SlowTV

This is great!! Thanks to SlowTV, you don't have to miss a thing. SlowTV's cameras are there for the book launches, talks and festivals you wish you could have attended. At the press of a button you can watch Les Murray reading his poetry in Mildura; see Tim Winton and Martin Flanagan in Melbourne discussing football and literature; hear Robert Storr, the director of the Venice Biennale, delivering a speech from Sydney about art fairs; or listen to Ross Garnaut talking about climate change from Canberra. Among the assembled are Nam Le, Clive Hamilton, Michelle de Kretser, Paul Auster, Helen Garner, David Marr and more ...
Defying those who believe Australians only want information packaged in 30-second sound-bites, SlowTV offers conversations and events in real time, for you to enjoy whenever you please. It's available free on the Monthly website. If you haven't seen it yet, here's a brief sample of recent highlights. Follow the prompts on the webpage to sign up as a Friend of SlowTV, to vodcast, podcast and enjoy.

Sam's Big Win

Congratulations to Sam Carmody, a Curtin Creative and Professional Writing student, who recently won the Mary Grant Bruce Short Story Award for his story "Vincent". The Award is part of the 2007 Federation of Australian Writers (FAW) annual National Literary Awards and the prize ceremony will be held in Melbourne in late March.

Voiceworks Issue #71/ Callout for Issue #72

Voiceworks is a national, quarterly magazine that features exciting new writing by Australian young writers. It is a unique opportunity for young writers and artists (under 25) to publish their poetry, short stories, articles and comics, illustrations, drawings and photos, and the latest issue #71 "Issues" is due to be launched on December 14. It will be available shortly after from a number of stockists, including 78 Records on Hay St and Curtin University's own bookshop.

In the mean time, editor Ryan Paine is looking for submissions for issue #72 "Harvest" - deadline Sunday 20 January 2007 (pitch deadline 9 December), to be published in March 2008.

Submissions can include:
• fiction
• poetry
• non-fiction
• visual art

To the theme of HARVEST:
The harvest begins and a student agrees to $250 000 in the event of conception. People are saving for a rainy day, and a girl hoards the remains of her dinner for the imaginary friend under her bed. The excess of the harvest is buried deep, and the cake for the birthday boy who never returned rots in his mother’s kitchen. Somewhere, it’s always time for the harvest. So roll up your sleeves!

For more information on the magazine or how to submit, see the website: http://www.expressmedia.org.au/voiceworks.php and follow the links (and, yes, they pay.)

Contributors for Salt section of Xpress Magazine wanted

The Dance Music Editor of XPRESS Magazine has contacted us in search of Curtin writing students "with a good knack for electronic music – this can entail a passion for specific genres such as electro, trance, breaks, drum ‘n’ bass etc. However am also on the look out for writers who can write across the board on electronic music. They need to be easily available for interviews and reviewing events and be committed to meeting deadlines. "
Good grammar and sound proofing skills are, of course, a must. If you are intersted then contact: danceeditor@xpressmag.com.au

Alan Marshall Short Story Award

This annual short story competition for Australian writers is held in memory of Australian writer Alan Marshall whose most well known books are the autobiographical, I Can Jump Puddles, This is the Grass and Pioneers and Painters.
Entries for the 2008 Alan Marshall Short Story Award are due 4pm Friday 22 February 2008.

Entry Details at: http://www.nillumbik.vic.gov.au/Page/page.asp?page_Id=454

Or Email: artsinfo@nillumbik.vic.gov.au

harvest magazine looking for submissions

harvest is seeking fiction and non-fiction between 3,500 and 6,000 words and poetry up to 100 lines for its inaugural issue. Brought together by students of RMIT’s Professional Writing and Editing course,harvest magazine is (in their own words) "born out of our desire to produce a tactile and engaging publication for a well-read audience. An audience who believes that good writing can be both attractive and intelligent." They are interested in nurturing new and emerging writing, but also welcome submissions from more established writers, and they say they'll provide feedback on any work you submit.

Send them a pitch for your non-fiction idea or mail them your stories and poems. Closing date for non-fiction pitches is November 2. Closing date for final non-fiction, fiction and poetry submission is November 30. Payment is $100 for non-fiction and fiction pieces, $60 for a single poem and $100 for a poetry feature.

For more information and detailed submission guidelines, please visit their website: http://harvestmagazine.wordpress.com/

(Interestingly, the word "postmodern" is banned from use in author bios. Do you feel gypped? I know I do.)

National Novel Writing Month

November 1 2007 marks the beginning of the eighth annual (Inter)National Novel Writing Month, which means that there are still two weeks for you to sign up before the madness begins!

Every year, thousands of ordinary people from around the world (many of whom are writers, but even more who have never written anything before in their life) take part in NaNoWriMo, a hands-on writing adventure in which participants are asked to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. Pressure much? Don't worry: there are no losers. No official prizes, either, but on the other hand, you might just learn how to turn off that nasty inner editor who is stopping you from getting all those words down on the page until they're absolutely perfect ... you're going to change it all when it's finished, anyway. Write now, edit later.

Needless to say, NaNoWriMo is hugely community-driven. No one understands your novelling woes better than those of us who are going through the same thing. As usual, we will be holding a local kick-off party at midnight on November 1 and other write-ins throughout the month. Last year, we ran an unofficial writing competition with the team from Illinois, US. We're demanding a rematch this year, and every writer counts.

Visit http://www.nanowrimo.org for more information. Be sure to check out the Perth, Australia forum and say hi to the local community. Or email Perth's Municipal Liason, Elaine, at perth_australia@nanowrimo.org. See you in November!