GREAT SOUTHERN (WA) FOLK CHECK THIS OUT

COURSE INFORMATION

If you have ever wanted to use your creative instincts then this evening course is perfect for you! Join us for a short but deep journey into word-smithing. Release your ‘inner author’ and learn how to tell your story in a relaxed, supportive environment. Numerous writing vehicles will be explored including blogs, journals and novels. Spaces are limited so don’t hesitate to enrol.

YOUR PRESENTER

Jon Doust has had diverse careers. He was born in Bridgetown into a farming/retailing family and worked in both until he was old enough to know better. Since then he has been asked to leave jobs in banking, the media, retailing (again), farming (again) and comedy. These days he is best known as a writer, professional speaker, big ideas inspirer and community projects facilitator. He has co-written two children’s books and both have almost received awards. Some years ago he asked himself the question: Why are people the way they are? That lead him to study Jungian philosophy and to becoming an accredited Myers Briggs Practitioner. None of this has dampened his sense of humour. Incidentally, he is also author of the critically acclaimed,

Boy on a Wire!

WHERE

Great Southern Institute of Technology

Albany Campus

DM 6 & Computer Lab B1

(see map on back page)

WHEN

3 Tuesday Evenings

8th,15th and 29th March 2011

TIME

6.00pm to 8.00pm

LECTURER

Jon Doust

COST

$210.00

Please note: This course is subject to minimum enrolments. To ensure this course runs, please don’t delay, enrol today – your enrolment could ensure the class continues.

COURSE CONTENT

A creative class with guidance from Jon Doust. In this course you will cover the following:

Writing, reading and rhythm Keeping a journal Courage and conviction Secrets What to do when you are done

Three Great Coming-of-age Novels Set in Western Australia

19, 2010 Vicki Sly

Three coming-of-age novels that introduce readers to West Australia are Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey, Boy on a Wire by Jon Doust and Breath by Tim Winton.

The transition from childhood to adulthood has long been a popular subject tackled in the pages of literature throughout the world.

Set against the backdrop of the harsh Western Australian landscape, these three rites-of-passage stories tackle not only the complexities of growing up but of doing so in small and isolated communities where the elements are as harsh as the realities of life.

Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey

Craig Silvey wrote Jasper Jones out of his passion for the southern gothic fiction of Mark Twain, Harper Lee and Truman Capote. He describes it as “a coming-of-age regional mystery novel, stuffed inside a nervous little love story, garnished with family drama and adolescent escapism and anguish.”

Jasper Jones is set in a fictional Western Australian town called Corrigan in the mid-sixties against the backdrop of the Vietnam War. It is a great example of what small-town life in rural Australia was like at the time.

The narrator is Charlie Bucktin, a nerdy, intelligent, sensitive, book-loving and somewhat unpopular 13-year-old boy. Certain aspects of Charlie are autobiographical as Silvey was also raised in a similar world and he too had to hide his love of books.

Jasper Jones is an older Aboriginal boy who is portrayed as the town’s bad egg and is the scapegoat. He is stereotyped and misunderstood. The reason why the two characters come together in the opening pages of the book locks them into a secret pact and from then on we take their side against the so-called honourable citizens of the town.

The book has now won a bag of national and international awards and is a great insider’s look at growing up in a small Australia country town.

• Jasper Jones (Allen and Unwin, 2009, ISBN: 9781742372624, 368 pages).

Boy on a Wire by Jon Doust

Boy on a Wire is a coming-of-age memoir set in 1960s Western Australia that looks at growing up in a boys’ boarding school.

Jon Doust has dedicated this fictionalised autobiographical work to all those boys who experienced bullying and harsh schooling days and have carried their scars into manhood. It draws on Doust’s experience of being sent, in his early teens, from a small country town to a city boarding school.

The main protagonist is Jack Muir (Doust); hot-headed, smart-mouthed and totally loveable. We follow him on his journey through the perils of school life as he grapples with what is good and evil in the world, takes on the bullies, both children and adults, and lives in constant fear of everyone, including God, his superhero.

• Boy on a Wire (Fremantle Press, 2009, ISBN 9781921361456, 236 pages.)

Breath by Tim Winton

Tim Winton’s fabulous novel Breath is the story of two surfer boys growing up in a remote coastal region in Western Australia forever chasing the perfect wave in lieu of going to school.

Winton is a master at depicting Australian life so this novel is a great place to start with if you are new to Australian literature. Other recommended favourites include Cloudstreet, Dirt Music and The Turning.

In Breath, Pikelet and Loonie eat, sleep and breathe surfing. So too does Sando, the older hippie they meet who encourages them to overcome their fears and live for the adrenaline and thrill that comes with high risk-taking and battling the big surf breaks.

There is much more to Winton’s story than surfing. This economical novel covers some of the big themes like addiction to danger, life experiences in youth, the passing of time and ultimately, death.

• Breath (Penguin, 2009, ISBN-13:9780143009580, 268 pages.)

The 2010 Sydney Writers' Festival

Thursday, May 20 2010
13:00 - 14:00

Participants
Jon Doust, Joe Meno, Lone Frank, Ali Cobby Eckermann

Where
Sydney Dance Company, Studio 4
Pier 4/5, Hickson Road
Walsh Bay

Thursday, May 20 2010
16:00 - 17:00

Participants
Emily Maguire, Steven Amsterdam, Fiona McGregor, Jon Doust, Jill Rawnsley (facilitator)

Where
Sydney Philharmonia Choir Studio
Pier 4/5, Hickson Road
Walsh Bay

Saturday, May 22 2010
10:00 - 11:00

Where
Wharf 2, Sydney Theatre Company
Pier 4/5, Hickson Road
Walsh Bay

Participants
Richard Glover, John Dale, Jon Doust, Susan Maushart (facilitator)

Did I say big?

The 2010 Miles Franklin Long List:

Lovesong, Alex Miller, Allen & Unwin
The Bath Fugues, Brian Castro, Giramondo Publishing
Jasper Jones, Craig Silvey, Allen & Unwin
Sons of the Rumour, David Foster, Pan Macmillan
The Book of Emmett, Deborah Forster, Random House
Siddon Rock, Glenda Guest, Random House
Boy on a Wire, Jon Doust, Fremantle Press
Figurehead, Patrick Allington, Black Inc. Publishing
Parrot and Olivier in America, Peter Carey, Penguin Group (Australia)
Truth, Peter Temple, Text Publishing
Butterfly, Sonya Hartnett, Penguin Group (Australia)
The People's Train, Tom Keneally, Random House

2010

Right, ok, this year could be big.
Last year was big, but also confusing.
- We were living in a new town
- we both got sick
- lots of money didn't arrive
- BUT, we finally got a book out

When I write "we", I mean my partner and I because, let's face it, although I wrote the book, on my own, in the privacy of my head and pages, without her it might have taken another five years.
Or never.

What's on for this year?
I have an agent in the east - Nexus Arts - and already there are some Victorian sessions lined up.
I will continue to make a living from my other work, my corporate speaking engagements, but "Boy" will also feature large.
Especially if I crack an invite to a couple of big festivals.

Oh, the new edition looks great and all the errors are corrected.
Nice.

May you, and all who write with you, have a fabulous and slightly cooler 2010.

YES!

This week a printer will start the presses on a vibrant new edition of "Boy on a Wire".
Lovely.
It will look much the same as the previous edition, but all the minor errors will be corrected and a small collection of the most perceptive of the reviews will be included in the front cover, or the back cover, or under cover.
If you already own a copy, great, well done. If not, this is the one to send to friends who have never heard of me and need some reasurance.
That's what reviews give, reassurance. They suggest the author knows what he or she is doing.
A re-print was all the reassurance I needed.
It was never going to be good enough to knock out a book and have it sit in a warehouse for the next ten years.
But the pace of the early sales did stun me, knocked me about a bit, then put a rocket under my confidence.
This will be the first re-print.
My work has only just begun.

The boy is home

Three weeks on tour is enough to make a ground man sick and tired but luckily this man is not fully grown and although it was hectic and full on with full trams and buses and even boats there is nothing like arriving home and finding a smooth, sharkless ocean with swells to make an almost old man smile and dip.
And here I am.
The program this month includes:
BIG SKY WRITERS' FESTIVAL, GERALDTON
Featuring: Robert Drewe, Anita Heiss, Shelly Gare, Dean Alston, Barbara Temperton, Joy Lefroy, Lara Morgan, Jim Fisher, Simon Hayes and even this blogger.
It will be fun.
Then, soon enough, SPRUNG, the word released, in ALBANY.
Some of the same as above and also:
David Malouf
Charles Firth
Maggie Beer
Scot Gardner
I could go on.
I may.
But not now.
I must away to the Albany Fresh Markets, then coffee, then lunch, then a lie down.
Oh, the life of a casual writer.