Varuna Fellowship

So I’ve not long returned from my week at Varuna, the National Writers’ House in the Blue Mountains, and what a magical week it’s been.

Picture this – chatting with fellow writers in front of a log fire surrounded by books knowing you have the whole week ahead of you to focus on your writing. Needless to say, I didn’t sleep much the first night because of a childlike excitement before a Christmas day morning! I was in the Green Room, one of two rooms in the house (there were six rooms all up) that had its writing space separate from the bedroom.

There were five other writers staying spanning all genres and it was incredibly interesting to hear what they were working on, about their process and what they hope to achieve after seven days there. My main focus was to review and edit poems, generate new ones and work out the structure my next collection will take. Reading, research and listening to podcasts was also on the to do list.

And so my days consisted of early starts, lazy breakfasts while working, morning walks, further work, light lunches, more work, afternoon walks, more work, then joining the group in the cozy lounge for pre-dinner drinks and delicious home-cooked evening meals.

Having arrived on a Monday, I didn’t write anything good (in my opinion) until the Friday, which intrigues me as I clearly needed that time to settle in and soak up the amazing creativity of the place. I could have easily done another week there, but I now have some sense of a structure, albeit one that’s continually morphing because what started out as one concept, has branched off into several others, so I’m letting it meander where it wants to go.

Being immersed in my writing, and in such stunning scenery too, gave me an amazing experience to remember, one I plan on repeating that’s for sure (because creativity, like nature, cannot be rushed!), with thanks again to Writers SA and Varuna for supporting me and for giving me this remarkable opportunity.