Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen. I would like to welcome you to the Peter Cowan Writers' Centre 2010 Annual General Meeting.
The past 12 months have proved to be very fruitful for our little group. We improved our Balance Sheet from $5,590.62 at the end of June 2009 to a very healthy $11,848.74 at the end of June 2010.
We enjoyed some wonderful entertainment at our monthly meetings by inviting a string of talented literary individuals. These included: Scott-Patrick Mitchell, Rose van Son, Dr. Ffion Murphy, Dr. Amanda Curtin, Professor Glen Phillips, John Ryan, Jake Dennis, Sue Clennell, Jeremy Balius, Elizabeth Bezant, Charles Page, Dr. Andrew Burke and Kevin Gillam.
We provided first class workshops for the benefit of our members and these included the Autobiography course by Elizabeth Bezant, Poetry course by Maureen Sexton, Script Writing Course by Vivienne Glance, Workshops by Alan Boyd the Antipoet, Crime Poetry by Scott-Patrick Mitchell and a heavily booked session by Humorist Helen Child.
Our competition entries were up by 70% in the Julie Lewis Literary Awards, 100% in the Patron's Prize and our inaugural Peter Cowan 600 Short Story Competition is Australia's second largest of its kind in its first year.
We have a fixed expenditure on Advertising, Subscriptions, Insurance, Postage, Parking, Guest fees, Telephone and Internet, Wages, Website fees and Stationary of around $800 per month or $9,600 annually. Our membership subscriptions can be estimated at around $6,000, our other revenue from 'Writing for Pleasure' 'Poetry Editing' 'Raffle' donations etc can be estimated at around $2,000. To break even each year we must raise $1,600 from book sales and surpluses on competitions. This target is easily obtainable.
We received a $3,000 grant from the City of Wanneroo which enabled us to publish an anthology edited by our Patron, Emeritus Professor Andrew Taylor, 'An Alphabetical Amulet' and while revenue generated from the book was modest, the prestige it brought to our centre was substantial. It dramatically lifted our literary profile because it contained the works of many well know writers and we received many accolades from those who read it. We also received a benefit of around $4,500 from the Lotteries Commission to update our computer and printing technology.
And finally I want to pay tribute to the sound advice that was unreservedly offered from present and past office bearers and I am humble in my appreciation of the tireless and wonderful support I have received from volunteers, without whose assistance our Centre would have suffered a miserable year.
For the next year we should just continue to do what we have been doing. That is we should continue to support our 'Writing for Pleasure' sessions and Autobiography workshops and not overstretch ourselves with an ambitious agenda. In other words Do what we do, do well.
With no members contesting the places on the committee all nominations were elected unanimously. They were:
President - John McMullan
Vice President - Vacant - no nominations
Secretary - Linda Ugarte-Kemp
Treasurer - Pedro Suarez
Committee Members - Gayle Malloy, Elizabeth Bezant, Kay Saunders,
Alison Craven, Beverley Cowcher.
ECU Liaison - Professor Glen Phillips
Sunday 4th July 2010
John McMullan opened the meeting at 1.31 pm and welcomed his special guests Amanda Curtin the judge of the PC600SSC, Kate Meredith from PCWC and Lynette Washington who had flown in from South Australia for the prize giving. He thanked the volunteers for their on going support and the stirling effort they put in behind the scenes. Kate Meredith interviewed Amanda Curtin about her career and in particular about her novel 'The Sinkings'
After afternoon tea the prizes were awarded. The meeting closed at 3.30pm
Sunday 6th June 2010
Gary De Piazzi interviewed honorary Associate Professor Glen Phillips and Post Graduate student John Ryan.
Glen and John shared their early lives and the landscapes and people that were influential in their development, Glen with his wide-open spaces of the Australian outback, John with his mountains of the USA. Both benefited from wandering their respective countries and the world agreeing that is not until one leaves their familiar surroundings that a deep appreciation develops for the uniqueness of each place.
Each shared their methodologies in writing, current projects and future intentions. Both espoused a deep appreciation for landscapes and nature and the influences they have on humanity, which is reflected in their involvement in the International Centre for Landscape and Language.
The interview ended with Glen and John reading selected works of their own.
Sunday 2nd May 2010
The monthly meeting was replaced by a book sale of donated and new books which raised $1700 towards our administration costs.
Sunday 11th April 2010
The meeting commenced at 1:30 pm and the President thanked the members for their continuing support and emphasized the valuable contribution of the volunteers. He said he was pleased with the wonderful support received for the Wicked Wednesday evening and at our Writing for Pleasure sessions. He asked the members to make the special effort for the second hand book sale and the anthology launch. Below is the account of the meeting.
The launch of the Peter Cowan 600 word Short Story Competition took place on a lovely warm afternoon on Sunday, April 11th. It was attended by 25 people including well known writers and poets like Professor Emeritus Andrew Taylor, Professor Glen Phillips, Dr. Susan Ash and Dr. Ffion Murphy. The afternoon was a celebration of Peter Cowan's life and works as well as the official launch of the first Short Story Competition this year for the Peter Cowan Writers Centre.
Ffion Murphy, who launched the competition, spoke of her time as Editor-in-Residence at the Centre and what a privilege it was to be invited to read other people's works in progress. She described the importance of valuing and editing one's own work and the impact a well written short story has on the reader.
Andrew Taylor read a story of Peter Cowan's that had the audience spellbound. He described the short story as having more in common with a poem than a novel.
Glen Phillips also read a story (exactly 600 words) and spoke of Peter Cowan's almost deceptively simple style. He shared anecdotes from the life of Peter Cowan and Peter's concerns with sustainable landscapes before it was fashionable to talk about such things.
In the lively discussion that followed the launch and the readings, the point was made that there is always room for editing. Glen said that he has up to 20 different versions of a single poem, while Andrew commented that a story can conceal as much as it can reveal, citing the example once again of Peter Cowan himself. Both Susan and Ffion mentioned that rhythm, language and characters that stay in the reader's mind are some factors that make a short story memorable. Ffion also spoke of the importance of close reading and writing several draft versions before submitting a story for publication.
Audience members shared anecdotes of their own successes and challenges and debated on the lack of support for science and fantasy short fiction as a literary genre. Ffion stated that she has noticed an increase in this genre from student submissions and hoped that there would be an increased market for science and fantasy fiction at a local level.
It was an enjoyable and informative session and I have been newly inspired to start writing a short story for the competition. If I start today, I will have time to do the 50 rewrites before it is ready for submission!
Rashida Murphy
11 April, 2010.
Sunday 7th March 2010
The meeting commenced at 1.32pm with the President thanking the members for their continued support and emphasised the valuable contribution by volunteers. A request was made that members support the "Wicked Wednesday" sessions and the Second Hand Books sale. Kate Meredith interviewed Elizabeth Bezant and Charles Page about their books and the journey to publication. The meeting concluded at 3.37pm.
Sunday 7th February 2010
The meeting commenced at 1.38pm with a welcome from the President and an expression of his appreciation to the volunteer support he is receiving in the operation and services offered by the Centre. He welcomed and introduced Jeremy Balius who performed the duties of MC. The guests interviewed by Jeremy were Sue Clennel and Jake Dennis who shared their poetry and the raison d'etre for their writing. The meeting closed at 3.45pm.
