1999 – Cecily Scutt, Georgia Richter

2000 – Kevin Gillam, Tracey Ryan

2001 – Steven Dedman, Jaya Mullamby

2002 – Glynn Parry, Kate Ramage

2003 – Megan McKinley, Alan Hancock

2004 – Allan Boyd

2005 – Natasha Lester, Chris McLeod, Nola Hosking, Shevaun Cooley

2006 – Terry Whitebeach, Sarah French, Michael Farrell, Lily Chan

2007 – Bronwyne Thomason, Andrew Burke, Alli Barnard

2008 – Lucas North

2009 – Adriana Ellis, Helen Venn, Les Wicks

2010 – NO FUNDING

2011 – John Mateer, Liana Joy Christensen, Rachel Robertson, Sue Woolfe, Peter Bishop

2012 – Horst Kornberger, Janet Blagg (editor), Janet Jackson, Scott-Patrick Mitchell, Christina Neubauer, Amanda Curtin (editor), Laurie Steed, Campbell Jeffreys

2013 – Robert Drewe, Iris Lavell, Jeremy Balius, Annabelle Smith

Ramadan Sky, which was chosen from thousands of manuscripts posted on the HarperCollins website, Authonomy, tells the story of a Western woman and an Indonesian man set against the conflicting landscapes of crippling poverty, lush tropical countryside, urban pollution, Muslim culture and Indonesian black magic. Ramadan Sky is also available as an e-book on Amazon.

Nichola Hunter has lived in Fremantle since 1996, coming to Perth from Melbourne to study Creative Writing and Literature at Curtin University. She works as a freelance writer and also teaches English to Adult migrants in Perth.

Nichola Hunter

Entry is free, with tea and coffee provided. Please bring something to eat or drink to put in the communal pot. 5pm Friday 13 December, Mattie Furphy House, Cpse Lane, Allen Park, Swanbourne

All welcome.

Allen park, Swanbourne, near Tom Collins’ House

Turn left into Clare Copse, off Kirkwood Street, for free parking.

Sunday 15th December

from 4.30 – 5.30pm

admission $10 – door sales available

To be sure of a seat, book with Jim and Alison on 9336 5945 or email: ajgregg6@bigpond.com

I first met Lucas in 2008 at the Fellowship of Australian Writers, WA when I was a volunteer and he was our live-in writer in residence.

Despite the winter cold of Tom Collins House, the possums and rickety old bed, Lucas met each day with a warm smile and quiet resilience. He was the epitome of tenacity and discipline as he tirelessly pursued his craft, even though he knew the publisher’s rejection letter well.

I asked him how he continued (on his then, tenth novel) and he said he just had to keep writing, there was nothing else he wanted to do. Writers must keep writing, and not fear it, even if publication remained elusive. In fact the workshop he ran during his residency was title Fear of Rejection and The Rejection of Fear.

Lucas North…. workshop will teach you how to defy rejection, defeat dejection and turn anger toward editors into a self-sustaining energy that will see you rise above the nay-sayers. Don’t just develop a thick skin, learn how to be a rubber ball – if you’re thrown down, don’t just fall, come off the wall with twice the momentum and resistance – kinetic energy.

And that summed up Lucas well. Inside him burned an intense energy and determination that was inspiring and infectious. He selflessly imparted his knowledge and experiences to aspiring writers and helped guide many disheartened souls back to their keyboards and pens.

Lucas penned eleven novels, hundreds of short stories, two screenplays and two volumes of poetry; his work has appeared in Blue Dog, Indigo, Westerly, Eco Poetics and Concrete Dialogues. He sat on various literary organisation boards and worked on writing festivals and events. In 2007 his manuscript, The Population of Loss, won Lucas a Longlines/Macquarie Bank Fellowship to the prestigious Varuna Writers Centre in NSW. As recently as June 2013 his OOTA workshop series, The Eclectic Transgression Sessions offered writers fiction ideas for pushing at publication.

His contribution to the wirtten word – and world – will be greatly missed.

Tanya Dewhurst

1. Writers in Residence Programs

Applications are no being received for Writers in Residence Program for 2014. Writers will have the opportunity to live and write at the beautifully restored turn of the century cottage, Mattie Furphy House, located in the Bush Heritage precinct next to Allen Park, Kirkwood Street in Swanbourne WA.

Three residencies are available, on for an Established Writer and two for Emerging Writers. Guidelines and forms can be obtained by contacting the office. Applications must be received December 15, 2013.

To obtain the necessary forms please contact the office 9384 4771 or admin@fawwa.org.au

2. Masterclasses

Expressions of Interest are now being sought for two FAWWA Masterclass Series.

WILD AND URBAN HABITAT WRITING: the new ABC of nature narratives and poetry with Annamaria Weldon – Annamaria will present two workshops of three hours each, a talk including a Q & A sessions for members of U3A and Book Clubs, and provide an hour of mentoring for individual students. These workshops will take place late in 2014. Limited to six students.

WRITERS IN THE DIGITAL AGE with Natasha Lester and Annabel Smith. Two workshops of three house each with an emphasis on using Scrivener software. Limited to six students.

Expressions of Interest should include your background and writing history, and what you hope to get out of the course. Expressions of interest must be recieved by December 15, 2013.

Afternoon Readings from the FAWWA Mentorship Program 2013

Please come along to an afternoon of readings by the mentees and a discussion of mentors and mentees re their experience of the program. It will run from 2 – 4 pm on Sunday November 10th and be followed by a delicious afternoon tea.

Furphy Water Cart in Fremantle Festival Parade

You are also urged to attend the Fremantle Festival Parade and see the newly restored Furphy Water Cart. Beginning at 4pm. Anyone interesting in helping out on the day please contact the office.

Friday@Furphys

This Friday the 8th at 5pm. We hope to see you there.

And indeed I shall anchor, one day – some summer morning
of sunflowers and bougainvillaea and arid wind -
and smoking a black cigar, one hand on the mast,
Turn, and unlade my eyes of their cargo;
and the parrot will speed from my shoulder, and white yachts glide
welcoming out from the shore on the turquoise tide.

And when they ask me where I have been, I shall say
I do not remember.

And when they ask me what i have seen, I shall say
I remember nothing.

And if they should ever tempt me to speak again,
I shall smile and refrain.