Writing the Past: Using History in Fiction and Non-Fiction
with Hsu-Ming Teo
and guest Gail Jones
23 - 25 August 2013
Allen & Unwin
83 Alexander Street
Crows Nest NSW 2065
(Please note access is via stairs)
Course fee: $750 (inc GST)
A three-day course for those interested in incorporating history into their creative writing – whether literary fiction, genres such as crime, thriller, or romance fiction, biography or family history.
How does history ignite the writer's imagination? How do writers conduct historical research? What kind of facts about the past do we need to know? How do we recreate a recognisable past with words? How do we deal with potential anachronisms in character, dialogue, and setting ... and when do these actually matter? What are the limits of fiction and history?
This course combines discussion of genres of historical fiction and research techniques with practical writing exercises and a trip to the State Library of NSW to explore the archives.
The course includes:
• Three full days of intensive tuition from Hsu-Ming Teo from 10am to 4pm
• A research trip to the State Library of NSW
• Lunch and regular tea and coffee breaks
About the Tutor
Hsu-Ming Teo is a novelist and historian who teaches European history and cultural history at Macquarie University. Her history publications include Cultural History in Australia (2003) and the forthcoming Loving the Orient: Orientalism and the mass-market romance novel (2012).In 1999 she won The Australian/Vogel's Literary Award for her first novel Love and Vertigo (2000), which was also short-listed for the inaugural Tasmania Pacific Region Literary Prize and the Dobbie Award for women's fiction. Her second novel, Behind the Moon, was published in 2005 and was shortlisted for one of the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards in 2006. Both novels drew heavily on South-east Asian and Australian history in the second half of the twentieth century. Hsu-Ming was a judge of the 2010 Man Asian Literary Prize and is working on her third novel.
About the guest lecturer
Gail Jones is the author of two short-story collections and five novels including Dreams of Speaking, Sorry and Five Bells. She has been shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award three times and won the The Age Book of the Year, the Steele Rudd Award, the WA Premier's Award for Fiction, the Nita B. Kibble Award, the Adelaide Festival Award for Fiction and the ASAL Gold Medal, among others. She has also been shortlisted for the IMPAC and the Prix Femina Etranger. Gail is Professor at the Writing and Society Research Centre at the University of Western Sydney.
Please note in the event of unforeseen circumstances, courses - including tutors and venues - may be subject to cancellation or change.
How to Make a Booking
To secure your booking, please complete the application form and email it to faberacademy@allenandunwin.com or send by post to Faber Academy at Allen & Unwin, PO Box 8500, St Leonards NSW 1590.
For further information contact Edwina Johnson: faberacademy@allenandunwin.com or (02) 8425 0171
