I've been meaning to post about the amazing whirlwind week at the Sydney Writers' Festival for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize finals since getting back about four weeks ago. I could try to blame my busy schedule or my digital camera for failing and causing me to resort to grainy disposable pix, but the most truthful explanation is that I just didn't get around to it.
Luckily for me, overall Best First Book winner Craig Cliff (from New Zealand) wrote promptly, beautifully and at length about it all on his blog (and with lots of good photos!) so I'm going to be lazy and link to his account here.
While our experiences were quite similar, there were a couple of small differences, such as Craig hiking up and across the Harbour Bridge and Craig winning the overall Commonwealth Writers' Prize 2011 for Best First Book with his whopping great short story collection A Man Melting, which is now available internationally on Kindle and (presumably?) other electronic reading devices. It was a deserved win for a wonderful collection by a talented author and all round great guy and I highly recommend it.
My mini wrap-up:
There were six of the eight CWP finalists present - David Mitchell (UK), Kim Scott (Australia) and Aminatta Forna (Sierra Leone, she won for overall Best Book) as well as the aforementioned overall Best First Book winner Craig Cliff, Cynthia Jele (from South Africa) and myself. [Emma Donoghue and Mischa Hiller were unfortunately not able to be there.]
It was a privilege to meet and spend time with the other authors and, unless they were faking it, we all got along brilliantly, which is just as well given the amount of time we spent together (readings, panels, meals, outreach, ferry crossings, drinks at hotel, champagne receptions at the Governor General's residence, incredibly long bus rides to the suburbs...)
The judges were also very nice and supportive (and inscrutable - we only met them after they'd made their decisions about the two overall winners) and they accompanied us for some of the outreach and readings. Meanwhile, the organizers worked tirelessly the whole week - a big thank you to the CWP's Lucy Hannah, publicist Laura Brodie and local organizer/agent/publicist/miracle worker Benython Oldfield. Hats off to SWF's director Ben Strout and creative director Chip Rolley, as well as all their staff and volunteers - the size of the festival is astounding with hundreds of participants and thousands of attendees so pulling it off is quite a feat, yet it had a wonderful laid back, friendly feeling. Of course the beautiful harbourfront setting doesn't hurt, and nor did the glorious weather we enjoyed all week.
A few other specifics:
Montreal to Sydney (via Vancouver) was the longest flight I've ever taken and I discovered (happily!) that Melatonin really does help in combatting jetlag. This differs slightly from Craig Cliff's method - he simply denies that jetlag exists.
On my first morning in Sydney (so groggy and looking fabulous - VERY glad it was radio) I was interviewed about my book for ABC's The Book Show with the lovely, easy to talk to (and, thankfully, skilful editor) Kate Pearcy. The download is (hopefully) still available here: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/bookshow/stories/2011/3222012.htm
As well as participating in readings and panels, we did a fair bit of outreach in the community reflecting the Commonwealth's commitment to such causes as promoting global literacy. We visited a juvenile detention centre for girls aged 10-21 and three separate schools. In each case, we workshopped and/or talked with the kids, which was a lot of fun.
The teenaged girls at Juniperina Detention Centre were at first only really interested in reading their horoscopes from the magazine we'd brought to help with writing prompts. But they quickly got into the idea of brainstorming stories and came up with some great stuff, including one about a celebrity chef, a celebrity football star and a hooker in Las Vegas. The story ended well (and cleanly!) with the celebrities teaching the hooker to cook and play footie, then bringing her back to Australia where they helped her get on her feet and become a model. One of the girls showed us her book of poetry that she'd been writing almost daily, and another girl, Emilie, who was being released the next day, impressed me with her innate talent for writing - she wrote fluently and with a lyrical use of language. I hope she keeps it up.
I did promise I would mention the awesome girls in my workshop group at Blacktown Girls High School. So hello to Britanie, Atifa, Nadia, Rakshita and Maja, who revealed she has already written a novel (which is more than I've managed!). It's available in chapters on Quizilla and titled "The Arbitrary Life of Avery Blake".
At Penrith High School, the co-ed students impressed me with their knowledge, intelligence and ambition, and afterwards I answered a few questions for student journalist Jessica Washington. A little piece she wrote appears here.
The third school we visited, Gawura, was also a total pleasure. The pupils (indigenous kids aged from about 6 to about 12) were bright and engaged and all were excited to read their stories which they had created using interesting and eclectic words selected from their fabulous "word wall". They also have the coolest urban playground I've ever seen - a very creative use of space atop a downtown high-rise.
I'm also very grateful to my Sydney-dwelling friends Talya and Nick, who were not only fabulously supportive throughout the week, but also hospitable hosts and awesome tour guides.
