Form immediate release – Tuesday, 13 October 2009

Two library workshops and an exhibition under the banner of “The Independent Type: Books and Writing in Victoria” were recently launched by East Gippsland Shire councillor and avid reader Dick Ellis.

Exhibition curator, editor of the book Literary Melbourne and Director of the Melbourne Writers' Festival, Steve Grimwade also attended and addressed the gathering.

The workshops are called “Getting it out: advice on the daunting world of publishing” and “Writing Short Stories: Craft your short story into a publishable work.        

“Getting it out” will be will be hosted by Melbourne-based writer and journalist, Liam Pieper who has experienced the anxiety of endless pitching, rejection and acceptance, as well as the giddy highs of editorship.

This workshop is best suited to writers under 30, is limited to a maximum of 15 participants and will be held at Lakes Entrance Library on Wednesday, 21 October 2009 between 7.00 pm and 9.00pm.

“Writing Short Stories’ will be hosted author of a collection of award winning stories Paddy O’Reilly who says that a great story is a lot more than a great idea. 

“Great stories use techniques of language, pace, imagery and more to make ideas fresh. They also need an emotional core that speaks directly to the reader,” according to O’Reilly 

Her workshop is targeted at adults, limited to 15 participants and will be held at Lakes Entrance Library on Wednesday, 28 October 2009, between 10.00am and 1.00pm. 

She will follow her workshop with an ‘author reading’ that is open to all at Lakes Entrance Library, on the same days between 2.00pm and 2.30pm.

Travelling Treasures is the State Library of Victoria's collection that their experts take to the road that includes a selection of the Library's treasures.

The selection features items that celebrate Victoria's past and present literary culture and cover examples from the early days of settlement to the modern era of what makes Victorian writing unique

They include issue number two of the Melbourne Advertiser that is the second issue of John Pascoe Fawkner's handwritten newspaper published in 1838; Raffaello Carboni's unique first-hand account of the miners' uprising in Ballarat from The Eureka Stockade in 1855; the 1879 Jerilderie Letter that is two pages from the original letter dictated by Edward (Ned) Kelly and penned by Joe Byrne; 1944 documents comprising two letters and a telegram that show the uncovering of the Ern Malley hoax and Sonya Hartnett's early career, 1983-4, two letters and a remittance notice from Sonya's first attempt at getting published.

The Travelling Treasures will be presented at the Lakes Entrance Library/Business Centre on Tuesday, 27 October 6.00pm-7.00pm.

Bookings for the workshops and events are essential and can be made at any of the Shires library branches.

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Further information – Darryl Woodhouse, 5153 9500