Mentoring opportunity for poets in Greater Shepparton
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Renowned Castlemaine poet, Ross Donlon, will share his expertise with eight emerging poets from the Greater Shepparton region in the lead-up to the SheppARTon Festival this March.
“This is a great way to foster new and emerging writers in the region. I am looking forward to meeting and working with writers in the community through this project,” said Ross, whose poetry has been widely published, including in the collection Tightrope Horizon (Five Island Press, 2003), the CD You Have Been Chosen and anthologies including Poems for all Occasions. His work has also been broadcast on Radio National’s Poetica.
The mentoring is part of the Pure Poetry project, which is organised by Ballarat Writers Inc as a celebration of regional literary and artistic talent. All emerging poets living in the region of Greater Shepparton are invited to submit work for the chance to be involved in this exciting opportunity. Submissions are being accepted until Monday 15 February.
“This project is open to poets from the region who are either unpublished or have fewer than 25 works published,” explains Bronwyn Blaiklock, Chair of Ballarat Writers Inc.
The project has been designed with the needs of regional poets in mind. “Individual online workshopping with Ross will help poets to further polish their poems and sharpen their writing skills. This will be followed up with face-to-face and possibly also videoconference sessions to hone poets’ presentation techniques. Technology can help to overcome the distances faced by regional poets traveling to traditional classroom settings,” said Bronwyn.
Following the mentoring, the eight poets will then present their work in the Pure Poetry Recital at the SheppARTon Festival on Saturday 13 March. Their poems will be interspersed within a program of contemporary Australian classical music in an event for the whole community.
“It is an inspiring and unique platform for original writing that aims to capture the poetic voice of the region,” said Bronwyn.
Ballarat Writers Inc is a non-profit community organisation that has been supporting writers in the region for 20 years. Submission guidelines and application form can be downloaded from the Ballarat Writers Inc website now: http://www.ballaratwriters.com
Bronwyn Blaiklock, Chair Ballarat Writers Inc
m: 0412 939 077
e: b.blaiklock@ballarat.edu.au