Take Me Away: Place Writing That Zings with Claire van Ryn

We’ve all heard it said of certain fiction that ‘the landscape was like another character’.

How does a writer create this sense of depth and complexity when it comes to place-telling?

In this practical workshop, we will explore ways to write about landscapes, suburbia, homes and buildings that invite the reader to step into place, like that wardrobe door into Narnia. We will consider how, as with an artist painting a landscape, the careful and strategic layering of the medium creates a unique rendering of time and place. Texture, composition, style, themes, scale, context, depth, tones, light and shade are some of the elements we will play with.

This workshop will include plenty of opportunity to begin or continue to develop a piece of writing about a significant place. There will be a mix of readings, exercises and discussion, as well as peer feedback. If time and weather permits, we will also venture outdoors for an immersive writing exercise.

Claire van Ryn hails from Launceston and is an awarded writer, journalist and author whose work explores universal themes of connection, compassion, trauma and healing. Her debut novel The Secrets of the Huon Wren (Penguin Random House, 2023) was a bestseller and is set beneath the Great Western Tiers and Mother Cummings Peak in Tasmania’s heartland. Her second novel, Where The Birds Call Her Name, was published in March this year, and details four generations of women, set in the seaside town of Stanley. Claire worked as a journalist for The Examiner newspaper for nearly 10 years and, in 2012, Claire’s non-fiction book Faith Like a Mushroom won the Australian Young Christian Writer award. Claire has also put her skills to use as magazine editor, communications specialist, writing tutor and manager of her own content creation business.

Registration Information

In case of emergency, phone number is a required field if you are booking tickets for anyone under 18 years old. A mobile phone number is preferable.

TASWRITERS STUDENT MEMBER TICKETS:

Only 1 ticket per student member.

A maximum of 5 Student Member tickets per workshop.

CANCELLATION POLICY:

Cancelling your registration four days or more before the workshop: you can request a 50% refund of the fee.

Cancelling your registration within four days of the workshop: there is no refund of the fee. However, instead of forfeiting the fee, you can do another workshop for half price.