Just Write!

Summer School Holidays Program 2023

Throughout the recent summer school holidays, we connected with young people across the Shoalhaven through a series of creative workshops. These workshops were funded by the Holiday Break program supported by the Office for Regional Youth in partnership with Create NSW, and delivered in partnership with Shoalhaven Regional Art Gallery and Shoalhaven Libraries.

Workshops included How to Write a Book Review with Sandy Fussell, Screenwriting with Morna Seres, Poetry on Place with Nicole Smede, Untranslatable: Writing the Unwritten with Rhys Lorenc, Translating Yourself: Unique Ideas into Stories with Helena Fox, and Zine Art Collage with Angie Cass.

One parent said: “My children really enjoyed the practical approach in the collage workshop. They loved the use of recycled materials and were inspired when Angie Cass told them she uses peoples rubbish and items from the side of the road to create her masterpieces. I liked that it provided them with a different element of creativity and opportunities to think about how we reuse and recycle items in our home environment.”

Many imaginative stories, poems, and ideas began in these workshops, and we hope the participants returned home feeling inspired to keep writing or making new work. A number of these workshops dovetail into publication opportunities through SCWC. The story writing workshops with Rhys Lorence and Helena Fox were linked to the Very-Short-Story Competition, and participants were invited to write short stories up to 500 and then submit to the competition if they chose. The winners of the Very Short Story Competition will be published in a zine, alongside art collages created in Angie Cass’s holiday workshops.

This program was presented in partnership with the Shoalhaven Regional Gallery and Shoalhaven Libraries. It was part of the Holiday Break program and is funded by the Office for Regional Youth in partnership with Create NSW.