creative writing

BRISBANE WRITERS FESTIVAL

/ Edwina Shaw / Leave a comment

I’m so excited about this year’s Brisbane Writers’ Festival – mainly because this year I’m in it!

On Sunday 6th September from 9 am I will be leading a combined yoga/writing class. Bring your own mat and writing materials. It’s being held in the big tent on Maiwar Green between the State Library and GOMA. I’m pretty sure this one is free. Will let you know more as I am informed. So if you’ve ever been interested in trying yoga and/or writing  this is your perfect opportunity 🙂

Later that day is a personal highlight – something I’ve dreamed about for over a decade – my best writing buddy Helena Pastor and I on the stage presenting at the festival together! From 1 pm, we’ll be at The River Terrace discussing the creation of Helena’s wonderful new book WILD BOYS – a memoir about parenting a difficult child. Click here to book

We really hope to see some smiling faces in the audience to share our joy and help us to celebrate this brilliant and courageous book. It would be great to see you there.

Lots of love to you all,

Edwina

 

THE WORLD OF DEAR MADMAN

/ Edwina Shaw / 2 Comments
Laidley Corn Day

Laidley Corn Day

This is the world I’ve been living in for the past few years as I’ve been researching and writing my latest project, Dear Madman, a novel based on a tragedy that has haunted my family for generations. Laidley is a town in the Lockyer Valley west of Brisbane where the story is predominantly set, one hundred years ago.

I love this photo because it captures just how “edge of nowhere” it was back then. I am especially intrigued by the girl on the pony in the middle on the far right. Pinafore and all. Who is she and where is she going? She could even be one of my great aunts.

For a long while I had this picture pinned up beside my desk to remind me where my characters were living. For them, this was the nearest big town.

I loved living in this quieter time and place where I could hear the thud of horses hooves and my own footfall, not the constant stream of traffic flowing past my home now in busy Brisbane.

I’ve finished the latest draft and have sent it off with fingers crossed and candles lit. But now I’m left, relieved in one way to be free of the madness and violence at the heart of this story, but sad too that I have lost this slower, simpler world.