Sarah Widdup was a Write-ability Fellow in 2014. She was host and guest speaker at the Write-ability Salon (Nothing About Us, Without Us) at The Wheeler Centre in December 2015.
Short stories, features and poems from our writing community.
Featured Writers
My neighbour's growling four-wheel drive reverses past our headboard. Thin walls and a driveway less than a metre from our bedroom negating any need for an alarm clock. Pavlovian instinct kicks in triggering my first curse of the morning. An unsteady hand extends from the covers. Sausage fingers stabbing at the screen turning off flight mode. If I squint and close one eye I can mostly deal with the little flashing light. The phone vibrates and messages by the dozen begin to arrive. It's too early. Pre-caffeinated me can't process that level of interaction.
How do you define disability? What does it mean to you, and why?
For a long time I mostly saw disability through the eyes of an able-bodied person with little experience of that world, until I realised it was broader than I imagined and I belonged in it. I had thought that disability would be obvious; there would be visual cues such as mobility aids, Auslan being used, white canes and service dogs - I thought that disability was mostly something you could see, which meant that chronic illness was illness, not disability. That was then.
Ashlee Bye was a Write-ability Fellow in 2015. She read this extract from 'Out of the Shadows' at the Write-ability Salon (Nothing About Us, Without Us) at The Wheeler Centre in December 2015.
Writers Victoria’s Write-ability program has been built around the importance of self-told stories, disability leadership and peer support — creating opportunities for even the quietest voices to be heard.
Now in its third year, Write-ability has grown to include a regional focus with Geelong-based Harriet Gaffney as our first regional project officer.
Five writers with disability will receive six hours of free mentoring with authors, assessors and industry experts through the third annual Write-ability Fellowships announced this week.
Fellowships were awarded to writers working in a range of styles and genres, including creative fiction, memoir and non-fiction journalism.
Emerging writer Naomi Fryers will work with outgoing Director of the Emerging Writers Festival, Sam Twyford-Moore, over the next two months.
Emerging Victorian writers from migrant backgrounds are invited to apply for the new Deborah Cass Prize.
The granddaughter of Jewish immigrants, Deborah Cass became a prize-winning professor of International Law at the London School of Economics. On learning that she had cancer, Deborah left her academic career to focus on creative writing. She had a number of short fiction pieces published, but was unable to realise her aim to complete a novel.
With generous support from family and friends, this prize aims to help someone from a migrant background find a voice for themselves...
In 2014, Arts Access Victoria and the University of Melbourne undertook a research project to investigate the creative case for inclusive arts practice as it relates to people with disability.
The Beyond Access research project developed a number of videos designed to raise awareness of the amazing and diverse work produced by artists with disability.
We are very proud that our Write-ability program was included as one of the Beyond Access case studies. In this short video, Director Kate Larsen and WV tutor and Write-ability Fellow Carly Findlay talk about the program...
Welcome to the Writers Victoria website. Click on the video below for an introduction in Auslan.
Find out more about our Write-ability program for writers with disability.
This video was produced by Sign Language Video Productions thanks to the support of Arts Access Australia.
Writers Victoria, RMIT and Affirm Press are pleased to announce the winners of the inaugural WRAP Synopsis Prize.
The first prize went to Anita Smith, with Mark Brandi announced as runner-up. Last night’s audience at The Salon does Synopsis also awarded a People’s Choice award to Will Cox.