The Emerging Writers’ Festival work, learn and play largely on the land of the Kulin nation, and pay our respects to their Elders, past and present.

EWF celebrates the history and creativity of the world’s oldest living culture.

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Masterclass, Panel, Professional Development, Workshop & Online

Masterclass: Creative Living

How can we bring artistry into our daily lives, beyond our writing practice? From slowing down and surrendering to the process, to imbuing our rituals and routines with beauty and curiosity. Hear from some of our favourite creatives, as they interrogate what it means to approach life with artistry.

Masterclass Schedule

10.00am – 11.00am
Keynote: Ritual & Risk

Hear from writer, artist and producer Madison Griffiths about how she integrates risk, ritual and passion into her creative practice, to make for a fulfilling and sustainable career in the arts. This keynote will afford individuals a deeper, more comprehensive understanding of what it takes to uphold various creative endeavours, and foster resilience across a variety of crafts.

11.15am – 12.15pm
Panel: Daily Devotions
Inspirational fuel for a writer is often found in the minutiae of life. Hear how these multi-disciplinarians harness daily habits and routines that flow into their artistic practice. Gain a fresh mindset, and uncover fun, practical techniques to ignite your own creative process.

12.30pm – 2.00pm
Workshop: On Slowness

Often, the missing ingredient in a piece of writing or a creative project is time. Yet demand for immediacy requires that we produce work quickly, often to the detriment of our ideas and craft. In response to the perpetual ‘nowness’ of modern capitalist life, a newfound emphasis on slowness has emerged. Is ‘slow living’ (or indeed slow writing) merely a passing trend, or can it offer a politics of refusal?

Led by writer Tiia Kelly, this workshop will suggest ways to apply slowness as a framework for thinking about your work, the writing process, and the wider industry. Through writing exercises, prompts and discussion, consider your craft as a time-based embodied process, rooted in place and observation, conversation and collectivity.


Accessibility

Closed Captions, keyboard navigable, zoom text, break time

Featuring...

Madison Griffiths

Madison Griffiths is an author, artist and producer. Her debut book Tissue (Ultimo Press) was released in 2023, and is a boldly poetic meditation on abortion and what it has the power to represent. She is the co-producer of Tender, a podcast that tracks the journey of individuals as they decide to leave an abusive relationship. In 2022, she was awarded the Walkley Foundation Our Watch Award for Excellence in Reporting on Violence Against Women, alongside co-producer, Beth Atkinson-Quinton. Her work largely centres around the lived experiences of women, especially those whose realities are shrouded in stigma, opposition and rebellion.

Phoebe Thorburn

Phoebe Thorburn is an autistic emerging writer & recipe developer living on unceded Boon Wurrung Country. Their writing explores food, comfort, connection, mental health & living in a world designed for neurotypical minds and able bodies. They are a Toolkits non-fiction (2023) & fiction (2024) alumni. Their work was shortlisted for Stringybark’s Erotic Short Story Prize (2023) and has been published by Frankie Magazine & ABC Everyday.

Roumina Parsa

Roumina Parsa is an Iranian Australian writer based in Melbourne (Naarm). She was shortlisted for the 2022 Catalyse Nonfiction Prize and her work has previously featured in Liminal and Farrago. She recently self-published a zine of personal essays, Here I Am.

Maggie Zhou

Maggie Zhou is a 25-year-old Melbourne-based freelance writer, content creator and the co-host of the Culture Club podcast. She has written for publications such as The Guardian, ABC, The Age, ELLE and Marie Claire, and previously worked at Refinery29 and Fashion Journal.

Tiia Kelly

Tiia Kelly is a critic and essayist based in Naarm. Her work can be found in Meanjin, Kill Your Darlings, Australian Book Review, Overland, Senses of Cinema, and elsewhere. She is a commissioning editor for the film publication Rough Cut.