2015 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards

Are you an author whose fiction, poetry, non-fiction, Australian history, children’s fiction or young adult fiction work was published in 2014?
 

The 2015 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards are now open for entries - ‪#‎PMLitAwards
 

Read the guidelines, submit your entry and find out more about the Awards on the website www.arts.gov.au/pmla


Entries close at 5.00pm (AEDT) on Saturday 28 February 2015.

Record of meeting 7 January 2015

News

 

It was great to have 11 members attend our meeting today.  Jo is not lost anymore, Lyn is over Christmas, Leonie had breakfast by the water and did her homework there too, Diane has hundreds of tadpoles in her pool and doesn’t know what to do with them (look on line was the suggestion), Pauline didn’t hear her alarm at the beach, Elizabeth spent Christmas day on the edge of water with grandchildren making paella, Geoff had a quiet pleasant get together for Christmas, Helene had a quiet Christmas and swims at Collingwood beach, Wendy had a quiet Christmas and New Year, Cath surprised a few people while she enjoyed floating  in the water at Paradise Beach, Terry felt new muscles after sailing in Jervis Bay.

Collingwood beach 1 January 2015
 

Words of the day

Jingoism – patriotism in the form of aggressive foreign policy

Chagrin – disappointment or annoyance

Inexorable – relentless

Vicarious – taking the place of another

Cast offs – abandoned or discarded

Phenomenal – highly extraordinary

Ostensible – outer appearance, put forward to conceal the real

Obstreperous – unruly or boisterous

Cronut - a mix between a donut and croissant

Gist – the meaning

Appropriatonist – using from other sources

 

Stories from words of the day

Pauline – the gift

Elizabeth – my younger brother

Geoff – Imitation of Abbott

Helene – Recycled Australia day party

Wendy – I have no clout

Cath – The rebel

Terry – Amazing stories

Jo – I will go for it

Lyn – What happened to Devonshire tea? - very funny

Leonie – Foreign policy in the Oval office

Diane – In the Senate

 

Reading of Homework

Elizabeth – adventures on my birthday

Helene – Leo’s short fuse

Leonie – change happens by the lake

 

Reading – Harry selections

Lyn bought the book and Terry read out a section of “Harry’s last stand” written by Harry Leslie Smith a 91 year old man in the UK.

Terry recommends “The story of Mohamed” – on line written by Harry Richardson.

 

Exercise

Terry gave us the names Jennifer, Felicity, Rita, James, Scott and Wally to write descriptions of these characters. We each read out our descriptions with some similarities and other differences.

Homework

If you didn’t attend the meeting, select two names from the exercise above and write a few lines listing the characteristics of those characters. If you did attend the meeting select two of the characters you described.

 

Using the two characters describe a meeting in a coffee shop between them.

 

 

 

 

 

2015 positive changes

Christmas message 2014

Our final meeting for 2014 on 17 December was attended by seven hardy writers including one wise man. The group enjoyed grazing on a large quantity of Christmas food, with some chatting and writing as time permitted.

Words shared were

adroit - skillful, dextrous;
gammon - ham - (also) humbug;
doit - trifle,small amount;
kindle - start (fire), awaken, inspire;
penchant - interest(in), leaning (to) ;
facetious  - sarcastic, humorous;
wassail - toast, celebrate

 

Enjoy time with family and friends over the Christmas break and time for reading and writing.

Next meeting 1 pm on Wednesday 7 January 2015. See you there with renewed enthusiasm for writing in 2015.

Record of meeting 10 December 2014

Important notice

Meeting 17 December 2014 - 12.30 pm start

Please arrive at 12.30 pm and bring a plate of food to share for lunch on Wednesday 17 December for our last meeting in 2014.

Christmas Pavlova

News

Jo told us about her old family home in Arncliffe. Lyn has been clearing out her mother’s house. Leonie has been writing and had the busiest morning ever. Di had a stressful week with her family. David C is still chopping fire wood and eating porridge. Elizabeth has new glasses after an interesting experience at the Optometrist. Geoff read his letter to the Australian and is having a book published. Cath has posted her Christmas cards. Helene has a new printer. Wendy had a good Christmas party with the car club at the Lady Denman on Sunday and advised that the Post Office at Sanctuary Point hours have extended by the new owner. Terry’s grandsons have done well at school in 2014.

Words of the day

Indolent = slow lazy

Turpitude = wickedness

Climatic = an exciting feat or climax

Fimbriated = furnish with a fringe or border

Bae = before anything else – pronounced bay

Rambunctious = boisterous, wild,

Eviscerate = to deprive or take away something important

Supersede = set aside, out dated

Minion = unimportant follower, highly regarded person

Epiphany = revelation or bright idea

Magniloquent = speaking loftily, grandiose, bombastic
 

Writing from words of the day

We created brilliant stories from the brilliant words of the day

Jo = Rewriting his will

Lyn = Before any one could stop him

Leonie = Performing pranks

Di = The princess

David C = The GP co payment - very witty

Elizabeth = Those around him

Geoff = The future path – great political comment

Cath = The curtain came down

Helene = Fin and Laura

Wendy = Chains around her neck

Terry = You have 12 minutes

Reading of homework

Helene = Fifi and Mark

Elizabeth = Dreams to buy – a lovely poem

David C = Looking for the remote control

Leonie = Elsie and Lifeboat at sea - Two different interesting stories

Jo = Swearing and clichés – a great entertaining portrait of Sandra

Terry = Dressed in rags – a great poem

Garry = Another nappy change – a different look at change

Stories and reading

Di told a quick story and showed a picture of a mother spider and babies on the veranda of her house. Jo told a story of a spider bite in her ear.

Helene recommends the book “Elizabeth is missing” by Emma Healey, borrowed from the Sanctuary Point library.

Exercise

We shared two words, one with each of our near neighbours and wrote a story using those words.

Elizabeth – A deathly silence

David C – Down the well – a funny story

Di – The chestnut stallion – romance at the farm

Lyn – Ugly zits

Jo – A birthday present - a fun story

Terry – Skye is lost

Wendy – Nearly drowned

Cath – Starving the sheep

Geoff – His arms reached out for her

 

Homework

Short fuse

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Record of meeting 3 December 2014

News of the week

 Christmas lunch 2 December 2014 - The Pelican

 

Jo bought a cake and the packaging staples injured her hand. Pauline took her desert from our Christmas lunch and shared it with her family. Di went to RPA hospital last week. Leonie went to Demetries at Wandandian for breakfast – a lovely building but had to wait because of a big crowd. David C enjoyed our Christmas lunch yesterday. Elizabeth had her three children visit at the weekend and also enjoyed her lunch and company. David R had whip birds in his back garden. Helene visited the beach and saw her first large Christmas beetle. Geoff told us about the tsubo measurement still used for room sizes in Japan. Terry has his 48 th wedding anniversary today. Cath questioned the dates for meetings over Christmas and New Year.

 

Christmas holiday break

Last meeting for 2014 – 17 December 2014

First meeting for 2015 – 7 January 2015

 

Words of the day

Ramshackle = ill adjusted, threatening dissolution

Raucous = hoarse rough sound, loud

Sagacious = shrewd, showing good judgement, wise

Obdurate = stubborn, resistant to change

Chalazae = structure that attaches and suspends the yolk in the centre of the egg

Anecdote = short story not necessarily true

Collude = come to an understanding especially for a fraudulent purpose

Contumelious = sarcastic, insulting

Nostalgia = longing for things

Xenophobic = fear of foreigners/foreign things

Rag man = man who deals in fabric

 

Stories from words of the day

Helene = Anecdote Annie

David R = We danced the Chalazae

Elizabeth = I can’t do it

David C = Antique clothing

Leonie = Separating the group

Di = Sydney has lost its charm

Pauline = Can a person change

Jo = A mad meeting

Cath = Full of anecdotes

Terry = The room with green chairs

Geoff = Some victories some losses

 

Reading of homework

David R = Sheer delight

Helene = Mork & Mindy

Geoff = The shouting dogs of Santiago – a great description

Terry = Yippee doodle – a funny poem

Jo = The singing fish - featuring an appearance by the plastic pink fish

Pauline = True love

Di = Aristocrat from Russian

Leonie = Warm and cosy – a lovely story

Elizabeth = The cool pool

Garry = Strawberries and whipped cream

Derek = The hot chick

 

Exercise – two words to make a story

We each wrote two words and gave one word to each person sitting next to us. We then created the following stories using the words -

Helene = So much for a holiday read

Geoff = the yellowish story

Terry = Kevin was angry

Cath = Farming tuna

Jo = Twice is too many marriages - a clever use of words

Pauline = the walk to the beach

Di = what is true love?

Leonie = Contrasting colours

David C = its raining

Elizabeth = Unpleasant animals

David R = the chick who was a crook

 

Homework

Change

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Record of meeting 26 November 2014

 

Remember Christmas lunch

Tuesday 2 December 12 noon

Pelican restaurant and café St Georges Basin

 

 

News of the week

David C received an unexpected delivery of a large tree. Di had more problems with her van. Geoff has been in Tokyo, Santiago etc for a couple of weeks. Jo no news. Cath had a swim at the beach. Terry saw the Wizard of Oz by the Albatross Theatre Company. Wendy had two sons visiting. Helene announced that the road from Nowra to Canberra through Tarago is now sealed; the Turpentine Road may be sealed soon. David R has had three frogs in his house recently, one in the cream. Leonie has been busy writing, doing some art work but not river thinking. Pauline has been on a pleasant cruise to New Caledonia.

 

Word of the day

Abrogate = to cancel, to repeal

Altruistic = concern for others

Competency = skilled

Deligious = drink or desert like a religious experience

Surreptitious = in secret

Killick = a stone anchor

Perdition = complete and utter ruin

Egregious = outstandingly bad

Taciturn = uncommunicative in speech

Elixir = medicinal remedy for disease or magical potion

Pinnacle = apex ending in a cone, top

 

Stories from words of the day

We used the exciting list of words and created the following great stories

 

Leonie – Commendation

Pauline – The chocolate liquor

David C – The wine maker

Diana – The sage

Geoff – The road to hell

Jo – Youthful expectations

Cath – Work for the Red Cross

Terry – Argo looked down

Wendy – If I drink this

Helene – Parliament House Dining room

David R – Boomerang words

 

Reading of homework

David R - Perceptions

Helene – Life and light

Terry – Country life

Cath – The farm life

Jo – Cold as ice

David C – A cruise on “The sea spray”

Pauline – A social worker selfie

Leonie – A glimpse from the past

Garry – HMAS Landy

 

Reading

Terry read his story of the interview by Tiny Weiner of Ivor Willy.

 

Exercise – write about a body part you don’t like

We created some great body part stories, with the lower parts of the body most unpopular

Jo – my head

Cath – my noses, eyes etc

Terry – My gammy knee

Wendy – Eyebrows

Helene – I’m not photogenic

David R – Deformed toes

Leonie – My big fat belly

Pauline – If my legs were longer

David C – I wish I had more facial hair

Dianne – My belly

Geoff – My left knee

 

Homework

It’s me she wants to purchase