Despatch from Nerd Island

Arrived home this morning after a lovely five and a bit days at Bribie Island with The Edge Writers Group – who invited me to join them … of course, it’s always possible they will unvite me in the same manner the Stonecutters unvited Homer.

So, it’s your basic “everyone submit 50 pages of a novel for crit, read all the subs, turn up with bottles of wine, slabs of cheese and a couple of sacks of choclit on an island” scenario. Add the luminous Sean Williams and the fabtabulous Alison Goodman (hallowed be her name and her reverse engineered meerkat impersonations) as tutors and you have yourself a most excellent retreat.

We did our group crit on Thursday after we arrived, then had individual consults with the tutors on Friday, then wandered off to write to our hearts’ content. We reconvened for meals and in the evening to talk, make bad jokes, inhale choclit and wine, listen to Sean’s expert DJing of 80s music, behaving like writers and generally scaring the Fisheries Dept in-service training people staying at the same place (who all seemed to be 12yo).

Beach - beware of sand

It was such a treat to go and play with such great people and excellent writers: Mark Curtis, Rob Hoge, Kate Eltham, Jason Nahrung, Kirstyn McDermott, Paul Garrety, Deb Soukup, Nea Bovill, Chris McMahon, and Michele Cashmore.

See? Work space - work in progress

Meerkat Manor