Reflections from the SCWC/ Wollongong Botanic Gardens Writers-in-Residence

Earlier this year, the SCWC selected four writers to undertake a month-long residency at the Wollongong Botanic Gardens, where they would work on their individual projects in the historic Cratloe Cottage. While the COVID19 outbreak of mid-June put a halt to some of those plans, two of the writers – Hayley Scrivenor and Judi Morison– were able to complete their residencies before lockdown commenced.

Hayley Scrivenor is a writer, academic and former Director of Wollongong Writers Festival. Her writing has appeared in a range of Australian literary journals and she was shortlisted for the Overland Story Wine prize. Hayley undertook her residency in May, finding that the extra space and tranquility of Cratloe Cottage gave a boost to her writing practice. She reflected:

“Annie Dillard once wrote:

I do not so much write a book as sit up with it, as with a dying friend. During visiting hours, I enter its room with dread and sympathy for its many disorders. I hold its hand and hope it will get better (The Writing Life, 1990 p. 52).

I was gladdened to learn I had been granted a residency at the Wollongong Botanic Garden. It gave me a space to come to (hard to come by since I finished a PhD, which included a desk and fellow researchers to whinge too when it all felt too hard). It gave me a reason to leave the house and all the endlessly fascinating tasks (laundry, re-organising my books, cleaning the bathroom grout with my own toothbrush) that sparkled as a deadline screamed closer. It gave my book a room where I could come and visit it.

Just before the residency began, I received some structural edits. It was wonderful to have the space to really stretch out and come to grips with my novel – should that scene come before that one? Did I need an entirely new scene here? Even more than the space to work, and sense of daily purpose that came from having been given the time and space to write, what really got me through that month were the endless winding garden paths I could wander through when things started to feel grim.

Speaking to the volunteers and staff of the gardens and writing within a space that would usually have had more people moving through it – were it not for COVID-19 restrictions – added a rhythm to the day in Cratloe Cottage. Writing. Walking. Coffee. Writing again. More walking. More writing.

My sincere thanks go to the Wollongong Botanic Garden and the South Coast Writers Centre for helping writers in such a direct and necessary way. I can’t say too much more about the project I was working on, for now – though I should have some exciting news soon I can share! – but I know that the month I spent at the Botanic Garden helped me get through a very delicate time in its recovery. My book is feeling so much better now, thanks for asking.”

Visit Hayley’s website – www.hayleyscrivenor.com or follow her on Instagram!

Meanwhile, Judi Morison’s residency saw her draw inspiration from her picturesque (not to mention pirate-inhabited) surroundings for her novel-in-progress, which features a gardening protagonist. Judi is of Gomilaroi heritage and is the SCWC’s Emerging Aboriginal Writers Program Leader. A writer of fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction, her work has been published in a number of literary journals and she has a Master of Arts in Creative Writing from UTS. She reflected on her residency:

“A bare desk in a dedicated room! Incentive to stick to a writing routine! The access that Wollongong Botanic Gardens residency gave me to the Discovery Centre’s props room was heaven. And great timing. Workshopping with my buddies from Coledale Fiction Writers had highlighted some lazy, sentimental and vague writing in the latest chapter of my novel-in-progress. Without a decent outline for the work, I’d also lost sight of my themes.

Day One, the coldest day in Sydney for 100 years, was wet and freezing. But my retreat was cosy with the buzzing soundtrack of the cranked-up heater. I’d decided to go tech-free, apart from my phone. Pen and paper only. Over the road, at UniShop, I bought a pack of filing cards and some good cheap notebooks.

On cold, windy days I plotted, planned and wrote up scenes on cards, then shuffled them around to gain a clearer overview of where I want the novel to go. I edited and gap-filled existing chapters, and drafted new ones. As I typed up the handwritten pages each night at home, I did a first edit. One triumphant day my six scribbled A5 pages amounted to 1400 typed words!

On fine days I walked the paths and perimeter of the Gardens, reading plant names, noting the different bark patterns on trees, listening to birdsong and wind rushing, aware of the warmth of the sun on my face in open areas and the damp chill beneath the rainforest’s canopy. Sensory experiences that have found, or will find, their way into my writing.

Cratloe Cottage’s architecture is remarkably similar to the house that is pivotal to my novel-in-progress. The Herb Garden—my view from the desk—also worked its way into my main character’s gardening life and, on fine days, its sun-soaked stonework was the perfect heat-trap for a picnic lunch.

The genial help and interest from Gardens staff and volunteers were also motivating. And a pirate sketch I overheard the Discovery Centre’s resident playwright, Michael, and his swashbuckling opponent rehearsing outside the cottage found its way into my writing.

The residency gave me the physical and mental space to wind down from other distractions and focus on my work-in-progress. I’m very grateful to Wollongong Botanic Gardens and South Coast Writers Centre for giving me, and the other writers-in-residence, this opportunity to create in such a nurturing and rich environment.”

Congratulations to Hayley and Judi!

The SCWC/ Wollongong Botanic Gardens Writers-In-Residence program will resume in 2022, with poet Peter Ramm set to complete his residency once lockdown restrictions are lifted.