Edition 23 

29 July 2018

Message from the Board

Dear FNAWNees

Welcome to our latest FNAWN newsletter, where we are counting down the days to our workshop. I will get in early and say another big thank you to the Australia Council for the Arts for funding to produce our 3rd National Workshop. And thank you to our many supporters. The theme for the 2018 workshop is Sovereign People, Sovereign Stories, and it will be held in Canberra on 24 to 26 August at the Gorman House Arts Centre. I can't wait to see you there.

Before I keep raving about the workshop I have to say a big congratulation to many of our members. I hear many awards are still happening and that recently published books are now into reprints. Needless to say how very proud and happy we are of all our members and their successes - whether it is big or small.

Now back to the workshop! I am sure you have had a look at our program and saw the many sessions that will be presented by our members. How very proud I am of all who will be presenting and all who are there to gain skills and expertise together, with a lot of networking and yarning going on.

As you know it is time for me to step down from the Board. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for every day that I have been involved in this amazing literary world we all belong to with this amazing organisation. It may be little but it has achieved some mighty big results.

We will be holding our AGM at the workshop. I would like you to consider nominating for the Board. We need skilled visionaries to take FNAWN to the next step and beyond. Please contact Karen Wyld on firstnationswriters@gmail.com if you're interested.

On behalf of the Board, we can't wait to see you in Canberra in August. Happy writing.

In unity and lotsa love always
(Aunty) Kerry

Kerry Reed-Gilbert
Chair

Good news 

Kim Scott has been short-listed for the 2018 Miles Franklin Literary Award for his novel Taboo. Kim has twice been the recipient of the Miles Franklin. Taboo was released in 2017 and has already been listed for several awards. Kim was the recipient of the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards 2018 Book of the Year and biennial Indigenous Writers’ Prize.

Publications 

Ambelin and Ezekiel Kwaymullina’s young adult novel Catching Teller Crow (A&U) will be released in September. You can read an interview with the authors here.

Events

Details for the 2018 National Workshop for First Nations Australia Writers are now on the FNAWN website.

The 2018 FNAWN Workshop program brings together some of our leading writers, poets and storytellers to share their insights, understandings and skills.
We will again be hosting the Literary Sector and Publishing Industry Roundtable, with invited guests, to strategise on ways to improve access, visibility and professional development for First Nations Australia Writers.

The 2018 Workshop is hosted by Us Mob Writing and made possible with resources from the Australia Council for the Arts and other partner organisations.

FNAWN’s National Workshop is for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander writers, poets and storytellers but there are a few sessions open to non-Indigenous participants (please see program).

You can now register online.

If you require help to register, or for any other enquiries, please contact Tony Duke on fnawnworkshop2018@gmail.com


FNAWN and Us Mob Writing have teamed up with Canberra Writers Festival to present an exciting event on Saturday 25 August. An evening with First Nations Australia Writers commences at 6 pm at the National Library of Australia. In the session Because of her I can, Ellen van Neerven, Charmaine Papertalk Green, Yvette Holt and Jeanine Leane respond to the NAIDOC 2018 theme through poetry. The panel following, hosted by Cathy Craigie and featuring Alexis Wright (via Skype), Kim Scott and Melissa Lucashenko, will explore the FNAWN National Workshop theme Sovereign People - Sovereign Stories.

This event is being presented as a fundraiser for FNAWN. Participants who register for the Saturday or the compete FNAWN National Workshop program will get free entry to An Evening with First Nations Australia Writers.

August is looking like a busy month for FNAWN members and other Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander poets, writers and storytellers. Upcoming literary events that feature First Nations writers are the inaugural QLD Poetry Festival 2018, Bendigo Writers Festival, Melbourne 2018 Writers Festival and Canberra Writers Festival. 

And in September, there is the Brisbane Writers Festival and National Young Writers’ Festival, which also feature First Nations writers on their programs. 

Prizes, fellowships and other opportunities