Winter Words Workshops, Cosy Readings, And Reasons to Get to the Theatre
An Eclectic Selection of Goings-On and Happenings Kaurna Yerta / Adelaide
Hello friends
Welcome to Sunday Night In, your eclectic selection of literary and theatre goings-on and happenings for June. This month we’ve got authors and readers appearing everywhere from the Howling Owl to the Ern Malley bar to Dymock’s Rundle Mall. There’s some most excellent theatre offerings including Hits at the Space Theatre and a One Act Festival featuring three different companies. There’s a wonderful program of Winter Words put on by the Adelaide Hills Council, plus see the earliest words and pictures of some of our most loved children’s writers and illustrators.
I know there’s some new subscribers since the last issue, a most warm welcome to you all. The form and format of Sunday Night In is still evolving, but at its heart it’s a monthly round-up of events in and around Kaurna Yerta. It’s primarily focused on books and performance, but sometimes strays into other storytelling or narrative events. It’s got a particular focus on local artists, but also opportunities for local audiences. As the name suggests it’s supposed to come out on Sunday nights, but I sometimes (nearly always) miss my own deadline. Mostly I’m aiming to have it out on the first Sunday of the month.
As always if you know anyone who you think would be interested, please feel free to share this newsletter with them, and if someone has shared it with you don’t forget to subscribe here (it’s free).
With love, Tracy xx
Featured Events
I adore the Winter Words 2024 program put together by the Adelaide Hills Council. It includes a fantastic range of workshops run by many excellent writers and facilitators including Heather Taylor-Johnson, Dave Chapple, Rachael Mead, Caroline Reid and Bronwyn Lovell. The range of topics is brilliant from ‘What We Write About When We Write About Love’ to my personal favourite ‘Writing Art, Writing Life’ where you’ll be guided through ekphrastic approaches to write about artworks. There’s also a poetry slam. You can book events here, and see the full program here.
Last Friday, I was at the launch of Sally Heinrich’s new book Local Icons published by Wakefield Press. The book extends the life of her excellent exhibitions featuring hand-coloured lino prints of some of the icons of our state. The book “is a joyful and idiosyncratic collection of some of these artworks along with Sally’s sometimes personal stories.” From Humphrey Bear to Don Dunstan to Willsy to Dame Roma Mitchell, this is a brilliant collection and a fantastic gift for friends and family living in far-flung places.
Books and Authors and Readings
It’s the month for the bi-monthly Dog-Eared Reading event this time showcasing ‘some of Adelaide’s most exciting rising talent’ with guest writer Gemma Parker, in conversation with Clare Charlesworth and two readers Alex Sutcliffe and David Ishaya Osu. I’ve been to nearly all of the Dog-Eared Reading events and highly recommend them. Convivial, stimulating and inspiring for readers and writers alike, the evening is limited to 50 people, so if you’re interested in getting along email dogearedreadings@gmail.com
Two local authors with big names: James Bradley will be in conversation with Sean Williams on 13 June talking about James Bradley’s new book, Deep Water. In the sumptuous surrounds of Dymocks Adelaide, it’s free but bookings are essential.
Wednesday readings at the uber-cool Ern Malley Bar continue in June featuring many excellent poets readers such as Kate Llewellyn, Juan Garrido Salgado, Ken Bolton and Cath Keneally. It’s so good to have a series of high-quality, regular readings, and I hope it seeds many more. Follow their Instagram page for details or sign up to Ern Malley’s ever-surprising newsletter to stay up to date with their excellent range of events.
Vikki Wakefield will be talking about her novel, the psychological thriller, To The River at the Ingle Farm Library; the latest novel from historical fiction novelist Victoria Purman, The Radio Hour has just been launched.
Advance notice of a few author talks. Graeme Simsion (of The Rosie Project fame) and Anne Buist will be at the Burnside Library to talk about their co-written book The Glass House.
The Independent Arts Foundation hosts a monthly series of literary dinners. In July it will feature Dr Susan Arthure talking about the book she has co-edited Irish Women in the Antipodes: Foregrounded and is published by our wonderful local publisher Wakefield Press. I was at the launch of this book and have read most of the chapters in this book, and can highly recommend it. The literary dinner and all events run by the IAF support their grants program for emerging artists, so bonus, it’s a great night out and a great deed done all in one.
It’s in October, so still a long way away, but I’m sure it will sell out so I want to give you the link now, it’s the Matilda Bookshop’s Meet the Author event with Tim Winton. It’s the South Australian launch of his new novel Juice and this in-conversation event will be in the Elder Hall. (This is a side note, but I recently re-lived my university days attending my son’s graduation in Elder Hall, an opportunity for me to reflect on my embarrassingly ordinary (very ordinary) degree, but simultaneously take hope in all these wonderful young people out and about in the world).
And this one isn’t until August, but it can’t hurt to put this one in your diary early, Lucy Treloar talking about her book Days of Innocence and Wonder. Set between Melbourne and Ngadjuri Country, I bought a copy of this months ago, and is on my list of winter reading. I do recommend her earlier novel Salt Creek if you haven’t already read it. She writes beautifully about the landscapes you’ve probably got a lot of familiarity with.
Theatre and Performance
If you’re looking to try out your spoken word skills, the dates for the South Australian leg of the Australian Poetry Slam have just been announced. The links for bookings aren’t available yet as far as I can see, but keep an eye on the Spoken Word SA facebook page and they’ll let you know.
This is right up my alley: Hits coming up at the Space Theatre. I mean what is not to love about this: “1992. Charles and Di are breaking up. Dolly magazine is a young girl’s only source of information … surrounded by teenage droids, Rhiannon seeks out Suzie, a muso from the record store. This meeting plunges Rhiannon into a punk-soaked underworld, and her coming of age begins.” Written and directed by Rebecca Meston with a team of local heavyweights including Jason Sweeney, Erin Fowler and Emma Beech, this will be excellent. It’s what we love to see, local artists making big theatre.
Segue: Rebecca Meston is also part of this year’s InSpace program and it’s definitely worth subscribing the InSpace newsletter. InSpace “supports the development of new performance works by South Australia’s most exciting independent artists and creatives” and there are many work-in-progress and development showings across the year. Most of South Australia’s regular performers will pop up here at some stage, so it’s a good chance to see what’s up and coming from the hearts and minds of our local artists.
Free Agents Youth Theatre will be opening their new work LAMBS at the Goodwood Theatre and Studios on 13 June. Suitable for ages 12 and over, this is a new theatrical work exploring underage boys who enlisted in WW1. The Free Agents Youth Theatre is a theatre company for young people led by Sean Riley based in Unley.
This looks brilliant, a One Act Play Festival on 15 and 16 June with works presented by St Jude’s Players (Red Peppers by Noel Coward), Galleon Theatre Group (The Last Act is a Solo); and the Dead Set Theatre Co (a quirky reimagining of Romeo and Juliet). A good chance for audiences to see a range of theatre companies from the long-established St Jude’s Players and Galleon Theatre Group to the Deadset Theatre Company which was founded in 2017 by Zoe Muller and Matilda Butler and aims to create theatre for and about young people aged 15-26. (Also keep an eye out for their production Nothing But the Servo—excellent title!—in July).
Vitalstatistix’s Adhocracy (“an annual national hothouse” with an “intensive artist lab and festival-style public program”) is a bit different this year, with a program selected from previous participants rather than the usual open call process. It does however, feature curator mentorships for early career curators. You’ll need to be quick if you want to apply as expressions of interest close on 6 June.
A friend of mine has recommended the intriguing Dining Room Tales. A show of songs and stories to accompany a meal of home-cooked pasta in McLaren Vale on 23 June.
I’m sorry to read that Voice Box poetry nights are coming to an end, but you can get along to VoiceBox: The Finale at Mixed Creative this Friday, follow the link for details. Not unrelated to this, one of the people behind VoiceBox, Pam Makin will be presenting a workshop The Self-Taught Poet at the Prince Albert Hotel in Gawler on 30 June, and after the workshop you could stick around for Poets in the Pub.
Workshops, Residencies and Other Opportunities
Writers SA continues to offer one of the most comprehensive program of workshops for artists in the state with several great workshops on offer during June. Around half of them are available online such as the excellent-looking ‘Beautiful Experiments: Unconventional Nonfiction’ by Hayley Singer.
Keep an eye on The Mercury’s brilliant initiative Script Club. It’s held at the beginning of the month, so the next one is on 2 July, and the script hasn’t been announced yet. A rare opportunity to learn more about the creative and practical elements of scripts led by an industry expert, and you get access to the script beforehand.
Expressions of interest for Access2Arts Audio Description training courses are open. There are two more courses this year, one 12-week online course and one week-long intensive course. I did a short course during Covid lockdowns with someone in the UK. It led to me being able to develop Enhanced Program Notes for my performances, and I’d love to extend my skills in this further.
ActNow Theatre is looking for a new General Manager. You can download the job pack here and applications are due soon.
Something a Bit Different
I’ll be getting along to this. I love seeing the scrapbooks and drafts by writers and artists. They are such a fascinating and inspiring insight. The Juvenilia Exhibition is an opportunity to see what’s been going on in the minds and dreams of children’s authors and illustrators. Curated by Aimee Chan, the exhibition includes treasures from well-loved children’s writers such as Alison Lester and Andy Griffiths as well as many of our well-loved local children’s authors and illustrators. Think stories on scrap paper, pictures in scrapbooks, all reminding us that the creators of children’s books “all started as children too, dreaming about being able to publish their own story.” Opens at the Unley Civic Library on 18 June and open until 11 July.
And Just Quickly …
No Wave Poetry Readings continue at The Wheaty on the first Wednesday of the month (that’s this week), this month hosted by Hossein Asgari and featuring Amelia Walker, Elise Westin, Ben Adams and Bea Roy.
A farewell fundraiser concert for and by the multi-talented Josh Belperio who is moving to New York City to study the Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program at Tisch School of the Arts, New York University. Be there to say you knew him when…
Splash Theatre will present The Wind in The Willows as Told by Mr Badger at the Morella Community Centre
If I had littles in my life I would one hundred percent be booking tickets for Patch Theatre’s Subliminal as part of the Illuminate Festival.
There’s a bunch of cool stuff in the State Library’s Stories That Make Us page, and visit in person to see the exhibitions and displays focusing on highlights from their collection.
The End of This Issue of Sunday Night In
Remember, if you think you know someone who might enjoy Sunday Night In: An Eclectic Selection of Happenings and Goings-On please do share this with them and encourage them to subscribe.
Talk soon, Tracy xx