Happy new year, welcome to 2026!
May this year be a happily productive one for everyone.
If you missed out on purchasing a copy of Ink 4 at the Centenary Lunch on 10 September, it’s not too late! To order Ink 4, click here: https://www.trybooking.com/DCQVM. To save on postage, come along to a workshop and/or literary event and pick it up.
Ink 4 is an anthology of four years of prize-winning fiction, creative non-fiction and poetry, published to celebrate the Centenary of the Society of Women Writers NSW Inc.
Pricing – $20.00 each plus postage or collect in person at an SWW event. For orders of more than one book, please email SWW President to discuss postage or delivery options.
Please note:
- Due to the Library’s extensive renovations, these events will be held in the Michael Crouch room, on Level 1, instead of in the Dixson Room. Level 1 is accessible by lift or stairs at both ends of the building.
- The cafe is now back where it belongs – Ground Floor, Macquarie Street Building.
Please book for the Workshop and/or Literary Event by Monday 9 February.
Workshop
Time: 10:15 am to 12:00 pm
Place: Michael Crouch Room, State Library of NSW
Cost: Members $40, non-members $55
Carmel Summers: Writing in verse – its potential for biography and novels
This workshop examines the recent emergence of poetic biography and the popularity of verse novels, especially for young adult readers. We will discuss, with examples, the main differences between prose and poetry as a long narrative medium and the characteristics of the poetic form that make it such an effective, vivid technique.
There will be an opportunity for participants to try their hand through structured and unstructured exercises in verse. While the focus of this workshop is on writing life stories or biography in verse, the same considerations apply to the verse novel.
Carmel’s poetry has been published in journals in Australia, England, USA, Canada, New Zealand and Japan. She has been shortlisted in a number of poetry competitions, including the Blake, ACU, Glen Phillips, June Shenfield and Magic Oxygen. Her experimental tanka book, The last day before snow, written in response with eight other Australian poets, including several SWW members, won the ACT Publishers Award for Poetry in 2017. Her collection, Lost in the Pleiades, inspired by the Pleiades or Seven Sisters constellation was published in 2023. She has an MA in Creative Writing from Macquarie University and is currently writing a poetic biography of Elizabeth Cook as part of her PhD at the University of Canberra.
Literary Event
Time: 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm
Place: Michael Crouch Room, State Library of NSW
Cost: Members $25, non-members $40
Member Spotlight
Karen Hendriks: Vesper Jones/Seeking Treasure
Karen Hendriks is an Australian children’s author and former primary school teacher, based in Shellharbour, NSW. She has a passion for literacy and writing heart-driven, imaginative picture books. Karen’s books often carry themes that help children grow wings and learn to soar.
She is the author of Feathers, Home, Go Away, Foxy Foxy, Our Shellharbour, and the newly released Vesper Jones & Marshmallow. Feathers was featured by the Duchess of York on Storytime With Fergie and Friends, shortlisted for the Rubery International Book Award, and received a Forevability Award. It’s also listed as a recommended resource by the Refugee Council of Australia. Go Away, Foxy Foxy was also shortlisted for the Rubery Award, while Home won an ABLE Golden Book Award and was commended in the 2022 ACT Notable Book Awards. Our Shellharbour—celebrating local life—earned a Commended Award from the Society of Women Writers NSW. Vesper Jones & Marshmallow empowers children to take control of their dreams.
In my talk, I will briefly introduce myself and each of my books. Then I will share either my latest book Vesper Jones & Marshmallow‘s journey or my new upcoming book Seeking Treasure with Bodhi that is being published by Nan Tien Temple, the biggest Buddhist temple in the southern hemisphere. I will be going to Taiwan with the monks in March.
Guest Speaker
Carmel Summers: Finding Eliza Cook in all the odd corners
This talk outlines the challenging task Carmel faced in researching the life of Eliza Cook, the Captain’s invisible wife, for her poetic biography, The Silence of Eliza Cook. She describes some of the unexpected places where she was able to tap into information about her, some interesting snippets about her life, the questions the research raised and how Carmel handled these to create a non-fictional, poetic biography. Carmel discusses how part of her process was to use the body as a research tool. It is through the senses that we gain information; the biographer is viscerally and physically engaged in the process of interpreting information and translating it into the form of the biography.
Carmel’s poetry has been published in journals in Australia, England, USA, Canada, New Zealand and Japan. She has been shortlisted in a number of poetry competitions, including the Blake, ACU, Glen Phillips, June Shenfield and Magic Oxygen. Her experimental tanka book, The last day before snow, written in response with eight other Australian poets, including several SWW members, won the ACT Publishers Award for Poetry in 2017. Her collection, Lost in the Pleiades, inspired by the Pleiades or Seven Sisters constellation was published in 2023. She has an MA in Creative Writing from Macquarie University and is currently writing a poetic biography of Elizabeth Cook as part of her PhD at the University of Canberra.
Book and pay:
Members, you can book for yourself and a friend at member pricing, if purchased at the same time.
Workshop: Members $40, non-members $55
If you have a Workshop Voucher, please email Julie Thorndyke, Workshop Coordinator, to advise your intention to attend.
Literary event: Members $25, non-members $40
Discount for full program (Workshop and Literary Event) when booked together:
Members $60, non-members $85
By Credit card: https://www.trybooking.com/DILKG
or by Direct debit:
The Society of Women Writers NSW Inc
BSB: 062 018
Account: 00950433
Code: VM
Email Amanda and include
your name, receipt number and date of event
Zoom ($10) will be available for this function – please click here to book: https://www.trybooking.com/DILKH