	{"id":102825,"date":"2025-08-09T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/goldenplains\/?p=102825"},"modified":"2025-08-08T14:11:41","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T04:11:41","slug":"writers-festivalcomes-to-bannockburn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/goldenplains\/news\/writers-festivalcomes-to-bannockburn\/","title":{"rendered":"Writers&#8217; festival comes to Bannockburn"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-start=\"536\" data-end=\"715\">As part of this year&#8217;s<a href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/geelongtimes\/news\/local-word-writers-festival-set-to-return-with-diverse-program\/\"> Local Word Writers&#8217; Festival<\/a>, Dr Bev Blaskett will lead a special workshop at Bannockburn Library focused on transforming trauma into a positive life story.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"717\" data-end=\"837\">The session will be held on Saturday 23 August from 10.30am to 12pm. Tickets are $40 or $20 for concession card holders.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"839\" data-end=\"1041\">Participants will be guided through short, reflective writing exercises designed to develop a narrative of growth, learning and accomplishment. Attendees will not be required to share their experiences.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1043\" data-end=\"1165\">\u201cSome people have gone through really horrific and terrifying tragedies that have been really shocking,\u201d Dr Blaskett said.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1167\" data-end=\"1290\">\u201cSometimes that can mean that we get stuck in the past or stuck in panic mode when we remember those past traumatic events.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1292\" data-end=\"1407\">\u201cWhat I want to do is ensure that people can feel comfortable about looking back at their lives in a positive way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1409\" data-end=\"1618\">Dr Blaskett has a long career as a social researcher, social worker and lecturer in welfare history and political sociology. She currently works in aged care and is an advocate for compassionate public policy.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1620\" data-end=\"1726\">\u201cI&#8217;ve cut back on my working hours as I&#8217;ve gotten older and made a lot more use of the library,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1728\" data-end=\"1919\">\u201cI have been researching my own life story and looking at my own memories, and I feel in a good position to talk with other people about supporting them in writing their positive life story.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1921\" data-end=\"2034\">The workshop is suitable for adults. Tickets can be purchased online at <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/4fc9Dqr\" target=\"_new\" rel=\"noopener\" data-start=\"1993\" data-end=\"2033\">bit.ly\/4fc9Dqr<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As part of this year&#8217;s Local Word Writers&#8217; Festival, Dr Bev Blaskett will lead a special workshop at Bannockburn Library focused on transforming trauma into a positive life story. The session will be held on Saturday 23 August from 10.30am to 12pm. Tickets are $40 or $20 for concession card holders. Participants will be guided [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/goldenplains\/news\/writers-festivalcomes-to-bannockburn\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":211,"featured_media":102828,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-102825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Writers&#039; festival comes to Bannockburn - Golden Plains Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Join the Local Word Writers\u2019 Festival at Bannockburn Library on Aug 23 to learn how to turn trauma into positive life stories.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/goldenplains\/news\/writers-festivalcomes-to-bannockburn\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Writers&#039; 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