OOTA Christmas Party

OOTA members gathered in the courtyard of the Fremantle Arts Centre Cafe on Friday, 15 December, to celebrate their annual Christmas party. With a delicious selection of food and drinks, the party was well attended, with members also enjoying the pleasure of readings by Taya Reid, Laurie Smith, Lucy Czerwiec, Jenny Hetherington, Jennifer Jones, Kevin Gillam and Josephine Clarke.

The OOTA committee extends their best wishes to all members and their families for a safe, healthy and happy Christmas and New Year.

Fran Graham Launches Poetry Collection

OOTA Member Fran Graham has launched her fabulous poetry collection, A Gentle Outward Breath. OOTA Members and friends gathered at Mattie Furphy House together with Fran and Rose van Son who officially launched the collection. A wonderful afternoon sharing poetry and time with friends.

OOTA Annual General Meeting

The Annual General Meeting of the Out of the Asylum Writer’s Association was held on 21 October at the Grove Library, Peppermint Grove between 1.30pm and 3.30pm.

The meeting received and approved reports from Chairperson Yvonne Patterson and Treasurer Jennifer Jones.

The chairperson’s report may be read here.

Following the approval of the reports, elections were conducted for the 2023/24 committee.

The following were elected:

Chairperson: Kevin Gillam

Deputy Chairperson: Richard Regan

Treasurer: Jennifer Jones

Committee Members: Julie Watts, Yvonne Patterson, Rita Tognini, Jan Napier, Josephine Clarke, Jennifer Hetherington, David Young and Laurie Smith.

No nominations were received for the office of Secretary, so that position remains temporarily unfilled.

The meeting expressed a vote of thanks and appreciation to Yvonne Patterson and Rita Tognini for their work as Chairperson and Secretary.

Following the meeting, the winners of Spilt Ink 2023 were announced and prizes awarded. Members present enjoyed readings by those prize winners present and afternoon tea.

The OOTA Committee expresses its thanks and appreciation to the Spilt Ink judges, Roland Leach and Brooke Dunnell; to the Spilt Ink organizers, Jennifer Jones and Julie Watts, to the Prize Winners and all those who entered Spilt Ink; and to those members who attended and participated in setting up the room and providing the afternoon tea.

OOTA Announces Results of Spilt Ink 2023

The OOTA Committee is delighted to congratulate the OOTA Spilt Ink Competition 2023 winners

Warmest wishes to you all for a wonderful selection of creative writing.

Special thanks to our Poetry Judge Roland Leach and our Short Fiction Judge Brooke Dunnell.

Short Fiction

First Place: ‘Leta’ by Taya Reid

Second Place: ‘The River Doesn’t Care’ by Judd Exley

Third Place: ‘Do Pigs Know Weather?’ by Laurie Smith

Highly Commended: ‘Chemistry Test’ by Liana Joy Christensen

Commended: ‘Miss Lilly’ by Jenifer Hetherington

The judge’s report may be found here.

Poetry

First place: ‘silent flights’ by Josephine Clarke

Second place: ‘Ritual’ by Scott-Patrick Mitchell

Third place: ‘Lost Art of Pastels’ by Kevin Gillam

Highly Commended:

‘Chopin’s Water Fountain’ by Lucy Czerwiec

‘South Beach Moonah’ by Jenifer Hetherington

The judge’s report may be found here.

Short Fiction First Place Winner Taya Reid

Short Fiction Second Place winner Judd Exley

Short fiction winners Jennifer Hetherington (Commended) and Laurie Smith (Third Place) with judge Brook Dunnell.

Short Fiction Highly Commended winner Liana Joy Christensen

Poetry winners Kevin Gillam, Josephine Clarke, Scott-Patrick Mitchell, Jennifer Hetherington and Lucy Czerwiec with judge Roland Leach.

OOTA Member Laurie Smith launches poetry collection.

Congratulations to Laurie Smith on the Launch, by Shane McCauley, of his poetry collection 'Permission to Roam'. Friends and OOTA members enjoyed the celebrated with Laurie at Mattie Furphy House in the shade of native bush. Its available from WA Poets Publishing.

OOTA CELEBRATES CHRISTMAS AND THE LAUNCH OF TEMPUS

Friday, 16 December 2022: OOTA members and friends gathered in the cafe courtyard at the Fremantle Arts Centre to celebrate another twelve months of productive and engaging writing. In addition to lively literary discussion, good fellowship and a festive luncheon, members also celebrated the recent publication of Tempus, OOTA’s 2022 anthology of prose and poetry, inspired by the theme of Time.

Rob Manning, Alison Davis, Annie Robinson and Lucy Czerwiec read excerpts from their entries, which reflect the very high standard of writings that comprise the anthology.

The OOTA committee thanks all members for their efforts and contributions this year and wishes everyone all the very best for the festive season and for a happy and productive New Year.

2022 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

The Out of the Asylum Writers Annual General Meeting was held on Saturday 22 October 2022 at the Grove Community Centre, Peppermint Grove. Reports were received from the Chairperson, Yvonne Patterson, Treasurer Jennifer Jones and Membership Coordinator Richard Regan. The Chairperson and the Committee were pleased to report on another busy and successful year of writing activities, including the publication of an anthology of members’ work that will be launched at the Christmas Party.

Committee Member Veronica Lake retired from the committee and the meeting voted their thanks for her dedication and hard work.

Nominations for offices on the new committee were received from:

Yvonne Patterson: Chairperson

Richard Regan: Vice-Chairperson

Rita Tognini: Secretary

Jennifer Jones: Treasurer

Committee Members: Josephine Clark, Jenifer Hetherington, Jan Napier and Julie Watts.

An additional vacancy on the committee was filled by the nomination from the floor of Kevin Gillam

At the conclusion of the meeting members enjoyed afternoon tea and networking

A copy of the Chairperson's report can be found here

Celebrating OOTA Member Rose Van Son's Book Launch

On 30th March 2022 we celebrated the launch of Rose van Sons Haiku collection, from the open doorway, at the beautiful Japanese Pavilion in Adachi Park, Belmont.  This park symbolises the connection between Adachi-ku in Japan and the City of Belmont.  It is a very meditative place by the Swan River/ Derbel Yerrigan. 

 

The collection was launched by Coral Carter with reviews and readings by Annamaria Weldon.  We then enjoyed wonderful readings by Rose van Son.  I cannot do justice to the scope of the book but do encourage you to obtain a copy, to enjoy it!

 

Rose’s writing is itself a doorway into places of our own selves; the photos are wonderfully restrained and complement the works.  All is to be savoured. Here are two Haiku from Rose's book .

 

paperbark tree

journal notes scrawled

in the margins

 

ready or not -

the weeping willow

of childhood

OOTA POETS CELEBRATED

Congratulations to  OOTA members for recognition in the 2021 Tom Collins Prize.

Kevin Gillam won First Prize for his poem, ‘from here’ .

Dick Alderson was Highly Commended for ‘Butcher Bird’. 

Renee Pettitt-Schipp was also Highly Commended for ‘Love (and Lost for Words) in a Time of Covid’. 

Congratulations are also due to OOTA writers with poems in the Australian Poetry Anthology, Volume 8 2021-22

Kevin Gillam. A jetty all too soon.

Julie Watts. Mother    Mother  

Dick Alderson. Easter 2020; Cars at Sunset

Carolyn Abbs. Tragedy

Rose van Son. Finding Fergus

OOTA MEMBERS READ AT PERTH POETRY FESTIVAL

OOTA members Jan Napier, Kevin Gillam and Fran Graham read a selection of their poems at the Perth Poetry Festival on Sunday afternoon, 19 September 2021.

An excited audience packed the auditorium of the Queen’s Building in William Street, to hear poets from OOTA, FAWAA, KSP and Peter Cowan Writers’ Centre read selections of their works. The event was compered and the poets introduced by Emily Mills.

The readings capped another highly successful, entertaining and thought provoking week showcasing the multitude of poetic talent with which WA is richly blessed.