BroomeTime
BroomeTime will see two West Australian authors – fiction writer Rebecca Giggs and poet Andrew Burke - each taking up month-long residencies in Broome during October and November of this year.
During their individual residencies, Rebecca and Andrew will be pursuing their own writing projects while also providing guidance and advice to several emerging writers within the Broome community.
Through a series of facilitated workshops led by Andrew and Rebecca, local writers will be supported to develop new writing on the theme of ‘place’, illuminating aspects of Broome’s rich culture and history through prose and poetry.
At the conclusion of the residency programme, writingWA hopes to be able to publish the work of the community writers within a specially designed geo-tagged website, creating a literary landscape in which visitors will be able to explore and discover the stories of Broome, as told by the people of Broome.
ABOUT THE RESIDENT WRITERS
REBECCA GIGGS
Rebecca is an emerging Western Australia author of fiction and creative non-fiction. In 2007 she was the Young Writer in Residence at the Katherine Susannah Prichard Writers’ Centre in Greenmount. Her writing has been described as ‘detailed and deliberate, reflecting a poetic sensibility’, and ‘putting Rebecca at the forefront of Perth literature’s creative, as well as community, development’. Rebecca holds a law degree from the University of Western Australia, has worked in a policy capacity for a Native Title Land Council, and is currently enrolled as a PhD candidate in the School of Social and Cultural Studies, writing a thesis that is in part creative fiction.
Rebecca won the Tom Collins National Poetry Award in 2006 and has previously been placed in the Readers’ Choice and Finalist sections of the John Marsden Award for Short Fiction and the Robert A. Heinlein Prize. Rebecca has work in two upcoming publications; First Page, a book of art and words from Love Is My Velocity and Herding Kites: An Anthology of New Australian Writing. She is currently working on her first full length novel.
ANDREW BURKE, MA, PhD
Andrew is an Australian writer whose writing practice has embraced several genres: novel, short stories, literary journalism, tele-documentaries, play and poetry. His publishing record began in the 1960s and continues to this day. Over a career of some thirty five years, he has taught writing to students ranging in age from 6 to 87. He is presently a sessional tutor at Edith Cowan University and a workshop facilitator with the Fellowship of Australian Writers (WA). In recent years, Andrew Burke has lectured at Shanxi Normal University in China, and tutored indigenous children at Wanalirri Catholic School, Gibb River Station, in The Kimberley.Andrew’s publications include Mother Waits for Father Late (1992, Fremantle Press) which was shortlisted for the WA Premier’s Book Awards, and Pushing At Silence (1996, Salt Publishing UK). Andrew’s work has also appeared in Australian Best Poems of 2005 (Black Inc) and Best Australian Poems 2008 (UQP). He is presently working on a manuscript of experimental short narratives, and preparing a New & Selected Poems for publishing.
BroomeTime is presented in a partnership between writingWA, Broome Regional Library, Country Arts WA through the Australian Government’s Regional Arts Fund, and the Community Arts Network, with additional support from Notre Dame University (Broome Campus). The project is sponsored by Skywest, Western Australia's premier regional airline.
