Due to the Queensland floods,

Fairfield Writers group will be unable to have their monthly meeting at

Fairfield Library

Fairfield Gardens Shopping Centre, Fairfield Road, Fairfield Rd, FAIRFIELD, QLD, 4103.

A temporay venue is currently being arranged.

The next meeting will be the 12th of February and will go ahead as planned.

Stay tuned for further details.

NEXT FWG MEETING

NEXT MEETINGS:

12th of Feb 2011     ANTHOLOGY GROUP       9.30am -10.30am

                                EXERCISE GROUP            10.30am-12.00 approx

26th of Feb 2011     NOVEL GROUP                  10.30am-12.00 approx

TEMPORARY VENUE:                  Yeronga Services Club Inc

 Cnr Fairfield Rd & Kadumba St

Yeronga QLD 4104

AGENDA FOR THE ANTHOLOGY MEETING

Key points to be discussed or actioned on the

12th of Feb meeting:

1. Submit first draft of story/stories in the formatted template.
2. Cover concept to be agreed.
3. Select a “buddy” to work with.
4. Discuss word count cost.
5. Any other issues.

COMING EVENTS



Writers Festivals and Events 2011 - Australia

http://bclbooks.com.au/festivals.htm



•4 to 7 March 2011 - Perth Writers' Festival - University of Western Australia

•16 to 18 March 2011 - Somerset Writers' Festival - Somerset College, Mudgeeraba, Queensland.

•31 March to 3 April 2011 - Oracles of the Bush - live performances of Australian Bush poetry, music and art. Tenterfield, New South Wales.

•2 & 3 April 2011 - The Norman Lindsay Festival of Children's Literature at the Norman Lindsay Gallery, 14 Norman Lindsay Crescent, Faulconbridge, Blue Mountains, New South Wales.

•6 to 8 April 2011 - Lit Fest - Young adult and children's literature festival hosted by the All Saints College, Bull Creek, Western Australia.

•21 to 25 April 2011 - Swancon - The annual West Australian Science Fiction Convention.

•29 April to 1 May 2011 - Williamstown Literary Festival - Williamstown, western Victoria.

•16 to 22 May 2011 - Sydney Writers Festival

•6 & 7 June 2011 - Voices on the Coast: A Youth Literature Festival - Sunshine Coast, Queensland.

•17 to 20 June 2011 - Watermark Literary Muster - Biennial festival bringing together national and international writers whose writing focuses on nature. Camden Haven, New South Wales.

•14 to 17 July 2011 - Mildura Writers Festival

NEWSLETTER JANUARY 2011

Fairfield Writers Group

Exercise Meeting

8th of January 2011

Present: Carol, Lorraine, Helga, Maarten, Findlay, Jennifer, Lou, Vera, Anne, Dani, Wendy and Anna.

Apologies: Cecilia.
Chairing this meeting: Anna

• Great turnout for our first meeting for 2011. We welcome two new members Dani and Wendy.

This meeting was based mostly on goal setting. What plans we have to improve our writing and any ideas to improve the running of the group.

Our focus is to be “OUT THERE” and become more involved in the writing world and to gain exposure.

These include the following:-

• Meeting room- it was agreed by most that the group needs privacy when we have our meetings.
Carol and Anna will speak to the library and see if a meeting room can be arranged or a large table to be reserved at the back of the library with a partition to provide privacy.

• FWG positions- it was agreed that there are several positions in the group that need to be filled as some members are doing most of the work.Carol will send out a list of positions to filled. They will be voted on at the next meeting.

• State of Writing. As part of our focus “TO BE OUT THERE,”FWG have become members of a State of Writing. This is a website that connects everyone in the writing world from publishers to librarians. It a great social network for the group.

Therefore two more positions have been created to concentrate on our networking.

1. State of Writing
2. Media.

• Blog- members had a chance to look at the blog in order to use it as a reference.
There will be a lot more focus on the blog as part of our networking and as a source of information. Twitter and Facebook are also options we will develop as part of our goal this year.

• Workshops- Utilise the QWC and the library to arrange workshops to help improve our writing skills.

• Computer sessions-Some members require assistance with using their computer.Some computer sessions maybe set up at the library to help with this.

• Youth Group- Members to decide how to proceed with this group.

An agenda of issues and positions will be emailed to all members and then voted on at the next meeting.

Anna

NEXT MEETINGS

22nd of January-Novel Meeting

12th of February-Exercise Meeting

ANTHOLOGY 2011

FWG 2nd ANTHOLOGY

FAIRFIELD WRITERS’ GROUP MEETING

8th OF JANUARY 2011

Present: Lorraine, Helga, Jennifer, Maarten, Lou, Findlay and Anna.

Chairing this meeting: Anna

The following key points were discussed in this meeting:

 Finalise the list of participants in our Anthology project and, from that, calculate the word count for each participant.
The members who have been approved for the FWG Anthology 2011 are
Lorraine, Helga, Findlay, Lou, Jennifer, Maarten and Anna.
The word count was estimated to be about 10,000 words per author. Some members have already written over that number. It was decided that Lorraine would get a quote of the cost of the book based on 10,000 words.

 Review any new or revised Precise submissions.
Lou has provided her precise for the anthology, which has been accepted.

 Discuss any issues members have with using the template and reach agreement on any issues of formatting etc.
Some members require assistance with the template. Therefore the blog has been set up to include all information regarding the anthology, including any handy hints of how to use the template. It has also been decided we will book sessions to use the computer at the library when required, to help members use the template effectively.

 Discuss the logistics for future meetings and exchanging drafts with 'buddies' and editors. (e.g. Do we want to be bringing multiple copies of an entire story to meetings.
(It could be a lot of printing, as some stories might run to over 20 pages!!!). Discuss ideas for Anthology website/blog to hopefully help with issues of logistics.

Arranging a buddy system will be discussed in the next meeting. Also all members had a chance to look at the anthology section on the blog. In the next meeting the logistics of the printing of the drafts will be discussed.

 Allow anyone who needs help with their first draft to raise questions, ask for help, etc.
Major concern so far is the word count. Some members had exceeded the 10,000 word limit and others didn’t know what to aim for. It was decided that participates write as much as they needed for their story/stories. The cost would be decided later.

 Allow time for discussion of any other business that any group member might wish to introduce (including the cover design if Helga wishes to progress discussion at this time.)

Helga provided the drawing for the cover as per ideas at the previous meeting. We all liked the idea of a rollercoaster on the cover and suggestions were added to improve the drawing. Helga will make the few adjustments and present the cover at the next meeting.

It was decided that we need to focus on our marketing strategy. This will be discussed at the March meeting.

Key points to be discussed or actioned in the next meeting:
1. Submit first draft of story/stories in the formatted template.
2. Cover concept to be agreed.
3. Select a “buddy” to work with.
4. Discuss word count cost.
5. Any other issues

Anna

Next Anthology Meeting: 12th of February 2011