Life, death, healing, hydrating, water is all these things - symbolically and literally - and so much more.

In this final episode of our Autumn Season of Vignettes, we have invited Natalie Cromb, Hineani Roberts, Nikki Viveca  to share with us their thoughts on waves and whirlpools and waterways.

Let's dive in...

Vignettes - Season 2: Autumn, Episode 5 - Water

Listen in as Maddie Godfrey reads their poem 'When Does Your Body Feel Like It Belongs To You?'. This was created for the Emerging Writers' Festival 2021, as a part of the series 'Dis-belonging Bodies'.

#EWF21: Dis-belonging Bodies: When Does Your Body Feel Like It Belongs To You? by Maddie Godfrey

Vignettes, the EWF storytelling podcast, is back for its third season: Spring. From November, we’ll be sharing brand new audio stories from emerging writers across the continent. With readings spanning genres, forms and themes, the podcast will feature personal essays, poetry and short stories on everything from mothering to the politics of food. 

We hope these episodes will provide you with new worlds to escape into and new ways to reflect on the world we’re living in.

Find and subscribe to Vignettes: The EWF Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts, and find out more at https://emergingwritersfestival.org.au

Vignettes: The EWF Podcast - Season 3 Trailer

In this episode, Oliver Reeson, Mia Nie and Tori Hobbs share readings on the theme Body Language. 

These artists reflect on bodies in pain and bodies in pleasure; what it means to inhabit a body in transition and a body in illness. They will consider both the ordinariness and specialness, as well as the resistance, of living in their bodies.

Oliver Reeson is an essayist and screenwriter. In 2021, they are one of the recipients of The Next Chapter Fellowship, mentored by Maria Tumarkin. They are also the co-creator and writer of SBS web series Homecoming Queens. 

You can read Oliver Reeson's essay ‘Body Language: on Kylie Minogue, Cancer and Coming Back to Life’ here: https://lithub.com/body-language-on-kylie-minogue-cancer-and-coming-back-to-life/

Mia Nie is a Chinese-Australian comic artist, zine-maker, and award-nominated ex-poet. Her work explores the complexities, contradictions, and deeply felt desires of transgender subjectivity. She is passionate about understanding queer history and imagining queer futures. Mia is a recipient of The Wheeler Centre’s The Next Chapter 2020 Fellowship, and is currently working on her first graphic novel.

Tori Hobbs is a queer, non-binary, disabled, low-income, Burgher writer and care worker living on Ngunnawal, Ngunawal and Ngambri land.  Tori hopes to invest their personal and professional experiences of ableism, care work, disability justice and its intersections into all that they do.

Vignettes is produced by Millie Baylis and audio produced by Joe Buchan. Our theme music was created by Thu Care and the artwork is by Molly Hunt. You can find out more about the team behind this podcast and the artists featured, as well as access a transcript of the episode, on the EWF website – at emergingwritersfestival.org.au

This podcast was produced on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nations. We acknowledge that First Nations Peoples are the first storytellers of this land, and that their sovereignty has never been ceded. We pay respects to Elders past and present, and to the Elders of the lands that this podcast reaches.

Season 3, Episode 2: Body Language

For today’s episode, Tabitha Lean, Ella Baxter and Gabriella Munoz will share readings themed around motherhood. 

We’ll hear one mother reflect on the pain of being separated from her daughter while in prison; a mother trying to talk about the pandemic with her children, and a new mother’s first days after giving birth in lockdown.

Tabitha Lean is a Gunditjmara woman, storyteller, poet and abolition activist, and we feel really lucky to have her on Vignettes today. You can find more of her writing at therevolutionware.com or through her Twitter at @haveachattabs.

Gabriella Munoz is a Mexican-Australian award-winning writer and editor based in Melbourne, Australia. Her essays and translations have been published in The Victorian Writer, Mascara Literary Review, Istor, the Sydney Morning Herald and many other places. She writes about migration, motherhood, adoption and popular culture.

Ella Baxter is a writer and artist living in Melbourne. Her debut novel, New Animal was released in March this year. She is currently working on her second novel, Woo Woo.

The open artist call-out for the 2022 Emerging Writers’ Festival is now open. You can apply to be part of the festival via our website at emergingwritersfestival.org.au

This podcast was audio produced by Joe Buchan, and our theme music was created by Thu Care.

Season 3, Episode 3: Motherhood

Léa Antigny, Paige Clark and Laura Stortenbeker share their readings for today's episode, Bloom. As we transition in more ways than one, out of lockdown and into warmer days, it's a pleasure to hear from these talented emerging writers on the things changing and blooming in their lives.

Léa Antigny is a Sydney-based publicist and writer whose personal essays and non-fiction have been published in The Guardian, Kill Your Darlings, and The Lifted Brow.

Paige Clark is a Chinese-American-Australian writer, researcher and teacher. Her fiction has appeared in Meanjin, and, in 2019, she was runner-up for the Peter Carey Short Story Award and shortlisted for the David Harold Tribe Fiction Award. She Is Haunted is her first book, keep hearing great things about, out now with Allen and Unwin.

Laura Stortenbeker is a writer and editor. Her work has been published in Overland, Meanjin and Kill Your Darlings. In 2017 she was shortlisted for the Victorian Premier's Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript.

Also, just a reminder that the open artist call-out for the 2022 Emerging Writers’ Festival is closing soon on December 3rd. You can go to our website to get your application in to be part of the festival.

This podcast was audio produced by Joe Buchan, and our theme music was created by Thu Care. You can find out more about the team behind this podcast and the artists featured in this episode on the EWF website. This podcast was produced on the unceded lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation – EWF pays respect to their elders past and present, and to the elders of all lands that this podcast reaches.

Season 3, Episode 4: Bloom

Tarneen Onus-Williams, Hasib Hourani and Muhib Nabulsi will share their personal food related stories for this episode today. The theme for today’s episode was first inspired by the piece The Politics and Solidarity of Food which you can find in Overland online here: https://overland.org.au/2021/06/the-politics-and-solidarity-of-food/

Tarneen Onus-Williams is a community organiser for Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance and has worked on Invasion Day, Black Deaths in Custody and Stop the forced closures of Aboriginal Communities in WA. They are a filmmaker and writer and have been published in IndigenousX, NITV and RightNow. Tarneen’s day job is supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who are victims/survivors and perpetrators of family violence.  You can also find Tarneen's great baking account @blakbaker on Instagram.

Hasib Hourani is a Lebanese-Palestinian writer, editor, and arts worker living on unceded Wurundjeri Country. Hasib is a 2020 recipient of The Wheeler Centre's Next Chapter Scheme and is currently working on a book of experimental poetry about suffocation and the occupation of Palestine. Hasib writing challenges expectations of land, identity, and the relationship between the two. You can find Hasib’s work in Meanjin, Overland, Australian Poetry, and Going Down Swinging, among others.

Muhib Nabulsi is a disabled person living with chronic illnesses, an unproductive writer, a novice filmmaker, a 2nd gen diaspora Palestinian (aka a Palestinian), a disorganised community organiser, and a service industry worker.

This podcast was audio produced by Joe Buchan. Our theme music was created by Thu Care and the artwork for each episode was created by Molly Hunt. You can find out more about the team behind this podcast and the artists featured in this episode on the EWF website at emergingwritersfestival.org.au. This podcast was produced on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. EWF pays respects to elders past and present and acknowledges sovereignty was never ceded.

Season 3, Episode 5: Sovereign Food

Vignettes, the Emerging Writers' Festival storytelling podcast, brings you readings from Renay Barker-Mulholland, Ursula Robinson-Shaw, and Hayley Singer. For more information, go to https://emergingwritersfestival.org.au/vignettes-the-ewf-podcast/

Season 4, Episode 1: Hibernate Part 1

Vignettes, the Emerging Writers' Festival storytelling podcast, brings you readings from Katerina Gibson, Khalid Warsame, and Grace Chan. For more information, go to https://emergingwritersfestival.org.au/vignettes-the-ewf-podcast/

Season 4, Episode 3: Fright

Vignettes, the Emerging Writers' Festival storytelling podcast, brings you readings from Hannah Debus and Elena Gomez. For more information, go to https://emergingwritersfestival.org.au/vignettes-the-ewf-podcast/

Season 4, Episode 4: Work

Vignettes, the Emerging Writers' Festival storytelling podcast, brings you readings from Maya Hodge, Eric Jiang and Zhi. For more information, go to https://emergingwritersfestival.org.au/vignettes-the-ewf-podcast/

Season 4, Episode 5: Touch

In writing, we are so often worried about getting from A to B – whether that is moving the narrator or character from one place to another, getting dialog from one character to another, or information from the narrator to the reader – we often forget about the spaces that surround ourselves, our words, our ideas, and our readers. These spaces have shapes, sounds, vibrations, feelings, resistances, echoes, and other presences in the world that call out to the writer and reader who take the time to listen and feel. This workshop is designed to get you to spend an hour listening to and feeling these physical and metaphorical spaces with the intention of learning to incorporate them into your writing.

Exercise Six: Reflection

Exercise Five: Internal

Exercise Four: Vowel

Exercise Three: Pt. 3

Exercise Three: Pt. 2

Exercise Three: Pt. 1

Exercise One: Pt. 3

Exercise Two: Pt. 1

Exercise One: Pt. 2

Exercise One: Pt. 1

Necessary Materials

In this pre-recorded audio segment, two poets share and discuss their recent work. Weaving language, labour and spirit, they expose the intersections and splinters that arise when two perspectives are made to share the same space.

Frayed at the ends

Crossings is EWF's new podcast series of in-conversations between local writers & artists.  Each episode pairs two artists whose practices exist at the threshold of one another. These free-flowing, intimate conversations are coloured by curiosity, attentiveness and enquiry. Hear novelists, poets, playwrights, screenwriters, publishers, musicians, architects and photographers proffer questions and perspectives about the minutia of their creative and professional practices.

Episode 1: DREAM & SONG. Genevieve Callaghan & Felix Garner-Davis.

Genevieve is a writer and performer based on Wurundjeri Country. In 2022 she released her first book called one story a day, published by no more poetry press. She is also one half of musical duo Water Signs.  Find her work on instagram @one_story_a_day & @watersignsband

Felix Garner-Davis is a writer and architecture student at the Melbourne School of Design, having previously studied literature at Monash. His first book, 'drone', was published in 2021 also published by no more poetry. Find him on instagram @felixgarnerdavis

Read a selection of Genevieve & Felix's poems at emergingwritersfestival.org.au

Credits: 
 
Producer: Jess Zanoni (@jesszanoni) 

Co-Producer & Audio Engineer: Sam Pannifex (@otlagiaaudio) 
 
Intro Music: Georgia Farry @bby__g__) 
 
Artwork: Tinieka Page (@tinieka) 

With thanks to Henry Farnan, EWF's Marketing & Publicity Coordinator.
 
With support from the Queen Victoria Women's Centre (@qvwc_melbourne), Creative Australia, Creative Victoria, City of Melbourne. Proud to showcase the works of creatives of @melcityoflit.

Episode 1: DREAM & SONG. Genevieve Callaghan & Felix Garner-Davis

Episode 2: ASSERTING COMPLEXITY. Vivian Nguyen & Jamie Tram

Asian Australian playwright and actor Vivian Nguyen brings a wealth of stage experience. Her debut 'Thin Threads' was shortlisted for the Patrick White Playwrights Award and 'Bugged' was published in ATYP’s National Studio. Her plays 'Politics Aside' and 'a moment to love' debuted to acclaim at Melbourne Fringe, and was supported by Theatre Works and City of Melbourne . She was shortlisted for  the Red Stitch INK Writing Program, and was a recipient of The Wheeler’s Centre Hot Desk Fellowship for 2023. She’s been commissioned by Malthouse Theatre and Footscray Community Arts Centre. Her most recent work is 'The Astonishing Comet Boombox' which was presented in collaboration with City of Maribyrnong for Melbourne Fringe Festival. . Find her on instagram @vivngyn

Jamie Tram is a culture writer and screenwriter. They are the Small Screens Editor at The Big Issue, and their work can be found in Spectrum at The Age, Senses of Cinema, Filmink, and elsewhere. They’ve appeared on ABC’s Art Works and Triple R’s Primal Screen to gush about their favourite Hong Kong actors (amongst other less important topics). In 2022, they co-wrote the animated short Graveyard Shift, which premiered at MQFF Opening Night. They are an alumni of MIFF’s Critics Campus and the VCA, where they’ve since returned to tutor screenwriting. They are also a 2023 Hot Desk Fellow.  Find them on instagram @jamiecatchesthetram, and twitter @sameytram

Credits:

Producer: Jess Zanoni (@jesszanoni)

Co-Producer & Audio Engineer: Sam Pannifex (@otalgiaaudio)

Intro Music: Georgia Farry @bby__g__)

Artwork: Tinieka Page (@tinieka)

With thanks to Henry Farnan, EWF's Marketing & Publicity Coordinator.

With support from the Queen Victoria Women's Centre (@qvwc_melbourne), Creative Australia, Creative Victoria, City of Melbourne. Proud to showcase the works of creatives of @melcityoflit.

Episode 2: ASSERTING COMPLEXITY. Vivian Nguyen & Jamie Tram

Today EWF are delighted to share a conversation between Peggy Frew and Mark Hewitt.  

Peggy Frew’s work has been shortlisted for the Stella Prize and the Miles Franklin Literary Award, longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award, and the winner of the Barbara Jefferis Award. Peggy is a member of the critically acclaimed and award-winning Melbourne band Art of Fighting. Wildflowers is her fourth novel. 

Mark Hewitt is a writer from Melbourne. His debut fiction, the short story Doorknocker, was published in Empty Mind Plaza in 2022. Westie is his first novel.  

Peggy and Mark met in September for this conversation, having been acquainted in the past. They spoke about the ethics of writing fiction, their individual writing processes, making a living as an artist and more broadly the public and private identity of being a writer.  There's great wisdom and food for thought in this conversation. We hope you enjoy listening.

Credits:

Producer: Jess Zanoni (@jesszanoni)

Co-Producer & Audio Engineer: Sam Pannifex (@otalgiaaudio)

Intro Music: Georgia Farry @bby__g__)

Artwork: Tinieka Page (@tinieka)

With thanks to Henry Farnan, EWF's Marketing & Publicity Coordinator.

With support from the Queen Victoria Women's Centre (@qvwc_melbourne), Creative Australia, Creative Victoria, City of Melbourne. Proud to showcase the works of creatives of @melcityoflit.

Episode 3: CLOSE TO THE BONE. Peggy Frew & Mark Hewitt

EPISODE 4: BEING ALONE & TALKING TO PEOPLE. Rebecca Kelly & Misbah Wolf.

Today EWF are stoked to share a conversation between poets Rebecca Kelly and Misbah Wolf. 

Rebecca Kelly is a poet from the waters of Darkinjung Country, currently situated on Wurundjeri Country. Presently, her work is fuelled by questions of class, being, identity and psyche.   

Misbah Wolf is a Naarm based poet, who is a hybrid artist, combining music, poetry, performance and art. Their current obsession is exploring the intersections of monotheism and alternative spiritualities through cut-ups, music, research and channelling and are currently writing what they have called an ‘auto-mythological’ fiction funded by Creative Victoria. They have published work through Peril Magazine, Australian Poetry Journal, Cordite, Slow Canoe, Solid Air: Australian and New Zealand Spoken Word, Mascara Literary Journal, Overland, Red Room Poetry and La Mama Poetica.. Their first book was Rooftops in Karachi. Her new book ‘Carapace’ was published by Vagabond Press in 2022. 

Misbah and Rebecca met for the first time for this conversation. They spoke about the spiritual, musical and thematic influences within their poetry, and the idiosyncratic patterns and processes of their practices. This is a tender-hearted, down-to-earth conversation. We hope you enjoy.

Credits:

Producer: Jess Zanoni (@jesszanoni)

Co-Producer & Audio Engineer: Sam Pannifex (@otalgiaaudio)

Intro Music: Georgia Farry @bby__g__)

Artwork: Tinieka Page (@tinieka)

With thanks to Henry Farnan, EWF's Marketing & Publicity Coordinator.

With support from the Queen Victoria Women's Centre (@qvwc_melbourne), Creative Australia, Creative Victoria, City of Melbourne. Proud to showcase the works of creatives of @melcityoflit.

Episode 4: BEING ALONE & TALKING TO PEOPLE. Rebecca Kelly & Misbah Wolf

Episode 5: The (Im)Permanence of Punk. Kurt Eckardt & daniel ward.

EWF are thrilled to share this final conversation of Crossings, between Kurt Eckardt and daniel ward.

Kurt Eckardt works as Marketing and Events Manager at PBS in Naarm, and has recently worked in freelance music publicity, social media management and strategy, event booking and production, and as host of local music radio show Homebrew. Kurt also manages and performs in bands Hearts and Rockets and Astral Skulls, and runs DIY music and zine label and event collective, Psychic Hysteria. 

daniel ward is a poet and musician. they are the editor and founder of ‘no more poetry’, an independent publisher of poetry books and art magazines. their second and most recent collection is titled ‘eternal delight paralysis’. daniel is currently writing their third book titled ‘lavender poems’, a series of poems generated through automatic writing techniques guided by sensory explorations, meditation and mantra. their work often explores relationships between transgenderism and pantheism and is interested in the poem as both a problem and a prayer. they are a member of experimental sound collective ‘bodies of divine infinite and eternal spirit’ and are the drummer and sometimes guitarist for Wet Kiss. 

daniel and Kurt came together in October in Coburg North. They spoke about DIY culture, the local music & poetry scene, live performance & running their own label & publishing house. daniel & Kurt's thoughtfulness & enthusiasm towards the local arts scene was a perfect conversation to bring this season of Crossings to a close  

Credits:

Producer: Jess Zanoni (@jesszanoni)

Co-Producer & Audio Engineer: Sam Pannifex (@otalgiaaudio)

Intro Music: Georgia Farry @bby__g__)

Artwork: Tinieka Page (@tinieka)

With thanks to Henry Farnan, EWF's Marketing & Publicity Coordinator.

With support from the Queen Victoria Women's Centre (@qvwc_melbourne), Creative Australia, Creative Victoria, City of Melbourne. Proud to showcase the works of creatives of @melcityoflit.

Episode 5: THE (IM)PERMENEANCE OF PUNK. Kurt Eckardt & daniel ward

The Richell Prize for Emerging Writers is one of the most valuable prizes for an up and coming writers’ career. (We would say that though, wouldn’t we?) It’s not all about winning though – even making the shortlist can get you noticed. Before the prize closes on July 3rd, come and hear from a previous winner and shortlistee and their publisher about what makes a good synopsis, how to write a compelling chapter breakdown, and what the prize could do for your career. And then submit!

With: Sally Abbott, Brodie Lancaster, Robert Watkins

More information: http://www.emergingwritersfestival.org.au/richell-prize-emerging-writers-2017/

From Prize to Publication: The Richell Prize

In this episode, guest host Hannah Donnelly explores Indigenous speculative futures with Claire G Coleman, author of the recently released 'Terra Nullius', and Maddee Clark, who is writing their PhD on Indigenous speculative fiction and futurism.

Hannah Donnelly is a writer, DJ and the creator of Sovereign Trax. Her work experiments with future tense, speculative fiction and Indigenous responses to climate change through stories of cultural flows and water systems. Sovereign Trax is an online space promoting First Nations music through energising decolonization conversations and community in music. Hannah is currently working at Next Wave as an associate producer.

Claire G Coleman is a writer from Western Australia. She identifies with the South Coast Noongar people. Her family are associated with the area around Ravensthorpe and Hopetoun. Claire grew up in a Forestry’s settlement in the middle of a tree plantation – where her dad worked, not far out of Perth. She wrote her black&write! fellowship-winning manuscript Terra Nullius while travelling around Australia in a caravan.

Maddee Clark is a Yugambeh freelance writer living in the Kulin Nation. They are a Ph.D student researching Indigenous speculative fiction and futurism.

Links to works discussed and recommended

Claire G Coleman's 'Terra Nullius', published with Hachette https://www.hachette.com.au/claire-coleman/terra-nullius

Maddee Clark's 'Coded Devices', published on the Next Wave website http://2016.nextwave.org.au/essays/coded-devices/

A review of Hannah Donnelly's 'Sovereign Apocalypse' by Ellen van Neerven in the Lifted Brow https://www.theliftedbrow.com/liftedbrow/sovereign-apocalypse-zine-two-a-review-by-ellen

Claire recommends

Follow the Rabbit Proof Fence by Doris Pilkington Garimara https://readingaustralia.com.au/essays/follow-the-rabbit-proof-fence/

The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith by Thomas Keneally
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/432556.The_Chant_of_Jimmie_Blacksmith

Benang by Kim Scott
https://www.fremantlepress.com.au/products/benang-from-the-heart

Maddee recommends

Fiona Foley
https://www.mca.com.au/collection/artist/foley-fiona/

The Tribe 
http://www.tribeworld.com/

The Swan Book by Alexis Wright
http://giramondopublishing.com/product/the-swan-book/

Heat and Light by Ellen van Neerven
http://giramondopublishing.com/product/the-swan-book/

Nicole Watson
http://rightnow.org.au/interview-3/interview-with-nicole-watson/

Indigenous Speculative Futures with Hannah Donelly

What does it mean to be a poet? We reckon it’s something like having a voice that’s full of attitude, wit and sincerity, a voice that’s continually re-imagining what it means to be contemporary. Three poets present their unpublished works in progress in an audio project in collaboration with Cordite and Australian Poetry.

With Laniyuk, Dom Symes and Lucy Van

Presented in partnership with Australian Poetry and the Cultural Fund.

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