Each year Booranga Writers’ Centre offers four paid opportunities for a Writer–in-Residence. This program is subject to annual funding from the New South Wales Government through Create NSW and is open to Australian writers.
About Booranga
Booranga is a federation-style cottage (formerly the orchard manager’s family home in the days of the Wagga Wagga Agricultural College), overlooking Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Winery, grapevines and olive grove – so it’s quite picturesque. The writer’s flat is basic but fully self-contained.
In 1987 Wagga Wagga Writers Writers (WWWW) was set up by Charles Sturt University academic David Gilbey and student/poet Anthony Lawrence. Since then Booranga (our more familiar moniker) has hosted hundreds of literary events and assisted scores of aspiring regional writers.
Booranga Writers’ Centre serves its members and local community in several ways, focusing on building a strong community for emerging and established writers in the Riverina. Booranga supports regional reading and writing groups, collaborates and shares resources with local arts organisations and projects, and supports regional literacy through the presence of writers in local schools and with CSU’S English students, where possible.
Booranga Writers’ Centre offers four paid residencies each year. Writers of different genres and backgrounds are invited to stay at the writers’ centre for a minimum of two weeks, with the aim of providing professional development opportunities for regionally-based writers.
Our Writer-in-Residence Program
This program supports writers by providing a unique opportunity for both escape and engagement at Booranga where they can work on their own writing and share their skills and insights with writers in the region.
During the Residency, which includes a stipend of $2000, the writer is expected to give one public reading in the city (usually a weekday evening) and one workshop (usually a Saturday afternoon) at Booranga and be available for a few school/university/community events.
For example, it is expected that the Writer-in-Residence will be available to some of the creative writing students on campus at Charles Sturt University – usually by coming to a class, and may also like to visit one of the outlying towns, e.g. Leeton, Griffith, Narrandera, to provide a workshop.
Naturally, the format and details of these activities are varied to suit each writer-in-residence.