Brisbane Walkway It’s sad to be leaving Clarion South after six weeks of building such great new friendships. I’m sure the group will all stay in touch, hoping to continue some of the fine work that we’ve started here. And this week I’ve been thinking over the many things I’ll miss, which we’ve grown used to during our time here, like:

  • Playing mafia with 17 great people and the tutors and conveners
  • Going down to Avid Reader every Thursday to hear the tutors read one of their short stories, sometimes read myself, then go for the ritual that is curry at Punjabi Palace, where there’s always the same Bollywood DVD (a classic!)
  • Meeting 6 amazing tutors who brought us a wealth of experience, were able to pinpoint areas where we each need work, and were unbelievably generous with their encouragement and advice. Thanks to Robert Hood, Lee Battersby, Kelly Link, Margo Lanagan, Gardner Dozois, and Simon Brown. Thank you to them also for being honest and brutal with us when we needed it.
  • Critiquing stories at 1am in the living room of our apartment as we all get bleary eyed and the page starts to blur (amazing how much fun this was)
  • Pushing through barriers with my own stories just to hit a deadline
  • Feeling that there are 17 other students here who are committed to writing, want to improve their craft, want to help others and who I’ve felt that I could always ask for advice or support
    The feeling of sadness every week as we say goodbye to that week’s tutor and the feeling of anticipation and nervousness as we say hello to the next week’s tutor on Sunday night
  • Walking down to any of the other two apartments, swiping my security card and walking into a living room other than my own to just say ‘hi’ and see what crazy things and stories they’re up to
    Listening to other people’s story ideas and having that ‘ah ha’ moment when we realise we’ve all unconsciously been channeling each other
  • The privilege of seeing writers develop over the course of six weeks (the change from week 1 to week 6 stories is incredible)
  • The time and space to focus purely on writing and really ‘live in it’. I don’t thing I’ll ever get the same opportunity, certainly not with the benefit of being in this hot-house environment with so many other writers. The energy is infectious!
  • Learning to write in the mess that is my bedroom and not think I need to procrastinate by arranging pens!
  • Dipping into short stories at leisure for inspiration

So tomorrow night we’ll have one last bash at the Griffith Uni Club House. And then on Saturday I return to Melbourne, very much looking forward to seeing my girlfriend, family and friends, who I’ve missed dearly. I’ll say goodbye to the ants in the kitchen (we won the battle, but concede the war) and the luxurious student accommodation and hopefully, just hopefully, will be writing again this Monday morning.

Thanks to everyone involved in Clarion South (conveners , tutors and students) for such a breakthrough experience and to everyone back in Melbourne for supporting and encouraging me to be here.