I’ve been trying to catch up on my magazines. I know this one is rather important so I really shouldn’t get behind but it’s so easy to put it on the stack and continue with my books. This is the publication put out by Writers Victoria, it comes as part of my membership and is well worth it.
On the inside back cover I found the competitions. I circulated these competitions to friends whose writing I feel would fit the competition the most. One young lady writes poetry and I am trying to encourage her, being behind in my reading meant I gave her the the information the same day the competition ended. I’m told she writes really quickly so there’s a hope she managed to submit something. I’m looking at a competition for me but I’m not entirely sure mine qualifies as an essay, the prize money would be lovely, though.
Besides finding writing competitions in this magazine there are the obligatory excellent and useful articles. This issue the editors focused on writing in a different culture. Appropriation is something that’s been happening for a very long time and it’s something white people need to be especially careful of as white is more prevalent and we are the ‘dominant’ culture. We need to ensure we don’t blot out the non-whites by writing about them.
The first article made me very amused. By Ellen van Neervan it’s addressed to non-white writers and talks about how to write white characters. I did wonder if white writers would read this and realise what they’re doing when they write non-white characters. It briefly talks about settler readers who are not used to reading about themselves from non-white eyes. This is something I’d like to read more of, and learn more about the people who were here before us, how they coped and felt. I’ve been reading books about the Stolen Generation, but like the Holocaust I think it’s impossible to read too many stories of this nature. But I’d like more books by Australia’s First Nations Peoples from their point of view, it’s good to see how other people view us.
This is just a sample of the articles in this magazine. The publication is a must read for anyone who feels they want to be serious about writing. Joining Writers Victoria was the first step in my admission that I wanted to be a writer, so there’s a distinct chance I’m biased.