Award winning author inspires budding writers

WRITERS and book groups from the Portarlington Neighbourhood House (PNH) were recently inspired by the expertise of acclaimed award winning writer, Cate Kennedy.

Thanks to a partnership between the PNH and Writers Victoria, Ms Kennedy was interviewed by member Jenny Macaulay in front of an enthusiastic audience during an evening of wine, cheese and chat. Ms Kennedy’s collections of short stories are on secondary school reading lists and her stories, poetry and novels are read widely.

Many then attended a more intense workshop on Saturday which got down to the finer points of creative writing. The PNH has fostered fiction and non-fiction writers for many years and is a supporter of July’s Midwinter Words, an annual writers’ event which is currently preparing for its next workshop, “Finding the Writer’s Voice” to be presented by Dr Lee Kofman.

The interest in creative writing, whether it be poetry, fictional story writing or writing a personal memoir, is growing rapidly, and many are enjoying the support of likeminded people in the various groups forming on the Bellarine.