Welcome to our next meeting, which hopes to activate your creative genius!

Please register your attendance through this event. We have a capacity of 80 people.

Please arrive 10-15 minutes early to complete the entry process so we can start on time. This session is jam-packed. If you have flu-like symptoms, please stay at home and get better quickly.

Meeting fees on entry: $5.00 Members & $10.00 Visitors

Order of Events

12.05 INTRODUCTION

12:15 GUEST SPEAKER: John Thompson-Gray, ‘Making Non-Fiction as Enticing as Fiction’

13:00 AFTERNOON TEA: Pre-packed refreshments provided or BYO

13:30 MEMBER’S SPOTLIGHT: Featuring a Top Five Anthology Author

13:45 GENRE TABLES: Each table of members creates a specific themed, genre-based story

15:00 CONCLUSION and THANK YOU

Our guest speaker is the enthralling John Thompson-Gray, who will speak on ‘Making Non-Fiction as Enticing as Fiction’. John has a wealth of experience bringing to life historical events as if you actually witnessed them. You will learn how to use the established techniques of: suspense, mystery, structure; (lonely) voice(s) telling the story (marginalised, (person, case, tense)); cultural factors; calling on imagination; pacing; reader fixation of belief, scepticism; research; and mindshare examples.

It’s just wonderful! John’s book Japanese Blitz on Darwin is a bestseller and, if you don’t have it already, John will donate 42 copies as a fundraiser at $5 each! I’m sure if you ask nicely, John will be happy to sign your copy during the break. Other books by John include: Love, Luck and Larceny – Memoirs from Broome 1942, How Great Thine Aunt (for sale and discounted to $10), de Kat Met de Elf Levens (translated into Dutch), and The First Australian Missionary to Korea - Henry Davies and his Nieces (translated into Korean).

The Author Spotlight will feature a top five 2020 Anthology Author to read their piece and answer questions.

Introducing Genre Tables: Members will be invited to sit a preferred GENRE TABLE. If you’re late, you’ll need to have a backup genre with which you can work. A common theme will be presented to the assembly and each table must create a story based on the table genre. Each table member will have two (2) minutes to write their creative grab, which must finish with “AND…”, unless you’re the last person to write as you need to finish the piece. You then have the pleasure of reading your table’s creative genius to the assembly. Simple and fun!

See you there with your creative hat(s) on!