We are excited to showcase our local authors with a rich collection of content for our community. This page will feature videos from various projects, providing access to poetry readings, discussions, and event highlights. We aim to create an engaging platform where visitors can explore and connect with our literary work and events.
Bringing lines from the escarpment to the sea, this year's poetry month showcase sees an electric line-up of poetry and spoken word including Dakota Ferrier, Sara Saleh, Lore White, Mark Tredinnick, Holly Isemonger, Butch Schwarzkopf, Tamryn Bennett, and Rozanna Lilley plus a guest musical set by Jodi Phillis (The Clouds). Hosted by Nicole Smede, this event from the South Coast Writers Festival was presented in partnership with Red Room Poetry and Australian Poetry Month.
Dreaming Inside: Voices from Junee Correctional Centre is an anthology of writing from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander inmates at Junee Correctional Centre.
Each week in the middle of COVID-19, the South Coast Writers Centre invited one local writer or curator to speak on what reading they prescribe for these challenging times. Introduced by SCWC director Dr Sarah Nicholson, these bite-sized videos are warm, intelligent, and engaging.
Christine Skyes is the author of award winning novel The Changing Room, Gough And Me and The Tap Cats of the Sunshine Coast. Christine shares her writing tips.
Reading from the 2023 SCWC + WAG Poetry Award shortlist
Author: Carolyn Leach-Paholski
Poem: Pigment
What I Would Tell You, If You Asked by Alisha Brown was shortlisted for the SCWC Poetry Award 2022, which sought poems responding to the theme ‘ways to water’, in partnership with the Wollongong Art Gallery major exhibition and UOW ocean conservation project of the same name.
3 Secrets by Sarah Temporal was shortlisted for the SCWC Poetry Award 2021, which sought poems responding to the theme ‘every body’, in partnership with the Wollongong Art Gallery major exhibition of the same name running from August 2020 - March 2021.
Menopause by Nadia Mead was shortlisted for the SCWC Poetry Award 2021, which sought poems responding to the theme ‘every body’, in partnership with the Wollongong Art Gallery major exhibition of the same name running from August 2020 - March 2021.
Authors Julie Janson & Judi Morison In Conversation for the South Coast Writers Centre. Julie & Judi discuss Julie's latest novel Benevolence. Their conversation is warm, intelligent and humorous, and covers wide ranging literary topics including aboriginal history, identity, and erotic writing.
The SCWC has a strong Indigenous literary program dating back to 2000. In 2015, the program included ten workshops with Indigenous youth at Kanahooka High School which were held with the support of Wollongong City Council. As part of the Dreaming Inside project, up to four workshops for Indigenous inmates at Junee Correctional are scheduled, which are conducted by the SCWC team of Aboriginal writers – the Black Wallaby Writers.
Emerging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Writers Mentoring Program Leader Judi Morison hosts mentor Dr Bambi Ward and Sharyn McDonogh in a discussion about the program, and Sharyn shares a reading of her work.
Emerging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Writers Mentoring Program Leader Judi Morison speaks with mentee Tabatha Cann and mentor Rowena Lennox about their experience, and Tabatha reads from the writing she developed during the mentoring program.
Virginia Jane Rose is a script writer who moved to Wollongong 9 years ago. She found the Prisoners Writing Program where a friend told her about the South Coast Writers Centre. Virginia tells her story of her SCWC membership.
Roma Bates tells us about how she found her confidence in herself and her writing.
Roma Bates writing journey began in 1980, after a terrible accident. She was limited by not being able to walk and found solace in poetry.
Kai Jensen discusses his journey into Poetry and the themes prevalent in his writing.
Kai Jensen highlights what it is like being a writer with imposter syndrome. He talks about the importance of feedback while writing.
Kai Jensen talks about his favourite poets - Sylvia Plath, Elizabeth Bishop, Frank Oara - and what captured his attention in their writing.
Kai Jensen describes how Emily Dickinson came to popularity during the 1950s and what poem captured his attention.
Kai Jensen shares his views on poets who deliberately break the rule of language and style while editing.
Kai Jensen describes his view on what a Poet's aim is when writing.
Rhys Lorenc is a local writer, teacher, graduate of University of Wollongong (with a double major in Creative Writing and English Literatures) and art nerd, with a particular interest in speculative fiction. Rhys talks about the opportunities he's had with the South Coast Writers Center and where we can find his work.
Caroline Baum is a South Coast-based journalist and writer who has worked for the BBC, ABC, Time Life Books, and Vogue. She was the founding editor of Good Reading magazine and the Editorial Director of Booktopia. She is the author of ONLY: A Singular Memoir. In this episode, she offers us her reading recommendation.
Laura Brading is a South Coast-based bookseller and a former book publishing professional. In 2019 she co-founded WellRead, a curated book subscription service that handpicks the best new literary releases. In this episode, she offers us her reading recommendation.
Amy Molloy is a South Coast-based journalist, editor and content producer. She is the author of two memoirs, Wife Interrupted and The World is a Nice Place and the children’s book, How to Recycle Your Feelings. In this episode, she offers us her reading recommendation.
This episode features Isabella Luna, a queer writer and performing artist living on Dharawal Land in NSW, Australia. They hold a BCA (Hons) in Writing, with Minors in French and Theatre at the University of Wollongong.
This episode features Joshua Lobb, Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Wollongong. His stories have appeared in The Bridport Prize Anthology, Best Australian Stories, Animal Studies Journal, Text and Southerly.
This episode features Kirli Saunders, a proud Gunai Woman and award-winning international writer of poetry, plays and picture books. She is a teacher, cultural consultant and artist. In 2020, Kirli was named the NSW Aboriginal Woman of the Year.
This episode features author and illustrator Claire Zorn. Claire is the author of three novels for young adults: The Sky So Heavy, The Protected and One Would Think the Deep. In 2019 Claire made her debut as an author/illustrator with No Place for an Octopus.
