Pages

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Deakin 'Wordly'

The Deakin Writers Club magazine Wordly is now officially being sponsored by the Deakin University Students Association and we are now a cross-campus magazine, meaning that we are accepting work from not just the Melbourne campus but the other four campuses too. The August edition is the coolest yet, with no theme, more content than usual and a student-designed cover (previous editions were more like newsletters with little to no colour and no cover.) Oh, and they published a poem I wrote. That is pretty cool too.

I'm super excited for the September edition. The new theme is 'space' (any definition and interpretation of the word is acceptable) and I got a little ahead of myself the other night and prepared a piece for submission. I'm surprisingly pleased with what I came up with and shocked at how out-there it is. Fingers crossed that the Wordly production team like it enough to give it a spot in the next edition. I've already asked one of my friends to take a look over it and offer some constructive criticism and hopefully I can convince some other people to help me workshop.

Speaking of workshopping, it was my turn to present a partial draft of my Writing Spaces assignment in a tutorial. Overall, good feedback (from fellow students... the Dreadful One has continued to be severely disagreeble, but due to the lack of guidance we were given for the assignment, I'm going to have to completely re-write my piece if I want to get a good mark from her). Despite all that, I've really loved being in a workshopping environment again.

On that note, I'm considering getting a workshopping group started on res just for the fun of it. The Deakin Writers Club sometimes organises workshops for members across the campus as a whole, but they are not run often and I think it would be a good chance to meet some of the writers I actually live with and build a bit of a community. Of course, I have to get my head around organising my time and assignments first. I've been extremely lazy this trimester and all of my due dates are suddenly around the corner and I've got nothing done... and hardly anything started! So, assignments first, and then I'll see about arranging resident workshops. I'm a little excited to get socialising with some new Aussie writers... and of course the international students are welcome too!

Aussie writers... that reminds me! Melbourne Writers Festival starts today and I'll be attending at least one event tomorrow as a part of my journalism assignment, and hopefully I'll get a chance to attend a few more over the next couple of weeks. Also, my friend EJ has started a new blog, in which she'll probably post about writing and life in general here in Australia, so go and check her out. I'm currently trying to con her into doing a guest post here on my blog, so go and pester her about that too!

This post ended up being a couple of paragraphs longer than I was intending, so I'm going to leave it there and get started on my assignments. Or continue procrastinating elsewhere.

Any news from my writerly friends out there on their latest progress? Who's been workshopping recently? Anyone going to the Melbourne Writers Festival? 

- Bonnee.

19 comments:

  1. Groovin' cover. Looks like you've got quite a bit happening, good for you! I've got a short piece (real short, ~200 words) that I shopped out a week ago or so. Got a couple of encouraging rejections. Otherwise I've been in sort of an in-between place where writing is going for right now. Have fun at the festival!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Short pieces are always good, especially for workshopping the nitty-gritty. Keep writing and thank you for visiting!

      Delete
  2. Congratulations on your poem being published! That's awesome! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. The magazine's cover is very pretty, and congrats for getting your poem published, and best wishes for your nice getting accepted for the next issue.Publishing in this magazine gives you a record of being a published author/poet, which is very nice. Have fun at MWF and I'll check EJ's new blog.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Giora, I have my fingers crossed and I'm glad I have a copy of my own to keep a record of this little moment of success. Thanks for checking out EJ's blog, it's kind of you, and thanks for stopping by here :)

      Delete
  4. That's all great stuff to be involved in. Writers need support, since we're so, you know, insecure. :P

    Having a magazine and writing group to submit work to will be a great learning and growth experience. I sometimes wish I was more active in an in-person group, but I'm kind of comfortable with my online crit buddies. Whatever works.

    Have fun at the writer's festival!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think in-person groups are my thing, although I wouldn't rule out online critique buddies either. It's definitely about how the writer feels about sharing their work. Thanks for visiting :)

      Delete
  5. It's grand that you got a poem published. I wish you luck with your submitted piece. Get as much feedback from as many sources as you can. It will help you grow.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much for visiting and for following this blog :) I really love getting feedback on my writing, because I know it'll help me improve.

      Delete
  6. The Dreadful One. That makes me smile. Hope you had fun at the festival.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I didn't make it to any of this weekends events, but it's running until next Sunday so there is still time! :)

      Delete
  7. A published poem? Awesome! Show us a photo or share an excerpt, won't you?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I certainly will be sharing it with you guys :)

      Delete
  8. That's cool the magazine is growing.
    Organizing workshops would be a lot of work, but I bet you could do it. They say busy people get things done and it will teach you discipline when it comes to organizing your schedule.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's one of those things I feel I've thought of too late in the year. Classes end in a little more than a month and then exams end a couple of weeks after that. I might try and organise a few little workshops, but it's definitely something I'll make a bigger effort towards next year. Thanks for visiting Alex :)

      Delete
  9. Congrats on your poem and good luck with your new submission. Enjoy the con. Such a shame I'm in Sydney!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks heaps Lynda! Are they doing anything similar in Sydney by chance? I hope they do!

      Delete

Have your say.