Record of meeting 12 September 2018

The writers

Helene, Trevor, Pat, Fran and Pauline and apologies from Terry

The words of the day

Ascorbic acid – Vitamin C

Culpable – deserving blame

Moral – ethical, good decent

Wedged – force into a narrow space

Ornament – something used for decoration

Acerbic – sharp and forthright way of speaking

Morphology – study of form, structure eg biology

Morpheme – smallest unit of meaning in a language eg word

Palpable – so intense as to seem tangible, able to touched or felt

Loop hole – an ambiguity or inadequacy in the law or set of rules or an arrow slit in a wall

Writing from words of the day

The writers wrote palpably about - Blood on the sand, Professor Peter – Orange man, Too seriously, Memories of lavender and So much has happened.

Reading of homework

Four writers read out crime stories about - Tom’s travel companions, Bianca, The explosion and Ode to M Beaton.

Exercise – The perfect plan

Juan emailed his crime story the Perfect Plan asking us to find forensic type mistakes in the story. Fran read out the crime story and the writers identified around 14 mistakes.

Exercise – Setting for a crime

The writers each created a crime scene as follows - The TV was on, Umbrella on the roof, Always a cliché, The waterfall and More mistakes.

Homework

Write a story or poem including a clock.

Big ben

Meeting 5th Sept 2018

Attending...Terry, Pat, Fran, Trevor....Apology from Helene

Words.
Parry..............       ward off
Qualm........           uneasiness, misgiving
Misnomer...          incorrect use of a name...eg French fries are actually Belgian fries and your "funny        
                             bone"
                             isn't actually a bone but a nerve as opposed to a malapropism which is replacing a
                            word with an incorrect one that sounds the same but is not. e.g. the boon on a yacht
                            is actually the boom, the mask is actually the mast.
Patronise...........belittle, demean
Contemporary...current
Derogatory........a put-down, compromising someone's dignity

As usual a range of subjects using these words

Homework.
Homework read by Pat, Trevor and Terry and Terry read Helene's contribution. All related to the
"Crime Noir" genre.
We discussed Helene's suggestion that if people don't want to write crime then they can do whatever they wanted. We agreed that selecting a particular genre, as we have done, allows us to focus better.

Homework.
Continuation of short stories in the "Crime noir" genre.

Record of meeting 29 August 2018

The writers

Helene, Trevor, Pat and Terry.  Apologies Pauline

The words of the day

Germane – relevant

Nefarious – wicked or criminal

Chamois – small European Antelope

Chamfer – grove or channel cut on an edge

Mugwump – an aloof or independent person

Bagatelle – something of little value or importance

Jabot – Frill or ruffle at the front of a shirt or blouse

Exoplanet – a planet which orbits a star outside our solar system

Writing from words of the day

The writers wickedly used the words of the day to write about - No religion please, I was hunting, In the Pyrenees Mountains and Scandals in Parliament House.

Reading of homework

The writers were not afraid to readout stories about - A dark flash, Winter is with us, Dancing shadows and Shadows are my friends.

Exercise – Breath holding champion

The writers held their breaths while writing about - Free diving, The Guinness book of Records, Next to the WC and He always was political.

Exercise – the secret to a successful life

The writers concluded the secrets to a successful life are - Stick up for yourself, Bubbling with energy, Vivid imagination and Be tough.

Homework

Write the outline or a short story of crime noir. Pat has proposed we publish an anthology of crime – submissions welcome from past, lapsed and present members. 

Record of meeting 22 August 2018

The writers

Helene, Trevor and Pat met in the sunshine on the deck of the Vincentia Golf Club.

Apologies from Terry

The words of the day

Gyre – short for gyration

Gyve – to fetter (captive, bind)

Relish – flavour taste or enjoy

Scurrilous – making or spreading scandalous claims about someone

Misanthrope – a person who dislikes humankind and avoids human society

Writing from words of the day

The writers relished the challenge and wrote about - Too much gyration, The budgie smuggler and The Catholic Church.

Reading of homework

Two musically gifted writers wrote songs about - I have MAD and The lady in white

Exercise - a body in the gutter

The writers used their gruesome imaginations and wrote about - In the laneway, Is it a trap? and A beautiful necklace.

Exercise – No bull

The writers grabbed the bull by the horns and wrote about short skirts, Buy me drinks and have olive skin.

Exercise – a visit to Collingwood beach

Homework

Shadows don’t scare me

Record of meeting 15 August 2018

The writers

Terry, Helene, Trevor and Pauline

Farewell to Garry who is returning to Malaysia for another couple of years

The words of the day

Pervert – lead astray

Copacetic - In excellent order

Offshoring – outsourcing off shore

Nocturne – dreamy musical piece

Umami – a savoury taste from Japanese delicious

Patronymic – family name derived from the name of the father

Kahuna – Hawaiian word, defined as a priest, sorcerer, magician, wizard, minister, expert

Writing from words of the day

The writers wrote in a dreamy way on the topics - Made the call, Take a turn, I am sick of the word pervert and I waited in a queue.

Reading of homework

Terry read out - The enriching fire written Juan – it was an interesting story about the importance of maintaining a group.  

The other writers wrote about Angel 732, Lost in the City to Surf, School holidays again and How to make a fortune while waiting in traffic.

Exercise - Sometimes things just

The writers created two of each of the following - characters, body of water, flowers and foods. The writers then created a story with those characters and other items. The stories included - Hugh Grant, Movie in the Marina, Marigold Pie and Tulips on the Thames.

Exercise – a visit from your friend’s father

The writers wrote about - Comedy interrupted, The mystery visitor, Look at the face and A weathered leathery face.

Homework

Write the lyrics of a song or a story about writing a song.

2018 Fair Australia prize $18,000 - free entry

Free entry. For details of the $18,000 Fair Australia prize. Have a look at

https://overland.org.au/2018/06/the-2018-fair-australia-prize/

Theme: new collectives, old struggles

About the prize

What does unionism mean to people today? What should be its objectives? How can we come together to make real change, now and into the future?
This prize encourages artists and writers of fiction, poetry and essays to be part of setting a new agenda for our future – to imagine a just, common future, and how we might get there together.
The Fair Australia Prize is made up of 5 x $3000 prizes and 3 x $1000 union member prizes. There are prizes for:

• fiction (up to 3000 words)
• essay (up to 3000 words)
• poetry (up to 88 lines)
• cartoon or graphic (180 mm wide by 255 mm high)
• best overall entry by a migrant writer, artist or worker*, and
• three best member entries (for NUW, MEAA and NTEU members only); these $1000 prizes are awarded to member entries in any of the above categories

Winning entries will be published in a special Fair Australia supplement in Overland 233, to be launched in Melbourne in early December.
Entry to the Fair Australia Prize is free. Enter via one of the category links at the bottom of the page. Competition closes 11.59 pm (AEST), Monday 13 August.
Guidelines: please read and ensure eligibility before submitting.
Members of the NUW, NTEU or MEAA kindly note: there is no separate category for union member entries. Instead, simply tick the box that asks if you are a member on the entry form for your category (whether that is cartoon/graphic, fiction, poetry or essay)
*For the purposes of this competition, a ‘migrant worker, writer or artist’ defines a person living and working (temporarily or permanently) in a country where they were not born, and where they are not currently a citizen.

How the prize will be judged

In each category, submissions will be read blind by a panel of judges. Winners will be selected on the basis of their aesthetic excellence, and their engagement with the theme of a fairer future.
Entrants are encouraged to respond creatively and imaginatively – the competition seeks to foster innovative thinking and expression rather than dogma or didacticism. See the full list of 2018 judges.

Ideas and starting points

In an era of increasing economic inequality and social alienation, community-building, collective political action and workers’ unions are more vital than ever. And for the first time in many years, union membership is on the rise. Unions are formal institutions, networks for activism, and driven by political principals. They’re the sites of both conflict and hope.
In our work, our lives, and our communities, what are our collective goals? How will we achieve them? How does money, time, power alter our daily lives, limiting some while others rise to the ‘top’? How might we change our collective future?
Further reading
– Background material for the prize
– Previous winning entries
– Recent Overland pieces touching on similar themes:

• ‘“More than babysitting”: thinking about women’s work in early childhood’
• ‘We had Marx, they had Pauline: left organising in poor communities’
• ‘The turn to industry: what happened when left activists joined the working class’
• ‘Against a universal basic income’ and ‘The radical potential of a universal basic income: a reply to Ben Kunkler’
• ‘Rage, rage against the factory closure’
• ‘Rules made for breaking: beyond “Change the Rules”’
• ‘If we don’t make this stand, who will?’
• ‘Abortion – Ireland to Oz’

Record of meeting 8 August 2018

The Genting Highlands Malaysia

T

The writers

Terry, Helene and welcome to Garry who travelled from the Genting Highlands in Malaysia for our meeting

Plan to hold a stall at Spring into Sanctuary Point festival

Our numbers are dropping and we plan to hold a stall at the “Spring into Sanctuary Point” event on Saturday 27 Oct from 9 am to 1 pm to encourage new members

Action plan
Terry will enquire about borrowing a marquee

Terry will organise business cards to hand out on the day

Members are asked to volunteer to attend the stall for a few hours and answer questions about our group

The words of the day

Lawd – praise, applaud, acclaim

Perspicacity – ability to perceive things 

Conglomerate – distinct parts joined together

Fungible – flexible or mutually interchangeable

Ergophobia – abnormal fear of work or aversion to work

Writing from words of the day

The writers perceptively used the words of the day and wrote about - The uncommitted cook, Written on the wall and Percy and the danger of work.

Reading of homework

Two writers looked through various windows and wrote about - Through many windows and Choose a window.

Exercise

The writers wrote about - The wood pile, The garden room and The high school board allows phones.

Homework

The 642 was late.