Registration is closed for this event
The Own Voices Forum in Moe in March 2018 will explore how writing and storytelling can help develop new ways of thinking about the self, disability, and community.

Who is it for?

The forum is for people with disability in the Inner Gippsland NDIS region, as well as arts and community development workers, disability and health service providers, teachers, local councils and libraries.

When we say that Write-ability is a program for people with disability, we mean that it's for anyone who experiences barriers as a result of their particular impairment or condition (such as the lack of physical access, communication barriers, discrimination or other people’s attitudes).

This includes (but isn't limited to) people with sensory or physical impairments, hidden impairments, ongoing medical conditions, intellectual impairments, learning difficulties or mental health conditions. If you self-identify as a person with disability, or as someone who experiences barriers as a result of your condition, then this opportunity is for you.

Program

By bridging the gap between mainstream arts and disability communities, the Own Voices Forum will use writing to break down barriers to social inclusion and give people with disability the skills and opportunity to tell their stories their way.

  • 9.45am - Registrations open.
  • 10am - Welcome and Why Writing Matters. The Writers Vic team will teach you about the Social Model of Disability, best-practice language, advocacy and power, and share some tips on how to write about disability.
  • 12 noon - Lunch (provided).
  • 12.30pm - Reading from writer and disability advocate Astrid Edwards.
  • 12.45pm - Writing Workshop with Astrid Edwards. Learn how to identify and write the stories you want to tell.
  • 2.15pm - NDIS & Art with Aliey Ball, Arts Access Victoria. Learn how to advocate for the arts in your NDIS plan.
  • 3.45pm - Learn about upcoming writing opportunities for people with disability in the region, and how to get involved.
  • 4pm - Close

About Astrid Edwards

Astrid started blogging about her experience being diagnosed with MS in 2013 at LadywithMS, and is a National Advocate for MS Australia. She founded literary podcast The Garret (supported by the State Library of Victoria, the Australian Society of Authors and Swinburne University) in 2016. She adores literature, and has served on the judging panel of the Aurealis Awards since 2016. Astrid is also Deputy Chair of Writers Victoria, a Director at independent content creation company Bad Producer Productions and a teacher of professional writing at RMIT University. She has worked as a consultant, taught Classical Latin at a private girls school in Sydney, worked at a private intelligence agency in Texas, and represented the Australian Government at the United Nations in New York. Good content and great ideas are her passion. Astrid tweets at @LadywithMS and @_AstridEdwards_.

About Aliey Ball

Aliey is the NDIS Officer at Arts Access Victoria (AAV). As a practicing artist, she has first-hand experience in sourcing funding. Aliey will talk about how art and culture fits in the NDIS and provide tips on how to navigate your NDIS journey and how to advocate for the arts in your NDIS plan, and also answer any questions you may have about how to use the NDIS to support your creative endeavours.

AAV works to realise the cultural aspirations of people with disability by presenting work that challenges and extends notions of who is an artist, how art is made and who it is made for. AAV is dedicated to an ambitious agenda of social and artistic transformation for people with disability, the communities in which they live and the arts sector in which they aspire to participate without barriers.

More about Write-ability

The Own Voices Forum is part of Write-ability Goes Regional and Online, one of the only fully accessible and inclusive writing and literary initiatives in Australia.

Following the forum, the program will include workshops, author talks and webinars for people with disability interested in writing and build writing skills for creativity and employment. Watch this space for more information coming soon.

Special Offer: People with disability in the Inner Gippsland NDIS region can also get 30% off a Writers Victoria membership by before the end of April 2018. Find out more here.

When
07 March 2018 from  9:45 AM to  4:00 PM
Location
Moe RSL
63-67 Albert Street
Moe, VIC 3825
Australia
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Course Code 183CATIGF
Free/Paid Free
Region The Gippsland region
With Write-ability
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A photograph of Astrid Edwards

Image Caption Astrid Edwards
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