ggh_OciWiD4JSDQ_TWaTktwYoBU-BV13uow/s1600/20906_10152719113636434_3604950052457030323_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbdMxr4W94u5GyScQJSiqPOdRhyphenhyphenQG5OleAOqVURZhPWr2wsPp5Zro-iyS1jxp48R-xJ418G-6e-duzztlKDbtCY0TzwpJEhyqyIHVOCiD9ggh_OciWiD4JSDQ_TWaTktwYoBU-BV13uow/s1600/20906_10152719113636434_3604950052457030323_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of the fabulous volunteers.</td></tr>
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In the non-Burmese corner, a good number of countries were represented: Ratna Vira ( India) spoke with Anne Enright (Ireland) about her best selling debut novel,<i> Daughter By Court Order</i>. Siddarth Dasgupta (India) discussed his novel <i>Letters from an Indian Summer</i> alongside Sweden’s Helena Thorfinn (Sisters by the River) and UK’s Rosalind Russell (<i>Burma’s Spring</i>). At the writer’s dinner on the lawns of the Jefferson Centre Library, I had the pleasure of meeting Japanese historian Natsuo Miyashita who went to University in the UK with Daw Suu and has remained close friends ever since, and Bathandwa Mcuba, a cultural activist from South Africa whose book, <i>Creative Culture</i>, presents a positive take on the tribal and cultural groups of her country. I also met non fiction writer Carolyn Kraus from the USA, (nursing a broken arm from a fall on the streetd of Yangon) who was to give a talk on the role of documents in personal stories. A contingent from Melbourne University led by Jacqueline Dutton included journalist and author Margaret Simon, Burmese born Australian author Michelle Aung Thint, researcher Ruth Constantine, as well as small a volunteer support team.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8JiuRbicEhRGSQmMy4lShjQSBGXTjuN87NuV1Ue8g5mftnsrVUbPx7tvxJnNgeBQNwgO4rpT-Z2tjTKs1xmd1yd7ljnzP_tAg9DTnQuJoa0CxN_SHwcG26A0ckiC-x3qENhTYiIp_0oU/s1600/11098237_10152716287441434_277523667992995043_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8JiuRbicEhRGSQmMy4lShjQSBGXTjuN87NuV1Ue8g5mftnsrVUbPx7tvxJnNgeBQNwgO4rpT-Z2tjTKs1xmd1yd7ljnzP_tAg9DTnQuJoa0CxN_SHwcG26A0ckiC-x3qENhTYiIp_0oU/s1600/11098237_10152716287441434_277523667992995043_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Australian writers discuss writing difficult stories.</td></tr>
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Jacqueline Dutton was busy skillfully moderating a number of sessions including a spontaneous line up called One For The Road, Books You Take Travelling, with Colin Falconer, Rupert Arrowsmith and myself, and a most thought provoking panel on Borders and Crossings with Michelle Aung Thint and Ruth Constantine.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZMgUTv2HK8Qb0Xe6G_MSMqWUpXITZJPmlY2tLEihbUAdtl5klf2BMt0Qrwvkkydq_pGHxOJIcilpQSVK6Z7ZCoP65ACl0byqZyJS7HUW5EH7FfFY8n3jtBz9HDMARHD0Sno-SFT9cKXg/s1600/10325682_10152716285361434_2571112795416922047_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZMgUTv2HK8Qb0Xe6G_MSMqWUpXITZJPmlY2tLEihbUAdtl5klf2BMt0Qrwvkkydq_pGHxOJIcilpQSVK6Z7ZCoP65ACl0byqZyJS7HUW5EH7FfFY8n3jtBz9HDMARHD0Sno-SFT9cKXg/s1600/10325682_10152716285361434_2571112795416922047_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One For The Road, books you take travelling.</td></tr>
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On the last morning <a href="http://www.poemhunter.com/nyein-way/">poet Nyein Way</a> and I gave our talk on collaboration, The Poetics of Possibility. Again it was a mostly Burmese audience who listened intently as we tossed our ideas back and forth. I first met Nyein Way, a respected experimental poet, critic and performance artist, when I brought a group of writers to Yangon for the inaugural <a href="http://writingontuktuks.blogspot.com.au/2013_02_01_archive.html">Irrawaddy Literary Festival in 2013</a>. That year in a spontaneous collaboration, I sang one of his poems, Smile of A Leaf, at the lakeside Festival's Poet's Corner. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggIAkgR3wgNSZDPdUhdPGZe9M7m77mmt4TCSjydyti9Hqh0F9P52sCOwsoxST0s49e1xNexN5nZVL1ccEy7WKuiUDxq7Ru5uZaT8WtSAlB8j7kXNP1yIjcXvzIzulYxmlj4rMI5C-evR8/s1600/11012081_10152719112886434_7542992952874763009_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggIAkgR3wgNSZDPdUhdPGZe9M7m77mmt4TCSjydyti9Hqh0F9P52sCOwsoxST0s49e1xNexN5nZVL1ccEy7WKuiUDxq7Ru5uZaT8WtSAlB8j7kXNP1yIjcXvzIzulYxmlj4rMI5C-evR8/s1600/11012081_10152719112886434_7542992952874763009_n.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Myself and poet Nyein Way after our session.</td></tr>
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I am so glad I got to the session on <a href="http://www.riverbooksbk.com/burma/yangon-echoes-detail.html">Yangon Echoes</a>, a new book of photos and stories of heritage houses just released by Tim Webster and New Zealander Virginia Henderson. I broke my no big book buying while travelling rule to get the first signed copy!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6zJ-AjxeHjzKiz8Z26mz148SdawoNTnXsGLBzwIBsqfPaSGKGNJvdAFWdFpmsE6p-t-0tygzfMsvzYv6CknbhlX-_iY3hwIYi7XgtVO7k67hyV_XJ59pMO_ZkIqlv1ZcKWvBWI3uXrbk/s1600/1907475_10152716285476434_5203111324682892339_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6zJ-AjxeHjzKiz8Z26mz148SdawoNTnXsGLBzwIBsqfPaSGKGNJvdAFWdFpmsE6p-t-0tygzfMsvzYv6CknbhlX-_iY3hwIYi7XgtVO7k67hyV_XJ59pMO_ZkIqlv1ZcKWvBWI3uXrbk/s1600/1907475_10152716285476434_5203111324682892339_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yangon Echoes, heritage stories, you must get a copy!</td></tr>
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I only managed to catch the tail end of both Louis de Berniere’s sessions, but I did enjoy a couple of chatty meals with him where he admitted to liking writing poetry more than writing novels. It’s these relaxed and informal chats with other writers, like the ones I had with Rupert Arrowsmith, Joe Woods, Bathandwa Mcuba, Ros Russell, Ratna Vira, Siddarth Dasgupta, Nyein Way, Kyi Min, Phyu Mon and Shwegu May Hnin, that make a festival like this so meaningful and enjoyable.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCLgdGGVkOecHqBtynqnWQ3lKBILGt8LPWIusaEQIZjcoCvHgVQpu75fHmILWxQ1M25bnY0NHpmO29D71BTuFGST7758GQ75KLt-p-s-LceN2wGjKvQMb_Ls4-kiTTAjPNNqeS9u643uQ/s1600/11083861_10152719113481434_2425650198500864289_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCLgdGGVkOecHqBtynqnWQ3lKBILGt8LPWIusaEQIZjcoCvHgVQpu75fHmILWxQ1M25bnY0NHpmO29D71BTuFGST7758GQ75KLt-p-s-LceN2wGjKvQMb_Ls4-kiTTAjPNNqeS9u643uQ/s1600/11083861_10152719113481434_2425650198500864289_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Breakfast with Louis de B, Rupert, Bathandwa. (Louis jotting an idea down).</td></tr>
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While it was clear that the organising committee were low on resources this year, Jane Heyn (festival director), right hand man Andrew Heyn (former British Ambassador to Burma) and committee member Giles Fitzherbert remain positive about the future. With an election looming later in the year who knows what will happen, but there is a sense in Burma that there is no going back.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcWc-zl16FPyLqVP6FvX0sNxLGUsINlSCkFCnx43ksHznmIoDIvwCTjLpeFVCbAc0m8QuEsMklEHTMJ0i_xEo6-Zngf4Gf5ttX7kIW0IzZCEz21vev1dXF63kJZWVxV7IQZfON-0qdV58/s1600/11075197_10152712460006434_3757130725247002088_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcWc-zl16FPyLqVP6FvX0sNxLGUsINlSCkFCnx43ksHznmIoDIvwCTjLpeFVCbAc0m8QuEsMklEHTMJ0i_xEo6-Zngf4Gf5ttX7kIW0IzZCEz21vev1dXF63kJZWVxV7IQZfON-0qdV58/s1600/11075197_10152712460006434_3757130725247002088_n.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The fabulous Shwegu May Hnin, author of over 60 works.</td></tr>
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The joint festival crown must go to seventy-six year old short story writer, translator and elected-but-not-permitted-to-sit MP, Shwegu May Hnin. Imprisoned for three years and banned from publicly speaking or writing for twenty, she retains a lively spirit of resilience and wicked sense of humour. I remember her joking at the first festival that since censorhip was lifted her writing felt bland and under censorship she was much more creative. <br />
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And to Anne Enright, whose insights into the art of living and writing provide an example of the kind of writer we can all aspire to be. Her readings from The Gathering and her new novel The Green Road reminded us that as an author she is in a league of her own.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDdwodH1wORmVTXtrPezby4xPtuLMofAo4M-spoEff_s1bIst8ignvUd0-avVx-j4VLBHegUbKVEfJ0-4ekKaDJYijNYhyyd9D4GKn8JiTMR3df_9iD7Yz2kkjv1FutMSq-yvgV3AnwSI/s1600/18919_10152719113846434_416488102186212221_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDdwodH1wORmVTXtrPezby4xPtuLMofAo4M-spoEff_s1bIst8ignvUd0-avVx-j4VLBHegUbKVEfJ0-4ekKaDJYijNYhyyd9D4GKn8JiTMR3df_9iD7Yz2kkjv1FutMSq-yvgV3AnwSI/s1600/18919_10152719113846434_416488102186212221_n.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anne Enright in her session with Louis de Bernieres, moderated by Colin Falconer.</td></tr>
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<a href="http://www.writersjourney.com.au/about/"><br /></a>
<a href="http://www.writersjourney.com.au/about/">Jan Cornall </a>is an Australian writer and performer based in Sydney who travels often in the Asia Pacific region to take part in festivals and to lead <a href="http://www.writersjourney.com.au/">Writer’s Journey Workshops and Retreats.</a><br />
Jan’s participation in the Irrawaddy Literary Festival was sponsored by Writer’s Journey.<br />
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For another take on the festival by Margaret Simon go to <a href="https://www.blogger.com/The%20third%20Irrawaddy%20Literary%20Festival%20(March%2028-30)%20in%20Mandalay,%20Burma,%20may%20have%20drawn%20smaller%20crowds%20than%20the%20first%20two,%20but%20as%20the%20saying%20goes,%20it%20was%20quality%20not%20quantity.%20If%20you%20were%20lucky%20enough%20to%20be%20there%20as%20I%20was,%C2%A0you%20would%20have%20been%20party%20to%20one%20of%20the%20most%20intimate%20festival%20experiences%20possible.%20Like%20the%20early%20days%20of%20the%20Ubud%20Writer%27s%20and%20Reader%27s%20Festival,%20it%20felt%20as%20if%20you%20had%20portalled%20into%20the%20heart%20of%20a%20warm%20and%20friendly%20literary%20family%20as%20you%20rubbed%20shoulders%20with%20Booker%20Prize%20Winner,%20Anne%20Enright,%20had%20a%20drink%20in%20the%20bar%20with%20best%20selling%20author,%20Louis%20de%20Bernieres%20and%20got%20to%20know%20some%20of%20Burma%27s%20top%20poets,%20short%20story%20writers,%20novelists%20and%20journalists.%20%20Sadly%20festival%20patron%20Daw%20Aung%20San%20Suu%20Kyi,%C2%A0%20due%20to%20doctor%27s%20orders,%20wasn%E2%80%99t%20able%20to%20join%20this%20year,%20but%20her%20well%20wishes%20and%20presence%20were%20keenly%20felt.%20Despite%20her%20absence,%20in%20the%20setting%20of%20the%20Mandalay%20Hills%20Resort%20at%20the%20foot%20of%20the%20famous%20Kuthodaw%20Pagoda,%20there%20was%20an%20air%20of%20relaxation%20and%20friendship,%20as%20the%20crowd%20moved%20between%20simultaneous%20sessions%20running%20throughout%20the%20day.%20With%20around%20100%20Burmese%20writers%20present%20including%20both%20Yangon%20and%20Mandalay%20groups%20(Mandalay%20writers%20boycotted%20the%20festival%20last%20year),%20and%20a%20line%20up%20of%2030%20or%20so%20western%20writers,%20it%20wasn%E2%80%99t%20possible%20to%20catch%20everyone%20though%20we%20did%20our%20best.%20%20%20Here%20are%20some%20highlights...%20Rupert%20Arrowsmith%27s%20talk%20on%20The%20Face%20of%20The%20Buddha%20gave%20a%20big%20%E2%80%98aha%E2%80%99%20moment%20as%20he%20described%20the%20work%20of%20William%20Empson%20in%20uncovering%20asymmetry%20in%20Buddhist%20iconography.%20Poet%20Joseph%20Wood%E2%80%99s%20presentation%20on%20fellow%20Irishman%20Maurice%20Collis%20and%20his%20writings%20about%20Burma%20in%20the%2020s%20and%2030s%20%20and%20Barnaby%20Phillips%20talk%20on%20his%20book,%20Another%20Man%E2%80%99s%20War%20were%20similarly%20fascinating.%20An%20hour%20with%20Burmese%20women%C2%A0writers,%20Phyu%20Mon%20Lae%20Win%20Kyi%20Cho,%20Hnin%20Wai%20Nyein%20on%20the%20Sound%20Of%20A%20Poem,%20%20was%20insightful%20and%20emotionally%20powerful,%20particularly%20the%20poem%20read%20by%20Kyi%20Mwe%20Eain%20dedicated%20to%20the%20young%20people%20injured%20and%20imprisoned%20in%20the%20most%20recent%20student%20demonstrations%20at%20Letpadan.%20%20An%20enthusiastic%20band%20of%20young%20student%20volunteers%20were%20manning%20all%20sessions%20and%20providing%20translations%20via%20ear%20piece,%20Burmese%20to%20English,%20English%20to%20Burmese.%20Burmese%20writers%20were%20discussing%20such%20topics%20as%20Worlding%20Burmese%20Literature,%20Narcotics%20in%20Literature,%20Myanmar%20Literature%20and%20Media%20Freedom.%20In%20the%20session%20before%20mine,%20Kyaw%20Saw%20Min%20(journalist%20and%20vet)%20was%20giving%20a%20talk%20on%20the%20Poems%20of%20Min%20Thuon.%20His%20audience,%20a%20group%20of%20Burmese%20women%20writers%20promised%20to%20hurry%20back%20from%20lunch%20to%20hear%20me%20perform%20my%20Love%20Songs%20to%20Indonesia.%20What%20kind%20of%20translation%20they%20heard%20in%20their%20ear%20pieces,%20I%20will%20never%20know,%20but%20when%20I%20tried%20out%20a%20love%20poem%20written%20during%20my%20last%20visit%20to%20Yangon%20they%20seemed%20to%20approve.%20%20In%20the%20non%20Burmese%20corner,%20a%20good%20number%20of%20countries%20were%20represented:%20Ratna%20Vira%20(%20India)%20spoke%20with%20Anne%20Enright%20(Ireland)%20about%20her%20best%20selling%20debut%20novel,%20Daughter%20By%20Court%20Order.%20Siddarth%20Dasgupta%20(India)%20discussed%20his%20novel%20Letters%20from%20an%20Indian%20Summer%20alongside%20Sweden%E2%80%99s%20Helena%20Thorfinn%20(Sisters%20by%20the%20River)%20and%20UK%E2%80%99s%20Rosalind%20Russell%20(Burma%E2%80%99s%20Spring).%20At%20the%20writer%E2%80%99s%20dinner%20on%20the%20lawns%20of%20the%20Jefferson%20Centre%20Library,%20I%20had%20the%20pleasure%20of%20meeting%20Japanese%20historian%20Natsuo%20Miyashita%20who%20went%20to%20University%20in%20the%20UK%20with%20Daw%20Suu%20and%20has%20remained%20close%20friends%20ever%20since,%20and%20Bathandwa%20Mcuba,%20a%20cultural%20activist%20from%20South%20Africa%20whose%20book,%20Creative%20Culture,%20presents%20a%20positive%20take%20on%20the%20tribal%20and%20cultural%20groups%20of%20her%20country.%20A%20contingent%20from%20Melbourne%20University%20led%20by%20Jacqueline%20Dutton%20included%20journalist%20and%20author%20Margaret%20Simon,%20Burmese%20born%20Australian%20author%20Michelle%20Aung%20Thint,%20researcher%20Ruth%20Constantine,%20as%20well%20as%20small%20a%20volunteer%20support%20team.%20%20Jacqueline%20Dutton%20was%20busy%20skillfully%20moderating%20a%20number%20of%20sessions%20including%20a%20spontaneous%20line%20up%20called%20One%20For%20The%20Road,%20Books%20You%20Take%20Travelling,%20with%20Colin%20Falconer,%20Rupert%20Arrowsmith%20and%20myself,%20and%20a%20most%20thought%20provoking%20panel%20on%20Borders%20and%20Crossings%20with%20Michelle%20Aung%20Thint%20and%20Ruth%20Constantine.%20On%20the%20last%20morning%20Yangon%20poet%20Nyein%20Way%20and%20I%20gave%20our%20talk%20on%20collaboration%20called%20The%20Poetics%20of%20Possibility.%20Again%20it%20was%20a%20mostly%20Burmese%20audience%20who%20listened%20intently%20as%20we%20tossed%20our%20ideas%20back%20and%20forth.%20I%20first%20met%20Nyein%20Way,%20a%20respected%20experimental%20poet,%20critic%20and%20performance%20artist,%20when%20I%20brought%20a%20group%20of%20writers%20to%20Yangon%20for%20the%20inaugural%20Irrawaddy%20Literary%20Festival%20in%202013.%20In%20our%20first%20spontaneous%20collaboration%20I%20sang%20one%20of%20his%20poems,%20Smile%20of%20A%20Leaf,%20at%20the%20Poets%20Corner%20there.%20%20%20I%20only%20managed%20to%20catch%20the%20tail%20end%20of%20both%20Louis%20de%20Berniere%E2%80%99s%20sessions,%20but%20I%20did%20enjoy%20a%20couple%20of%20chatty%20meals%20with%20him%20where%20he%20admitted%20to%20liking%20writing%20poetry%20more%20than%20writing%20novels.%20It%E2%80%99s%20these%20relaxed%20and%20informal%20chats%20with%20other%20writers,%20like%20the%20ones%20I%20had%20with%20Rupert%20Arrowsmith,%20Joe%20Woods,%20Bathandwa%20Mcuba,%20Ros%20Russell,%20Ratna%20Vira,%20Siddarth%20Dasgupta,%20Nyein%20Way,%20Kyi%20Min,%20Phyu%20Mon%20and%20Shwegu%20May%20Hnin,%20that%20make%20a%20festival%20like%20this%20so%20meaningful%20and%20enjoyable.%20While%20it%20was%20clear%20that%20the%20organising%20committee%20were%20low%20on%20resources%20more%20than%20ever%20this%20year,%20Jane%20Heyn%20(festival%20director),%20right%20hand%20man%20Andrew%20Heyn%20(former%20British%20Ambassador%20to%20Burma)%20and%20committee%20member%20Giles%20Fitzherbert%20remain%20positive%20about%20the%20future.%20%20With%20an%20election%20looming%20later%20in%20the%20year%20who%20knows%20what%20will%20happen,%20but%20there%20is%20a%20sense%20in%20Burma%20that%20there%20is%20no%20going%20back.%20The%20joint%20festival%20crown%20of%20the%20must%20go%20to%20seventy-six%20year%20old%20short%20story%20writer,%20translator%20and%20elected-but-not-permitted-to-sit%20MP,%20Shwegu%20May%20Hnin.%20Imprisoned%20for%20three%20years%20and%20banned%20from%20publicly%20speaking%20or%20writing%20for%20twenty,%20she%20retains%20a%20lively%20spirit%20of%20resilience%20and%20wicked%20sense%20of%20humour.%20I%20remember%20her%20joking%20at%20the%20first%20festival%20that%20lately%20her%20writing%20had%20dried%20up%20and%20that%20under%20censorship%20she%20felt%20much%20more%20creative.%20%20And%20to%20Anne%20Enright,%20whose%20insights%20into%20the%20art%20of%20living%20and%20writing%20provide%20an%20example%20of%20the%20kind%20of%20writer%20we%20can%20aspire%20to%20be.%20Her%20readings%20from%20The%20Gathering%20and%20her%20new%20novel%20The%20Green%20Road%20reminded%20us%20that%20as%20an%20author%20she%20is%20in%20a%20league%20of%20her%20own.%20%20%20%20Jan%20Cornall%20is%20an%20Australian%20writer%20and%20performer%20based%20in%20Sydney%20who%20travels%20often%20in%20the%20Asia%20Pacific%20region%20to%20take%20part%20in%20festivals%20and%20to%20lead%20Writer%E2%80%99s%20Journey%20Workshops%20and%20Retreats.%20Jan%E2%80%99s%20participation%20in%20the%20Irrawaddy%20Literary%20Festival%20was%20sponsored%20by%20Writer%E2%80%99s%20Journey.%20%20For%20another%20take%20on%20the%20festival%20%20http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/02/water-shortages-factions-and-free-speech-at-burmas-irrawaddy-literary-festival">The Guardian</a><br />
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Read Jan's article on the first Irrawaddy Literary Festival <a href="http://writingontuktuks.blogspot.com.au/2013_02_01_archive.html">here. </a><br />
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Find out more about <a href="http://www.irrawaddylitfest.com/">Irrawaddy Literary Festival</a> (due to time constraints and lack of manpower leading up to the festival not all writers who attended are listed).<br />
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fotolithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707211993990153467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373971527919412025.post-34145998633609082062015-02-03T14:11:00.002-08:002015-03-04T17:56:45.335-08:00The Art of Storytelling in Siem Reap<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Calling Siem Reap writers and artists of all modalities! Join a series of creativity workshops with creative writing tutor Jan Cornall at 1961 Co working and Artspace, March 10 -15, 5-7pm. Develop a new work or get valuable feedback on a current project.Recharge your creativity, re-energise your creative practice and set goals for project completion. Free or by affordable donation. See in particular on March 12, 5-7 pm : The Visual Art Of Story Telling with guest tutor Illustrator and comic artist Louie Joyce. </blockquote>
Jan has been teaching writing and creativity in the Asia Pacific region for the last decade. She holds an MA in Cultural and Creative Practice (UWS) and leads writing and creativity retreats and workshops in Bali, Fiji, Laos, Burma, Vietnam, Morocco, Bhutan. Jan was last in Siem Reap running workshops in 2102. For bookings and more info contact Jan Cornall: jnana@ozemail.com.au<br />
www.writersjourney.com.au<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Louie's workshop </span>will take place from 5-7 pm at 1961 Co working and Artspace, 211 Osaphear St, Upper West Riverside, Siem Reap.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-XDsDiZGzkxS2m8ThHmQVI56xbiwgU0R7cyo-t-LkQc74Y_4ynP7TrfgWAlBNVsYnSxf8rDxCkXQ9BGk5olYlBTqx99OYehXYlUkcViMaBHZfbeZ-FYz8FcTpa8b5fRlXMVqe8vohwwY/s1600/10645219_847161871963078_8929447372069278868_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-XDsDiZGzkxS2m8ThHmQVI56xbiwgU0R7cyo-t-LkQc74Y_4ynP7TrfgWAlBNVsYnSxf8rDxCkXQ9BGk5olYlBTqx99OYehXYlUkcViMaBHZfbeZ-FYz8FcTpa8b5fRlXMVqe8vohwwY/s1600/10645219_847161871963078_8929447372069278868_n.jpg" height="302" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> Louie has been drawing since he was a kid, and at the age of fifteen taught himself Photoshop and joined the online artist community <a href="http://www.deviantart.com/">Deviant Art,</a> where he learned many other useful techniques. He went on to complete a Diploma of Animation at an arts college in Sydney, worked as a graphic designer for a few years, then finely honed his skills while studying Design and Illustration at the renowned <a href="http://sydneytafe.edu.au/future-students/design-centre-enmore/design-centre-enmore">Design School in Enmore</a>, Sydney. Since then he has worked on <a href="http://www.louiejoyce.com/">commissions,</a><a href="http://www.louiejoyce.com/"> comics</a>, indie publishing, <a href="http://vimeo.com/80347422">film</a> and in the <a href="http://drawingbook.com.au/?s=Louie+Joyce">corporate sector. </a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Louie's
work focuses strongly on narratives and experimenting with different
techniques of graphic storytelling. His short comic <i><a href="http://www.louiejoyce.com/cornerstore.html">The Corner Store</a></i> nominated for a 2014 <a href="http://ledgerawards.org/" target="_blank">Ledger Award </a>and won the Ace Comics & Games 2013 Best Short Australian Comic prize.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The workshop will include:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- a brief history of the evolution of comics.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- the relationship between characters and images and the use of storyboarding as a story telling device.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- how to think visually and compose images and narratives.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- the power of comic books/graphic novels and why they are such an effective storytelling medium.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- the collaborative nature of comic book creation, the relationship between writer and artist.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">- a look at what the future holds, new formats and new ways to tell stories.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4Ue_joMPCVqvR0tepafs74ooLhRqtV3E2zkBVnWSaviuSriFqkA3uJoc13FVwpfRtpVD2e9-ycnLFSleSnSbNS3AiDqQI_RWYhwaX33MsAfTGLrx9P4gRZhmoyd7hABASYT1sL4wQCUM/s1600/Australia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4Ue_joMPCVqvR0tepafs74ooLhRqtV3E2zkBVnWSaviuSriFqkA3uJoc13FVwpfRtpVD2e9-ycnLFSleSnSbNS3AiDqQI_RWYhwaX33MsAfTGLrx9P4gRZhmoyd7hABASYT1sL4wQCUM/s1600/Australia.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, serif;">Check out his work process videos <a href="http://vimeo.com/86554150">here</a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, serif;">Louie is available for illustration work, book covers and more. </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, serif;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, Times, serif; font-size: x-small;"><b> <a href="mailto:louiejoyce.art@gmail.com">louiejoyce.art@gmail.com</a></b></span> </span></span><br />
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fotolithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707211993990153467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373971527919412025.post-65769739312739580272015-01-21T23:50:00.001-08:002015-01-22T19:13:25.517-08:00 Writing in Cambodia, land of tuk tuks<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I once wrote an article for an online arts journal about the writer's retreats I run, and instead of using my title, <i>Holidays That Inspire</i>, the editor changed it to something like <i>How Rich Writers Travel</i>. Horrified, I asked her to change it back, which she did, not before remarking - but it got lots of hits!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwwVEKZQNAyaQfrbZE1cWXjfHTUTGR0d2xatUL7dFRgkS_S2p4JMschEmf2eTrS5bDIgaHYH2wghiSodTjZT051t8izh7sbk_w9cV9Ca7_s82n8WZDSOReQxy2pCJV8L-xDYQpH6bFIbo/s1600/IMG_2417.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwwVEKZQNAyaQfrbZE1cWXjfHTUTGR0d2xatUL7dFRgkS_S2p4JMschEmf2eTrS5bDIgaHYH2wghiSodTjZT051t8izh7sbk_w9cV9Ca7_s82n8WZDSOReQxy2pCJV8L-xDYQpH6bFIbo/s1600/IMG_2417.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Temple Writing in Burma 2013</td></tr>
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The inference that you had to be rich to join an international writers retreat; that it is somehow a luxury, even an indulgence to spend your time in such a pursuit, disturbed me. Nothing could be further than the truth. Some people who come do have what I call 'spare money' it's true, usually well earned super or savings, and most who come have more money than me. Although I do remember one person getting a Centrelink loan to come to Morocco which I thought was brilliant.<br />
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Part of the inference too is that - as only the rich can afford to travel, we would stay in luxury villas and view our surroundings from afar, taking what we need for our writing and leaving nothing in return. This idea is also abhorrent for as much as possible I always try find a way to not only meet local writers and artists but invite them to join our workshops and events.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkbfOXLeHOa-w1st1egaa0CFGzLomHkl9rdH_G6rTohjJs1iB0duna8zJAZUpo3M-FgxW1K9gquYar-NHFK3F8msAEk1QeO7bTkVnE-RHwzWHG5DNTETz0wVl4Y8dUnTYYqkMidODF7-E/s1600/IMG_9379.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkbfOXLeHOa-w1st1egaa0CFGzLomHkl9rdH_G6rTohjJs1iB0duna8zJAZUpo3M-FgxW1K9gquYar-NHFK3F8msAEk1QeO7bTkVnE-RHwzWHG5DNTETz0wVl4Y8dUnTYYqkMidODF7-E/s1600/IMG_9379.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bayon Temple</td></tr>
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In March this year Writer's Journey heads to Angkor Wat for seven days temple wandering, writing, jotting, sketching, painting, meditating, brainstorming, photographing, filming, while learning how to tell a good story.<br />
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Open to creative artists of all modalities: painters, poets,
photographers,filmsters, performers, writers, doodlers, journalers, we travel into the heart and spirit of our creativity as we explore
the ancient temples of Angkor Wat and its surrounds for the purpose
making a creative work — collection of poems, sketches, paintings, a
creative journal, a short story, notes for a novel, exhibition of
photos, short film to be presented at a showing/presentation on our final evening.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Filipino and Cambodian poets at Angkor Wat for Northern Kingdoms Festival</td></tr>
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Already the word has gone out to expats and Cambodian nationals that there are sponsored and semi sponsored positions available if they would like to join. Last time I ran workshops in Cambodia we had a great turn out in Sihanoukville, Battambang, Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. Money raised from the workshops was donated to the Ponheary Ly Foundation to buy bicycles for children living in villages around Angkor Wat, who can't afford to get to school.<br />
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On that visit I invited Ponheary (I think she is in her sixties now) to our Siem Reap workshop. She said she wasn't much of a writer but she had many stories to tell.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ponheary Ly, teacher, tour guide, social activist.</td></tr>
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During the Khmer Rouge genocide Ponheary's father, a teacher, was killed along with thirteen family members. Those remaining suffered extreme poverty, but knowing the value of education, when Khmer Rouge were deposed, Ponheary became a teacher. She began by supporting one student from her own earnings, then another and another. After she became a tour guide, tourists would donate to her cause until she met a woman from Austin, Texas, who was so moved by her work she set up a foundation to help. Together with the hard work of numerous volunteers they look after 2500 students. Knowing herself what it means to live only on leaves and sticks for months on end, Ponheary says she can tell just from one look, what level of poverty children are suffering: extreme, moderate, low level.<br />
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I'm hoping Ponheary will be our guide on our first day in the temples of Angkor Wat and that some of her staff will attend our workshops as they did before. There is no better way to get to know a country than through the stories of its people. You can read all the tourist books, brochures and blogs about a place, but meet one person and hear their story and your life is changed forever.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Workshop with local writers at Mata Air Festival, Salatiga.</td></tr>
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The reverse is also true: we share the stories we are working on, our hosts also get to know us; our strengths, our weaknesses, our vulnerabilities. In this exchange we have chance to reflect not only on our commonalites and our differences but what kind of future we can write together. <br />
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I wonder if this was the richness that editor had in mind. <br />
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<a href="http://www.writersjourney.com.au/community/">Read more about the artists, writers and communities Writer's Journey supports.</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.writersjourney.com.au/journeys/temple-writing-angkor-wat/">Book now for Temple Dreaming in Angkor Wat, March 9 - 16.</a><br />
<a href="http://www.writersjourney.com.au/journeys/temple-writing-angkor-wat/"><br /></a>
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fotolithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707211993990153467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373971527919412025.post-42272821031029792742015-01-02T23:05:00.001-08:002015-01-04T20:06:25.449-08:00A Moroccan seaside residency<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
At the end of our <a href="http://writingontuktuks.blogspot.com.au/2014/12/writing-on-camels.html">Moroccan Caravan </a>adventure, I headed to Essaouira, a coastal town three hours west of Marrakech for my own weeklong writers retreat. This charming fort town is heritage listed by Unesco and you can easily see why.<br />
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From its fortified battlements, its old medina buildings and romantic
fishing port, the lick of salt is all over as the sound of the Altantic
Ocean follows you wherever you go. It is a windy town in summer I'm
told, a factor that brings many visitors here to escape the
inland heat. It was autumn when I visited with sunny days struggling to
break through the uncharacteristic rain clouds, perfect for writing.<br />
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My writer's garrett was a rooftop airbnb room close to the daily market and not far from the port and Scala, the old Portugese fort. My Swedish host Martin was most hospitable and he and his friend Youssef showed me around on my first day and provided plenty of entertainment and diversion at the end of my writing day.<br />
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To the south of the town is village called Diabat where Jimi Hendrix once visited in 1969. You can walk there along the beach only you have to find a way to cross the river.<br />
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There's an old ruined castle which is said to have given Jimi inspiration for the song Castles Made of Sand, (except for the fact he wrote it two years earlier).<br />
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The chorus line goes "And so castles made of sand, fall in the sea, eventually." Seems it was rather prophetic as Jimi himself may have noticed when he walked the beach near the old Portugese battlement which is typically surrounded by waves at high tide.<br />
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If you get thirsty after your walk, Diabat village boasts five Jimi Hendrix cafes which seemed pretty much deserted but must get a good run when the local <a href="http://www.festival-gnaoua.net/en/">Gnawa Music Festival</a> is on.<br />
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After a few days of solid writing when Sunday came around I decided to take the day off and head to the second hand souk. I had a wonderful time fossicking around rows and rows of Steptoe and Son shacks manned by old men who looked like they slept on fabulous old carpets and armchairs they were selling for a song. <br />
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I've decided fossicking is good for writing.. ferreting around in junk and seeing what turns up is a lot like what we do each day at our desks. Picking things up, turning them over this way and that, rummaging through a pile of stuff that looks like garbage but yields a fabulous find at the bottom of the pile. So familiar! Taking yourself away from your desk for a bit and physically rummaging is a lot like the ruminating benefits of cleaning. Scrubbing the floors or the bath, having a big clean out in your office or garage is all good for ordering the mind. A lot of writers fear they may be procrastinating (and they may well be if they keep it up day after day) but I find after such a break, I bounce back to my desk with renewed energy as if I had been at the same time putting the broom through my writing.<br />
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Later in the day, sticking to my day off rule, I was randomly googling and came across a residency in Turkey, which is next on my list of countries to visit. I filled out an online application for<a href="http://www.maumauworks.com/"> mau mau</a> residency program and within a few days had my acceptance letter. You see what a day of fossicking can turn up. Oh, and I finished my draft of <a href="http://mymotherduras.blogspot.com.au/2013/08/who-is-md.html">My Mother Duras</a>. Now for the rewrites!<br />
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Before Turkey I plan to be back in Essaouira for our <a href="http://www.writersjourney.com.au/journeys/sacred-song-sacred-story-morocco/">Sacred Song Sacred Story</a> retreat in May. I hope you can join us!<br />
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Check out this year's creative adventures: Angkor Wat, Bali, Bhutan at <a href="http://www.writersjourney.com.au/">www.writersjourney.com.au</a> <br />
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fotolithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707211993990153467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373971527919412025.post-68549575181063973422014-12-07T18:19:00.002-08:002015-01-04T20:08:12.533-08:00Writing on Camels<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
In November 2014, six writers headed out into the Saharan desert near the great Erg Chebbi sand dune. Our home for 8 days and nights was<a href="http://www.cafetissardmine.com/"> Cafe Tissardmine</a>, an artist's retreat and guest house nearby. The desert became our inspiration as we wrote the days away, not even stopping as we rode our camels...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Laurie Trott, playwright, poet, journalist.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ilka Schroeder, yoga teacher, rapper, travel memoirist</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Leone Carroll, novelist and desert fashionista</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lorraine McLoughlin, biographer.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ailsa Thoms, short story writer, poet.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Leone captures desert moments</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaCKU8m2H_yHpzB36h1PgJYH0RTxUDVod2lG4TLByMQhoFars3VuhtZU6P5XaI3Byy_0V8iHWfTitrt2347EKEN5_-sS9IMR7iAwjZ-r_bRv0HzGRsVd4XJmA6FR_mwmpkNkXltbDXoug/s1600/IMG_9902.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaCKU8m2H_yHpzB36h1PgJYH0RTxUDVod2lG4TLByMQhoFars3VuhtZU6P5XaI3Byy_0V8iHWfTitrt2347EKEN5_-sS9IMR7iAwjZ-r_bRv0HzGRsVd4XJmA6FR_mwmpkNkXltbDXoug/s1600/IMG_9902.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look ma, no hands!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Writing on camels, why not!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I could write like this all day!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjX65b1xA0nFf-_c_YoHVquXQOPDDygmv6fiZqdsJVpFZVBbbuuSlmv2XBUShT-h-25ks3DpU4HNZeauFLL8wvlv10oV3jE_wtgr7mEUyO2najgBNzatFLbGWVTkyEDUWajPILQsLOCYA/s1600/IMG_9935.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjX65b1xA0nFf-_c_YoHVquXQOPDDygmv6fiZqdsJVpFZVBbbuuSlmv2XBUShT-h-25ks3DpU4HNZeauFLL8wvlv10oV3jE_wtgr7mEUyO2najgBNzatFLbGWVTkyEDUWajPILQsLOCYA/s1600/IMG_9935.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just another day in the saddle!</td></tr>
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See more pics of the rest of our Moroccan Caravan adventure <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/writersjourney/sets/72157649589221705/">here</a><br />
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www.writersjourney.com.au<br />
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fotolithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707211993990153467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373971527919412025.post-53855544447417820422014-08-07T14:37:00.003-07:002014-08-07T14:54:12.907-07:00Sieze the Moment - a workshop in Massachussetts<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The setting: West Massachussetts, not far from the famous Mohawk Trail, an old trade route used by the American Indian tribes before they were forcibly removed from their country. Our workshop took place in the Mohawk School library during the 30 year celebrations of Tsegyalgar, a community of practitioners following the Tibetan Dzogchen teachings of Chogyal Namkhai Norbu.<br />
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Fourteen writers took the challenge to practice bringing present awareness into their writing. <br />
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The school's corridors provided inspiration for our observation excercise.<br />
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Back to the library to write.<br />
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Who said facing a wall is boring!<br />
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Writing doesn't have to be a lonely business, especially if you have writing friends!<br />
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Colour, space, sound, light, is all there for te taking, anytime you choose to sit down and write.</div>
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Reading, listening, noticing what you like most, always a great way to improve your writing. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpeL9-pH6_uGZRY_WK-7NJ6qqMa6SEWxu30lp4wHaBgauXg7Q_AgdjrI-SUbpmoIOjpFE72XtX4mINuUhdMBr3KlVRoJxu7bEun-Nv8vGEY6IPgZ-zed9QY5rVgr3YSl6Xn2SiSxqugro/s1600/MA+the+ole+guys.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpeL9-pH6_uGZRY_WK-7NJ6qqMa6SEWxu30lp4wHaBgauXg7Q_AgdjrI-SUbpmoIOjpFE72XtX4mINuUhdMBr3KlVRoJxu7bEun-Nv8vGEY6IPgZ-zed9QY5rVgr3YSl6Xn2SiSxqugro/s1600/MA+the+ole+guys.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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A taste of some of the writing from the workshop.</div>
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<span style="color: white;"><i><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">A perfect space to write. The vastness of the open sky and
nature below, reaching out, beyond what I can see, and feel is present… the
smells of space, with a hint of the perfect eclectic mix of cinnamon and a hint
of perfectly fresh strawberries, vibrant, emanating love and comfort. The
endless space in which words manifest and land perfectly in the way they need
to on the page. Meaningfulness, it is what it is. The smell of cinnamon
prevails. It welcomes, comforts, nurtures. The top of the mountaintops seen,
contained, by this limitless blue sky. Green pastures below. In the green and
blue, anything is possible. Anything, at all. The light, everywhere, shines,
with no darkness in sight. All is illuminated, detailed, accessible, tangible,
within reach…</span></span></i></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
Matt Hyatt</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<i><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">Barney needs a bath. Emily smells like spice the color of her fur.
Pancita smells fur-luscious and I could inhale her scent on and on.<br />
Barney hates baths but he loves me, so we have the shampoo and the less
than 5 minutes of (perhaps pretend?) terror at the sight of the water
hose. When we're done and he's wet, shiny and smelling like lavender,
he rolls endlessly in the sand to undo the awful wash-up.<br />
Emily peeks around the corner wondering if she's next. <br />
Not today, Em.<br />
And Panchita - you taught me long ago to never, EVER wash a cat.<br />
Salt air, warm sun. <br />
Smells like love to me.</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">Diane Campbell</span><br />
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fotolithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707211993990153467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373971527919412025.post-4279055376570767372014-03-23T22:00:00.000-07:002015-01-04T22:00:14.190-08:00Indochine Journey <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This Aug 16-30 we head off on a 15 day writing adventure in Vietnam.<br />
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<a href="http://www.writersjourney.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/images-31.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-2320" src="http://www.writersjourney.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/images-31.jpg" height="251" title="images-3" width="201" /></a></div>
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Drawing
on the inspiration of the French author Marguerite Duras, we explore
Vietnamese culture, landscape and our own writing, through the
Durassian gaze.<span style="color: #993300;"><b> </b></span><span style="color: orange;"><b><a href="http://mymotherduras.blogspot.com.au/2013/08/who-is-md.html">Read Jan’s blog about MD here</a></b>.</span><br />
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<b>Our Vietnam Journey.</b><br />
Our cultural guides, author Biff Ward and tour guide, Tran Dinh Song, have been leading Vietnam tours for many years.<br />
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We begin our journey exploring Hanoi ( Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, the
Old Quarter and Hoan Kiem Lake) before heading out to the verdant rice
paddy district of<b> <a href="https://www.google.com.au/search?q=mai+chau&client=firefox-a&hs=PDj&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&channel=fflb&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=U7ohUrXfBoTGkwXSgYHADg&ved=0CEsQsAQ&biw=902&bih=524">Mai Chau</a></b>
for our first writing intensive, including an introduction to the
writing of Marguerite Duras.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5QSn2MvawZxdL1zcuvdZZPqkOZOjW6H56DY_Rlnb_sAsyIpLnW6bCHW7WR9ihGahMXRoPEIW9-UsgxbmhMrhJLXBstYk0NWFf6xcpOohyphenhyphen2YHXagrPtVZ6k-ppvycnFeehxYpx0UyO8wo/s1600/images-1-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5QSn2MvawZxdL1zcuvdZZPqkOZOjW6H56DY_Rlnb_sAsyIpLnW6bCHW7WR9ihGahMXRoPEIW9-UsgxbmhMrhJLXBstYk0NWFf6xcpOohyphenhyphen2YHXagrPtVZ6k-ppvycnFeehxYpx0UyO8wo/s1600/images-1-1.jpg" /></a></div>
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Returning to Hanoi we go looking for the
house Marguerite lived in when she was four and pay our respects at the
Temple Of Literature. Heading south we arrive in the heritage listed
town of <span style="color: orange;"><b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoi_An">Hoi An</a></b>,</span> where we settle in for another writing stint with afternoons free for exploring this charming historical town.<br />
<span style="color: orange;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: orange;"> </span><b><span style="color: #993300;"><a href="http://asian-images.photoshelter.com/gallery/Saigon-Images/G0000H_U0PGfVbCo"><span style="color: #993300;"><span style="color: orange;">Ho Chi Minh City</span> </span></a></span></b>is our next stop where we discover the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_uCI9B4H8E&list=TLY942gpevaX8"><span style="color: orange;"><b>Cholon</b></span> (</a>Chinatown) district where much of The Lover is set. The trail hots up as we travel out into true Duras territory on the <span style="color: orange;"><b><a href="org.mozilla:en-GB:official&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=UGIhUrTGIoiZiAfj74CQAw&ved=0CEAQsAQ&biw=902&bih=524">Mekong River</a>,</b>
</span> staying in a homestay at Vinh Long and visiting the Lover’s tomb at
Sadec. We return to HCM City for a farewell dinner in Cholon before
departing on our own itineraries.<br />
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<b>Your Writing</b><br />
On this trip you are encouraged to use every travelling moment for
your writing. Bring a current writing project or start one a fresh. All
genres welcome.r
own writing project. Timetabled into our journey are two mini retreats
where we concentrate fully on our work with plenty of reading time for
critiquing and feedback.<br />
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Pre-trip tasks give the opportunity to use your prep and travelling
time for your writing. As we travel together, daily writing workshops
will revise the essential elements of writing craft in relation to you<br />
From our first welcome dinner to our last farewell feast, the
conversation about our writing continues, as we become intimately
involved in supporting one another in the writing process. Indeed the
conversation continues long after the journey is over, as our new
writing friends become our greatest support in the journey towards
publishing.<span style="color: orange;"> <a href="http://underneaththearches.blogspot.com.au/2011/09/writers-journey-alumni.html">See WJ Alumni here</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="color: orange;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: orange;"><b><a href="http://www.writersjourney.com.au/journeys/indochine-adventure-vietnam/">Bookings and info here.</a></b></span><br />
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Our Travel Itinerary<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 435px;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="69">Sat 16 August</td>
<td valign="top" width="189">Arrive Hanoi</td>
<td valign="top" width="99">Camellia 4 hotel</td>
<td valign="top" width="69"><br /></td>
</tr>
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<td valign="top" width="69">Sun 17</td>
<td valign="top" width="189">Chi Minh mausoleum and history, Old Quarter, Hoan Kiem lake</td>
<td valign="top" width="99">Camellia 4 hotelbreakfast</td>
<td valign="top" width="69"><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="69">Mon 18</td>
<td valign="top" width="189">To Mai Chau</td>
<td valign="top" width="99">Mme Chung homestayAll meals</td>
<td valign="top" width="69"><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="69">Tues 19</td>
<td valign="top" width="189">Writing and meeting local people with Song</td>
<td valign="top" width="99">Mme Chung homestayAll meals</td>
<td valign="top" width="69"><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="69">Wed 20</td>
<td valign="top" width="189">Writing</td>
<td valign="top" width="99">Mme Chung homestayAll meals</td>
<td valign="top" width="69"><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="69">Thur 21</td>
<td valign="top" width="189">Writing</td>
<td valign="top" width="99">Mme Chung homestayAll meals</td>
<td valign="top" width="69"><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="69">Fri 22</td>
<td valign="top" width="189">Morning workshop, return Hanoi</td>
<td valign="top" width="99">Camellia 4</td>
<td valign="top" width="69"><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="69">Sat 23</td>
<td valign="top" width="189">Fly to Hoi An</td>
<td valign="top" width="99">Hoa Su Frangipani Villa ResortBreakfast and lunch</td>
<td valign="top" width="69"><br /></td>
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<td valign="top" width="69">Sun 24 Sun</td>
<td valign="top" width="189">Writing</td>
<td valign="top" width="99">Hoa Su Frangipani Villa ResortBreakfast and lunch</td>
<td valign="top" width="69"><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="69">Mon 25</td>
<td valign="top" width="189">Writing</td>
<td valign="top" width="99">Hoa Su Frangipani Villa ResortBreakfast and lunch</td>
<td valign="top" width="69">Marble Mtn trip in pm</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="69">Tues 26</td>
<td valign="top" width="189">Writing</td>
<td valign="top" width="99">Hoa Su Frangipani Villa ResortBreakfast and lunch</td>
<td valign="top" width="69"><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="69">Wed 27</td>
<td valign="top" width="189">Fly to HCMCity and minibus to the Mekong Delta</td>
<td valign="top" width="99">Tam Tien HomestayBreakfast and dinner</td>
<td valign="top" width="69"><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="69">Thurs 28</td>
<td valign="top" width="189">Vinh Long and Sadec where Marguerite Duras lived and loved</td>
<td valign="top" width="99"><br /></td>
<td valign="top" width="69"><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="69">Fri 29</td>
<td valign="top" width="189">Return HCMCity</td>
<td valign="top" width="99"><br /></td>
<td valign="top" width="69"><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="69">Sat 30</td>
<td valign="top" width="189">Leave for Australia in evening OR travel onwards on your own itinerary</td>
<td valign="top" width="99">One shared room, Bong Sen Hotelbreakfast</td>
<td valign="top" width="69"><br /></td>
</tr>
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</table>
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fotolithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707211993990153467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373971527919412025.post-718155380409515942013-12-28T14:14:00.008-08:002014-03-23T21:50:39.254-07:00Temple Writing in Burma 2014<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Making a wish at the feet of the Buddha, Ananda Pagoda, Bagan </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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A 12 day Writing Journey Feb 12 -23, 2014 Bookings are now closed<br />
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<br />
View clip from last years Burma journey<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5XiWGxPNxg"> here.</a><br />
<big><span style="color: #6600cc;"><br /><span style="color: black;">Arrive in
Mandalay, spend a day sight seeing, attend the Irrawaddy Literary
Festival, then travel by river boat to the plain of temples in Bagan for
a five day writing retreat with writing tutor Jan Cornall.</span></span></big><br />
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<b>The Festival</b><br />
The <a href="http://irrawaddylitfest.com/authors/all/">Irrawaddy Literary Festival</a> 2014 will be held in the grounds of the
magnificent Kuthodaw Pagoda in Mandalay. The world’s largest book,
inscribed on 729 white marble tablets, dots the the spacious grounds of
the Pagoda, which was recently designated a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Set within shaded avenues, bordered with fragrant starflower trees, the
compound is the perfect backdrop to the Festival’s eclectic programme of
events.<br />
<a href="http://irrawaddylitfest.com/#" title="Aung San Suu Kyi">Aung San Suu Kyi</a><a href="http://irrawaddylitfest.com/#" title="Fergal Keane">,
Tan Twan Eng, Louis de Bernieres, Pascal Khoo Thwe, Caroline
Moorehead, Dame Joan Bakewell, Martha Kearney, Fergal Keane</a><a href="http://irrawaddylitfest.com/#" title="Jung Chang">, Jung Chang</a><a href="http://irrawaddylitfest.com/#" title="Josceline Dimbleby">, Rupert Arrowsmith</a><a href="http://irrawaddylitfest.com/#" title="The Orwell Prize">, </a><a href="http://irrawaddylitfest.com/#" title="Caroline Courtauld">Caroline Courtauld</a>, over 100 Burmese writers and many more.<br />
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<b>The Retreat</b><br />
The day after the festival we travel by river boat along the Irrawaddy River to the ancient city of<span style="color: maroon;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagan"><span style="color: maroon;"> </span></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/null">Bagan</a></span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/null">,</a>
taking our inspiration from the sweep of eleventh century temples at
our doorstep. Morning workshops are conducted at our hotel as we spend
the afternoons exploring the temples, with a day trip to Mt Popa, home
of the Nat Spirits. In the early evenings we have readings followed by
dinner at local restaurants and take a sunset cruise on our last day.
Stay on longer to explore more of Burma on your own
itinerary. <a href="http://www.writersjourney.com.au/">Read about last year's festival here.</a><br />
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<br />
<b>The Writing</b> <br />
We begin the conversation about
our writing from the minute we meet in Mandalay. Writing tasks will be
given each day of the festival and workshops begin in earnest on our
river trip to Bagan. Morning workshops in Bagan give you an opportunity
to read and receive feedback on your work as well as brainstorm and
trouble shoot difficult areas. Meditative and mapping techniques will
used to bring clarity and energy into the words on the page. Elements of
craft such as voice, setting, character, story, structure will be
revised using sensing methods to evoke powerful writing. Goal setting
and timetabling will ensure you have a plan for achieving future draft
completion.All genres, all levels of experience welcome.<br />
<br />
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<br />
<b>Itinerary:</b>
<br />
Feb 12: Arrive Mandalay (fly direct from Oz via Bangkok with Thai Airlines)<br />
Feb 13: Sight seeing in Mandalay, notable temples and the famous U Bein teak bridge.<br />
Feb 14: Irrawaddy Festival at Kuthodaw Pagoda.<br />
Feb 15: Irrawaddy Festival at Kuthodaw Pagoda.<br />
Feb 16: Irrawaddy Festival Kuthodaw Pagoda.<br />
Feb 17: Travel by river to Bagan. Workshop on board. Check into Bagan accom.<br />
Feb
18 – 22: Bagan retreat. Morning workshops, afternoon temple excursions,
evening readings, dinners in local restaurants, attend the local full
moon festival.<br />
Feb 23: Depart on international flights or continue on own itinerary.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Urt0iFiWecVIjBTFAM80LTSpDdiiHnM_wN_eOUqLgH-7hJGQRFnOQQ2l2YU7Q6Ccfj1DY5oryU83j6MoeiMdfMGbJf9lbpzvJ8fS9pCAyNPgzD2LkFPPJU3vzSSB_RDpCZxV8tTMpJU/s1600/IMG_2860.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Urt0iFiWecVIjBTFAM80LTSpDdiiHnM_wN_eOUqLgH-7hJGQRFnOQQ2l2YU7Q6Ccfj1DY5oryU83j6MoeiMdfMGbJf9lbpzvJ8fS9pCAyNPgzD2LkFPPJU3vzSSB_RDpCZxV8tTMpJU/s320/IMG_2860.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/writersjourney/sets/72157632820683182/"><br /></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/writersjourney/sets/72157632820683182/">More pics here</a><br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5XiWGxPNxg">View YouTube clip here</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>About your tutor </b><br />
Jan Cornall is a writer and performer based in Sydney. Awarded a number of grants and fellowships and has written fifteen produced plays and musicals, a feature film, a novel, short stories and three CD’s of songs. With a strong interest in Asia, Jan began collaborating with Indonesian, writers, musicians and artists during her Asialink residency in Jakarta in 2006. She has taken part in festivals in the region including: Ubud Writers and Readers Festival, Utan Kayu Biennale, Hong Kong International Literary Festival, Darwin Wordstorm and Irrawaddy Literary Festival. Jan mentors writers and leads annual writers retreats and workshops in Bali, Fiji , Laos, Morocco, Burma, Vietnam. <a href="http://www.writersjourney.com.au/">Find out more here.</a><br />
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<b></b><br />
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fotolithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707211993990153467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373971527919412025.post-60005100046259743012013-11-11T01:22:00.001-08:002013-12-28T15:47:29.452-08:00Postcards from Bali<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Writers Journey's <a href="http://www.writersjourney.com.au/journeys/backstage-bali/">Backstage Bali</a> retreat attracted some <a href="http://www.writersjourney.com.au/2013/10/23/coming-home-to-your-writing/">wonderful writers</a> again this year. Below are some of their contributions<span style="font-family: Garamond;">...</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt;">Michelle Leber</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt;"><b>The Worship of Flowers</b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt;">Can you hear the sound of a leaf</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt;">my friend? The one that dangles
from </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt;">the great blue cup we know as
the sky. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt;">The Goddess of Hanging Gardens
casts leafage</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt;">with the skill of a fisherman.
She’s learnt </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt;">her aim from the Lazy God of Swishing
Fish―</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt;">the one known to capture more
than </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt;">stillness from a pond. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt;">Her rod is neither predictable in
form,</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt;">nor a weapon of hunting, but a
verdant </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt;">festoon of flowers. She captures the
aroma </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt;">in evening air, pigeon’s haunting
solo, </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt;">the floating mood of a passerby. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt;">Can you hear the sound of a leaf </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt;">my friend? The one that dangles
from</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt;">the great blue cup we know
as the sky.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Michelle Leber is a Melbourne poet whose work has been published </span> </span><i>in Best Australian Poems 2009</i> and <i>2013</i> (Black Inc), <i>The Age</i>, <i>Meanjin</i>,
high school texts, environmental bulletins and on trains. Her current
manuscript, The Yellow Emperor, is a mythography in verse exploring
proto-historic civilization in China.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></span><br />
Peter Bishop<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Lakeview<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">The mist has lifted now as I sit on the terrace of
Lakeview Hotel—Batur has emerged in all her magnificence, as if to
say—did you doubt?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">And the trucks are grinding up the flanks of the crater that surrounds her.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">It is a relentless, remorseless
extraction of her congealed blood—the black basalt flow that has frozen
on her southern hip, and it goes on all day, every day, year after year.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">Batur is not dead.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">She slumbers with one half-open eye—occasionally she exhales a little sigh.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">She is young in geological
terms—although of course she is much older than the houses that dot her
flanks, the machines that pick at her scabs, the people who pester her.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">One day she might decide to shrug them off.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">You can see the ring of escarpments
around her that her mother built when she was born, and beyond that a
second ring that might have been her great great grandmother—ancient
beyond comprehension.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">And yet, even so, Batur and all her
ancestors are infants in the scheme of global geology. This place and
everything about it captures me. It has a monumental and awesome
beauty on a village scale—Batur has an intimate grandeur that I have
not seen elsewhere.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"> Busloads of people arrive during the
day when she has withdrawn her splendour like an anemone withdrawing its
tender tentacles. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">They wear shorts and
socks and sandshoes and loud shirts and they have their photos taken
against her sleeping head and they eat their lunches on the balcony with
their backs to her, and they leave. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">In their buses, their fleets of numbered hire cars—they are in a hurry— there are sights to see, schedules to keep.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">They did not see her rising naked from
her bed of mist and clouds, they did not see the shimmer of the early
morning in the lake at her foot, the skim of hungry herons, the drift
of dugout fishermen, the gathering of workers wrapped against the cold—
except for their thonged feet.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">I sit here on the cusp of her cradle,
sipping her thick dark coffee, wondering if that murmur was the pulse of
her unguessable heart.</span><br />
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">Peter Bishop a short story writer whose award include: The Australasian Short Story Award,
The Banjo Paterson Literary Award,
The Fellowship of Australian Writers Short Literary Competition and
The E J Brady Short Short Story Award.His first published anthology is<a href="http://www.peterbishopbooks.com/"> Black Soil.</a></span></span><br />
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Julie Freeman</div>
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The Bird's Journey<br />
<br />
The bird twittered, flapped its wings and flew out the window. Over the trees and valleys,mountains and rivers it flew until it reached the end of the world. There it found a dog.<br />
<br />
“Woof!” said the dog. “Welcome to the Underworld. State your business.”<br />
“I've come to deliver a message” said the bird.<br />
<br />
The dog considered.“Choose wisely” said the dog. “You may enter but I cannot let you leave.”<br />
<br />
The bird twittered and flew in small circles then past the dog and through the door to the Underworld. The walls were dark and damp and an earthy smell permeated the tunnel. Soon a feeble light appeared, seeping in from small openings high up in the walls. The bird did not know the way. It came to a frame on the wall and looked at another bird, very like itself.<br />
<br />
“Where am I going?” asked the bird and flapped its wings.<br />
<br />
“Where am I going?” asked the bird in the frame and flapped its wings.<br />
<br />
They looked at each other for a moment. The bird flew directly at the frame and through just as the other bird flew towards it. They met and crossed.The bird from the frame tweeted happily “I have escaped at last!”<br />
<br />
The bird with the message flew on finding itself in a barren, deserted world populated with grey stone buildings, mostly ruined, and large red stones. Flashes of lightning and sudden peels of thunder inundated the scene. Sweeping heavy rains caused the bird to take shelter behind a rock to save its fragile wings. The rain slowly eased. The bird saw a light in the window of one of the grey, stone buildings high up above. It flew upwards and through the dark window towards the beckoning light.<br />
<br />
It found itself in an old old room with a writing desk made of dark wood. On it were a quill and a half empty bottle of ink. Cobwebs furnished the room, the desk and the chair. There were rows of glass bottles stoppered with corks on a shelf in the corner. These were somehow important, the little bird didn't understand. It shook the remaining rainwater off its wings and sat down at the desk to write.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />Julie Freeman lives in Perth and is currently working on a novel</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">.</span> </span></div>
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fotolithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707211993990153467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373971527919412025.post-84132005120839690362013-10-24T03:38:00.007-07:002013-12-28T16:44:27.087-08:00When Ubud Writers Festival Turned Ten<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ubudwritersfest/">Ubud Writers and Readers Festival</a> celebrated it's tenth anniversary this month with a <a href="http://www.ubudwritersfestival.com/2013-writers/">great line up</a> of writers and events spread across large and small venues around town. I was thrilled to be invited back a guest writer, this time taking part in two panels and one performance, as well as racing between other sessions and keeping my writing group busy with daily writing tasks.<br />
<br />
First up for me was a performance to a packed house at the cosy Bar Luna, of songs and poems from my new book <a href="http://writersjourney.bigcartel.com/product/archipelagogo-love-songs-to-indonesia">Archipelagogo</a>. Stay tuned for launch dates in Oz!<br />
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<a href="http://www.ubudwritersfestival.com/writers/desak-yoni/">Desak Yoni</a> dropped in after the launch of her book (written with Sarita Newson),<a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/352223"> Renditions of My Soul</a>, the story of a Balinese girl who dares to dream of a better life. We share the same publisher, <a href="http://saritaksu.com/">Saritaksu Editions.</a><br />
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Next day I was up early to go Jalan Jalan (walking/wandering) in the rice paddies with 25 or so punters (including Jennifer Byrne, Andrew Denton and Michael Cathcart, who were spotted in the crowd) to Sari Organik restaurant where<a href="http://clairescobie.com/about"> Claire Scobie</a>, <a href="http://www.ubudwritersfestival.com/writers/jon-doust/">Jon Doust</a> and I entertained the folks as they munched on their organic delights. Claire spoke of her travels in Tibet in search of a rare lily as told in <a href="http://clairescobie.com/last-seen-in-lhasa"><i>Last Seen In Lhasa</i></a>, and of her research travels for her latest book <a href="http://www.booktopia.com.au/the-pagoda-tree-claire-scobie/prod9780670077335.html"><i>The Pagoda Tree</i>.</a><a href="http://www.fremantlepress.com.au/books/1319"> Jon Doust (his books: To The Highlands and Boy On A Wire) </a>is a very funny man from WA and told of his risky coming of age adventures in South Africa, while I took the audience on some of my USA hitchiking rides of the 70's, (including getting a lift with the road crew of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young)when I first started writing.<br />
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There was just enough time for lunch before our next panel where Claire and I joined Tom Doig and Laura Jean Mackay in the main program, in the Left Bank for a session called Writing On The Road. It was a lively conversation wonderfully moderated by Claire, who had a set of perfect questions lined up for us to riff with. Tom's book <a href="http://www.moron2moron.com/"><b><i>Moron to Moron</i></b></a> about a cycling trip in Mongolia with his best mate is a most worthwhile read as is Laura's <b><a href="http://laurajeanmckay.com/"><i>Holiday in Cambodia</i>.</a></b><br />
<br />
Then as I relaxed and started session hopping in earnest I wondered as I checked in with my friends, if indeed we were attending the same festival. No longer the small, intimate experience of the early years, its growth has necessitated that several sessions and events run simultaneously. It becomes a 'choose your own adventure' and according to which sessions you mix and match you can have an entirely different experience to that of the people you arrived with. Thankfully there were some prolific note takers and good story tellers amongst my group so we could swap stories, session gossip and critiques.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUmsMqTMe5lE-BKrUSzG0wMecKrLD0E11NM_H2X7E8yGaoYOlvztp1d5fHVDccMlMtfBCejFeqMb94t8uj8xEPhrpDZKCHbt1PXNN78dYGOyWFsFiUQDz4atXZBj1u-Svu-wjUU5_uIdQ/s1600/1393987_10151790102877795_990050942_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUmsMqTMe5lE-BKrUSzG0wMecKrLD0E11NM_H2X7E8yGaoYOlvztp1d5fHVDccMlMtfBCejFeqMb94t8uj8xEPhrpDZKCHbt1PXNN78dYGOyWFsFiUQDz4atXZBj1u-Svu-wjUU5_uIdQ/s320/1393987_10151790102877795_990050942_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Goenawan Mohamed</td></tr>
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<br />
My highlights were:<br />
The keynote address by Goenawan Mohamed. <b><a href="http://ubudnowandthen.com/goenawan-mohamads-keynote-address-to-the-uwrf/">Read it here </a> </b><br />
The launch of a new film Jalanan, about Jakarta street musicians, by Daniel Ziv. <b><a href="http://vimeo.com/43715766">Watch a clip here.</a></b><br />
Graphic Tales- pictorial literature vs comics vs graphic novels, with Michael Leunig, Eiji Han Shimizu (Japan) Barbara Yelin (Germany) and<b><a href="http://www.boltonblue.com/"> Pat Grant</a></b> (Australia, one of my ex-students from UTS) Moderated by Estelle Tang.<br />
Jalan Kejeng Street party with the <b><a href="https://soundcloud.com/thecambodianspaceproject">Cambodian Space Project </a></b><br />
Read more re their lead singer and song writer <b><a href="http://www.triplejunearthed.com/THECAMBODIANSPACEPROJECT">Srey Thy Kak here</a></b><br />
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Which ever festival adventure you chose it seemed you couldn't go wrong.Well done to Janet de Neefe and team! The dates for the next UWRF will be Oct 1-4, 2014.<br />
See you there! <br />
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fotolithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707211993990153467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373971527919412025.post-10538461019038316352013-09-25T19:05:00.001-07:002015-01-16T03:08:22.909-08:00Rice Field Recovery<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">Updated 16/1/15</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">Jan Cornall's novel <a href="http://yourparadiseormine.blogspot.com.au/2011/05/chapter-1.html"><i>TakeMe To Paradise</i></a> (Saritaksu) was launched at the <a href="http://www.ubudwritersfestival.com/">Ubud Writers & ReadersFestival</a> in 2006 and tells the story of Marilyn, a western woman arriving in
Ubud a year after the first Bali bombing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">In the piece below, a mini sequel to the
novel, Jan imagines Marilyn’s return several years on when Bali’s recovery is
in full swing. </span><br />
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RICE FIELD RECOVERY<br /><div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="en-us">You arrive. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="en-us">And it’s not the
same.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="en-us">Where palm trees
once swayed in the hot jet fuel breeze, bill boards have sprouted and taken
hold; every little crack and cranny selling something, but not the thing you
need</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="en-us">You need to
recover, from what you’re not sure. It worked last time </span><span lang="en-us" style="font-size: 10pt;">—</span><span lang="en-us"> last time you were soothed back to life by rice paddy green;
all-around-you-green, everywhere-you-looked-green, as-far
as-the-eyes-could-see-green. Now you have to cut your way through a forest of
advertising, a mangle of metal, a sea of shiny fat bumper-to-bumper SUVs,
joining you on your search for the pristine green <i>sawah</i> that will help
you retrieve that something you think you have have lost - if only you knew
what it was.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="en-us">Last time you met
a driver who took you in, took you home to meet his family, offered you a room.
You felt so happy within the walls of his family compound, so well looked
after, so safe every time you up and downed the steps of the traditional
entrance gate to his house where all the slithering, ground traveling demon
spirits couldn’t follow.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="en-us">Then the whole
island was in recovery, picking up the pieces after Bomb One, performing endless
purification rituals and self-examinations and coming up with ingenious ways to
convince the world that Paradise <i>would</i> be retrieved from the wreckage.
And it was, just look around you, the place is booming, everything bigger and
better than before; “even the Balinese are getting fat” you remark as you watch
them rolling out the doors of the Hungry Jack/Kentucky Fried/Dunkin Donut/Macca’s
fast food by-pass strip, trying to heft themselves onto their motorbikes. Where
once you could fit a family of four, not even two fatties can fit.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="en-us">“I’d rather eat <i>babi
guling</i> any day,” your taxi driver chortles, “every day, if I could. The
place might be booming but it hasn’t helped my pocket. I’m working three times
as hard, stuck in the <i>macet</i> all day for same money as before, and then
if some family member has to go to the hospital… well, it’s all over.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="en-us">You mutter some
words of commiseration as your driver leaves the <i>macet</i> behind, taking
the back roads through small fields and villages. You wind down the windows and
let the smoke from afternoon gutter fires fill the car. Its carcinogenic fumes
make your nostrils run and your eyes smart but you don’t care, it feels like
coming home. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="en-us">Last time you were
recovering from the big one; the big break up, the big divorce, the one that
left your outline filled with a thousand tiny holes, like someone had used you
for target practice (you suspect that someone was you). Bali’s green patched
you up, healed your scars, injected its chlorophyll into your veins through
your eye-sockets. You went home with a new spring in your step, determined to
do all the things you once said you would, no holding back this time, no holds
barred. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="en-us">Only now it seems
that this idea of ‘living your dream’ has gotten much more complicated. Not
only do you have to live it, but also blog it, boast it, crowd
fund it, film it, sound-bite it, you-tube it, instagram it, win an award
for it...</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="en-us">“Where did you say
you want to go?” your driver asks.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="en-us">“Kaja,” you reply,
“kaja, as far north as you can go...”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="en-us">“You want to go to
Agung?” he laughs.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="en-us">You remember
fondly how <i>kaja </i>means to face the mountain and <i>kelod</i> to face the
sea, but you tell him, “I just want to go to the <i>sawah</i>, the best duck-eating, bug-eating rice paddy you can find,
where I can sit for a week or two and reclaim, recoup, re-calibrate, realign,
repair, redeem, re-salvage, restore... a little bit of stillness to my
over-mailed, over-tweeted, over-shared, overwrought, underdone dream life.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="en-us">Your driver grins
in the rear-view mirror. He understands, as drivers always do.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="en-us">“Oh, too much
traffic in your brain - you got mind <i>macet</i>! Ok, we go north all the way,
no <i>macet</i> there…my family lives in a small village near to Singaraja,
they have small bungalow in the <i>sawah</i> - only you and the swallows.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="en-us">“Perfect,” you
tell him, “no wifi?”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="en-us">“No wifi.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="en-us">“Bagus sekali!”
you exclaim as you lean out the window, drinking in the early evening cool, not
in the least bit worried that once again you are putting your life in the hands
of a complete stranger.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="en-us">“What your name?”
he asks. “I am Nyoman.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="en-us">“Marilyn,” you
reply.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="en-us">“And tonight
Mar-a-lyn,” Nyoman adds, “we have very
important ceremony in our village temple. I am very lucky that your fare brings
me home or I would not be able to attend. Would you like to come? You have <i>kebaya</i>?
My wife has plenty, you can borrow...”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="en-us">You reach into
your bag and turn off your iPhone, iPad, iPod, stow them in a secret inner zip
lock pocket and throw away the imaginary key. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="en-us">Cold turkey in the
<i>sawah</i>, for as long as it takes. If you run out of money you can always
sell off your electronic devices one by one, or better still rent them out,
that should keep you in <i>nasi bungkus</i> for a good few months. Maybe even
start a support group, iAnon, “I am a recovering iAddict and I have not turned
on any of my screens for seven days (everyone clap).” </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="en-us">One step at a
time, one step at a time…</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="en-us">(c) Jan Cornall
2013</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7eHO91VZDIYL8vyqi4FFEKzUIASl9zClgaO7GnEHU2vLC1Z6p4yW-hl72lA1_yXorMTcEQdVEPJwW-pdLJDTnMOUyTes5GbYFztMm1pXXNcZB6Nhetj7IptrmHeHR_28Ck22Tj3a9CL0/s1600/rice-paddy-woman-300x225.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7eHO91VZDIYL8vyqi4FFEKzUIASl9zClgaO7GnEHU2vLC1Z6p4yW-hl72lA1_yXorMTcEQdVEPJwW-pdLJDTnMOUyTes5GbYFztMm1pXXNcZB6Nhetj7IptrmHeHR_28Ck22Tj3a9CL0/s1600/rice-paddy-woman-300x225.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="en-us">The Ebook version of Take Me To Paradise launches on Feb 3, 2015. Get your sample or copy<a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/500500"> here!</a></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-dBMH0cPjagrHTahyb8c2voBUQ9Za1Jzl-bQmc488F7sb3PiCpjmoYAjuojpX-Y-mfNXBAr1pDXWJTzPtuEV1aZV61zhFhfLieE0tXSIL6pRhWqO9796RNriKSfh6HkrOC4ESTw2Sg48/s1600/704e3e09ee7bc7ce75aabaa1cc27a2acbe558df9-thumb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-dBMH0cPjagrHTahyb8c2voBUQ9Za1Jzl-bQmc488F7sb3PiCpjmoYAjuojpX-Y-mfNXBAr1pDXWJTzPtuEV1aZV61zhFhfLieE0tXSIL6pRhWqO9796RNriKSfh6HkrOC4ESTw2Sg48/s1600/704e3e09ee7bc7ce75aabaa1cc27a2acbe558df9-thumb.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">In July 2015 Jan will lead a <a href="http://www.writersjourney.com.au/journeys/backstage-bali/">Backstage Bali </a>Writers Retreat </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">Jan's most recent book is <a href="http://archipela-gogo.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/about-archipelagogo.html">Archipelagogo </a>- Love Songs to Indonesia.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">Join an international writers retreat with Jan at <a href="http://www.writersjourney.com.au/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #000099;">www.writersjourney.com.au</span></a></span></div>
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fotolithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707211993990153467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373971527919412025.post-74982633545348835842013-07-18T22:08:00.002-07:002013-07-18T23:22:56.887-07:00Read, Write, Travel<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhQ6OXO8BkuyPbZRwX6NlPPt1FsMWVg7U-220z8W7W5-qFdJqt_9nxp5gSVbHkxxYtOzQT5obflGQc-c6rRK-Te-MP1MgdRPWL7Q5VDnMQuSGtm9Z5eOf4dHBwqdq3m00Ini0XOiIQPaY/s1600/4352142017_d1a8d3f017_m.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhQ6OXO8BkuyPbZRwX6NlPPt1FsMWVg7U-220z8W7W5-qFdJqt_9nxp5gSVbHkxxYtOzQT5obflGQc-c6rRK-Te-MP1MgdRPWL7Q5VDnMQuSGtm9Z5eOf4dHBwqdq3m00Ini0XOiIQPaY/s1600/4352142017_d1a8d3f017_m.jpg" /></a></div>
Author Walter Mason interviewed me recently for his blog on reading, writing and travelling. <br />
You can read all about it <a href="http://www.waltermason.com/2013/07/jan-cornall-on-buying-books-abroad.html">here</a><br />
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On his blog Walter calls himself a writer, spiritual tourist and lifelong dilettante.<br />
You an add to that: published author, blogger, networker, traveller, foodie, raconteur and all round lovely person.<br />
<br />
He also has another blog with noted author Stepanie Dowrick, which I have had the pleasure of writing for a while back. <a href="http://www.universalheartbookclub.com/2013/03/jan-cornall-on-haibun-mekong-and.html">The Universal Heart Bookclub</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0ER01XA_rbyLbtJovF7Rq6VvQkCOgxGd3YKgkWhbJ7IljXRhZJ3ZpGUwn5wDlUKOPtgI6-ov6jPWRhk6C30vaHmHqydtYVMSsQpcpe2dE3uLRELfedmvo-lsHBNGldAaw8TVbhkxzWGg/s1600/4137498269_e8c12270f9_m.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0ER01XA_rbyLbtJovF7Rq6VvQkCOgxGd3YKgkWhbJ7IljXRhZJ3ZpGUwn5wDlUKOPtgI6-ov6jPWRhk6C30vaHmHqydtYVMSsQpcpe2dE3uLRELfedmvo-lsHBNGldAaw8TVbhkxzWGg/s1600/4137498269_e8c12270f9_m.jpg" /></a></div>
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Walter's next book will be out in September. Following the popular<a href="http://www.destination-saigon.com/"> Destination Saigon</a>, published in 2010, Allen and Unwin are bringing out <a href="http://www.allenandunwin.com/default.aspx?page=94&book=9781742376622">Destination Cambodia</a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/null">.</a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWPTj10cDASfzvjHIx7bCw91IkEvAjLIeRhHl6tqHP_MwP4KPj3CL3CAxIdyQjN69LqnwVU0QvUUEG3tIolect5FNiIDBSzUKVb1XiMWj9-vOoAYadZglIVMNdTKxbbpzcy42B9rwcyBg/s1600/resized_9781742376622_224_297_FitSquare.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWPTj10cDASfzvjHIx7bCw91IkEvAjLIeRhHl6tqHP_MwP4KPj3CL3CAxIdyQjN69LqnwVU0QvUUEG3tIolect5FNiIDBSzUKVb1XiMWj9-vOoAYadZglIVMNdTKxbbpzcy42B9rwcyBg/s1600/resized_9781742376622_224_297_FitSquare.jpg" /></a></div>
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From Allen & Unwin <br />
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<div class="keyNote">
"Join intrepid traveller, Walter Mason - author of <i>Destination Saigon</i>
- on a colourful adventure to one of the world's hottest new
destinations. Meet taxi drivers, writers, hip -hop stars and monks as he
traverses this extraordarily beautiful country. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="keyNote">
Walter Mason's distinctive voice, his upfront knowledge of
Cambodia and wicked sense of humour meet in this riotous celebration of a
remarkable and resilient nation, which has become a great tourist
destination." <br />
<br />
Walter has a<a href="http://www.waltermason.com/2013/06/authors-at-ashfield-walter-mason-talks.html"> number of events</a> planned beginning in Sept, to celebrate the new book! </div>
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<div id="stcpDiv" style="left: -1988px; position: absolute; top: -1999px;">
a writer, a spiritual tourist and a lifelong dilettante
- See more at: http://www.waltermason.com/2013/07/jan-cornall-on-buying-books-abroad.html#sthash.Zvuc22YD.dpuf<br />
<div id="stcpDiv" style="left: -1988px; position: absolute; top: -1999px;">
a writer, a spiritual tourist and a lifelong dilettante
- See more at: http://www.waltermason.com/2013/07/jan-cornall-on-buying-books-abroad.html#sthash.Zvuc22YD.dpuf</div>
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fotolithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15707211993990153467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6373971527919412025.post-28439622750283718842013-07-12T19:36:00.000-07:002013-07-14T18:38:40.468-07:00The Hidden Gardens of Fes<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
During our Sacred Song, Sacred Story writing retreat in Fes, we were lucky to meet Heidi Vogels who is researching green spaces in Fes for her <a href="http://fezgardens.com/post/52715246085/fez-gardens-at-pop-up-alzahra-art-center">Fez Gardens</a> documentary project; collecting stories, photos, information, history, artifacts, about the hidden gardens of Fes. Mostly contained within the four walls of a riad or traditional house (riad in fact means garden) they are indeed hidden from sight and many of the grand old gardens, like some of the palaces and riads that house them, have fallen into disrepair. With access that few tourists can gain, Heidi took us on a tour of some of these extraordinary gardens.<br />
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Heidi introduces the Fez gardens walk<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZYoJpafHBjVOahoNgUCXE_jyoBek5OW_RUYRHWDYxi0GiWLPNTOzcd4KWE2kXmXhXDBifL4fU8FcIZ_6JWqsCrHMX31R-YuHNHFVb0YwfjOYvND3Lt45hj-ZnwhAQW3b_UeT8Ml8bh-k/s1600/IMG_4890.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZYoJpafHBjVOahoNgUCXE_jyoBek5OW_RUYRHWDYxi0GiWLPNTOzcd4KWE2kXmXhXDBifL4fU8FcIZ_6JWqsCrHMX31R-YuHNHFVb0YwfjOYvND3Lt45hj-ZnwhAQW3b_UeT8Ml8bh-k/s320/IMG_4890.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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Flower seller on the way. This flower is used as an insect repellent among other useful things.<br />
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These pots are typical Fes design. A local gardener Si Tayeb maintains the only remaining garden and orchard on the edge of the medina. He is standing strong against developers who want his garden for car park.<br />
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His assistant is 102 years old!<br />
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Peacocks are a common sight in Fes gardens.<br />
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Walking through his orchard was a sensual experience <br />
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with strong scents from the citrus trees and a family of cats.<br />
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On the way Heidi tells us how Fes is built on water- underground and above ground springs and rivers.<br />
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A hidden garden has a life of its own in this former palace.<br />
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The garden can be viewed from all vantage points.<br />
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Oranges are everywhere in Fes<br />
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Another former palace - Palais Mokri , has a huge garden. <br />
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Forgotten and abandoned now.<br />
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Cyprus pines and fruit trees share the space.<br />
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It was thirsty work, Heidi's assistant handed out ripe green figs and time stood still.<br />
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Winding our way home past more hidden gardens.<br />
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Find out more about <a href="http://fezgardens.com/post/52715246085/fez-gardens-at-pop-up-alzahra-art-center">The Fez Garden Project.</a><br />
This tour was part of our <a href="http://www.writersjourney.com.au/journeys/singing-up-story-in-fes/">Sacred Song Sacred Stor</a>y retreat. <br />
<a href="http://www.writersjourney.com.au/">www.writersjourney.com.au</a></div>
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