Being a writer can sometimes feel solitary, so it is lovely to be out and about to hopefully gain nourishment and enrichment.

On a blue skyed Friday, 7th August I bussed into the Writers Centre at the State Library. I attended the Quills and Passionate members event.

It was fantastic to meet up with former Chairs such as Andrea and some of the former and current writing residents.

I was particularly intrigued by the sharing of the premise of a work of Cozy fiction in progress.

I especially enjoyed hearing from current committee members, some of whom I used to serve with, such as, David and Justin.

I was trying to remember how and when Pamela, who is a current committee member, and I met. We concluded it was probably through mutual writing friends, such as Lauren at some writers event. Pamela’s masters sounds intriguing as well, and I am sure she will develop that into a book and her creative practice at some point.

Pamela and June

I enjoyed yarning with fellow poet and storyteller Alex, as well as Richard Yaxley a local author. I have met him before, and heard of his work in the kids lit community but it was good to have a proper chat.

Richard and June

We shared about current writing and other projects and mortality and life. People can be with one moment, full of life, vibrant and then onto the next worlds. Justin read a beautiful poem he had written in response to life events to Richard and me.

Richard and Justin

Alex and I later went and checked out an exhibition downstairs. We found out we were both going to be attending a Clancestry show, Gunawarra, and so knew we would likely see each other there as well. I’ll post about that show in a separate post!

As part of the meeting, we listened to Julie Janson, share about her recent poetry publication through a yarn up with an intern, Brendan, about her writing life. She spoke about the importance of diversification, and the need to engage with genre writing. As well as reading her own poems, she asked Brendan to share some of his poems.

Julie shared that she had a long gap, 40 years, between engaging with poetry as a form, and only recently came back to it.

Alex, June and Julie

Meetings such as this are so important for feeling connected to other creatives. All are doing their best to work on their craft and to find audiences for their work. Many of us have jobs other than writing, such as teaching, lecturing, law, interning, etc or for organisations in the community.

Many thanks to the Queensland Writer’s Centre and everyone who hosted or attended the morning for sharing your passion and for encouraging each other to keep on writing.