The first Life Writing Workshops to be held at Lake Haven and Tuggerah libraries will be hosted by published Central Coast-based writer Adrienne Ferreira.
The free workshops form part of the Central Coast Writes initiative, a community storytelling project that develops true stories from mature age writers and connects them with young artists to illustrate.
The first Life Writing workshop to be held on the Coast, it is designed to help bussing writers reflect on their experiences and craft stories that crackle with truth and life.
Ferreira was born in Sydney in 1975 and grew up in Sandy Beach on the mid north coast.
Surrounded by bush and hills of banana plantations, the unique rural landscape was imprinted on her from a young age.
Some of her earliest preoccupations, she said, were with an old python living in the roof of her house, picking mulberries in the backyard, studying the habits of flying foxes and trying to overcome her fear of spiders and stick insects.
She has a BA from the University of Sydney and has written short stories and poetry.
Her first novel, Watercolours, has just been published.
Adrienne is currently working on her next novel, about a young housewife obsessed with a foreign sailor watching her from one of the coal bulkers lined up just outside her cliff-top house. It’s described as an exploration of youth, ageing and the discomfort of transition.
Adrienne lives on the Coast with her husband (actor, producer, playwright and screenwriter Rob Carlton) and their twin sons. She is an alumna of Varuna, the Writer’s Centre.
Workshops will be presented from 10am-1pm at Lake Haven Library (15 March) and Tuggerah Library (16 March)
Places are limited and bookings are essential.
Nicola Riches