Why did you want to do a residency, and why virtually?
As long as I’ve been writing, I’ve been teaching creative writing. During the pandemic, I started teaching English as a foreign language online and I absolutely love it. I get so much from interacting with different cultures and different communities and so I’ve been looking to do a residency because I wanted to do that but with the creative writing side of things as well. However, I knew it would have to be online because I have a school-age son. When I came across the Melbourne residency, it seemed perfect!
What was the sequence of events in your residency?
We had an initial meeting in October, hosted by David Ryding from Melbourne City of Literature, and I met Kristie Seketa, my host from Moorabool Libraries (who I was going to be working with). The residency involved three engagements, which I did in November and December, but I had the chance to do an extra one in February. We also had weekly get-togethers via Zoom, hosted by David, so the writers could get to know one another and meet guests, local writers, and so, even though there are such things as the sounds of the city that you don’t get with a virtual residency, they really went out of their way to try and recreate the feeling and opportunities you’d get with a physical residency.
What were, briefly, your three engagements and your extra fourth one?!
My first two engagements were with schools in Moorabool: a workshop with Year 10 students at Bacchus Marsh College, looking at weird/uncanny/unsettling short stories, and a workshop with Years 3 to 6 at Coimadai Primary School, looking at Beginnings in terms of first lines, characterisation and setting. We arranged these for 10am during the school day, which was 11pm the night before for me. The students were brilliant to work with – they responded really well to the exercises and asked really good questions.
My third engagement was writing a short story for an anthology produced by a local writing group, Moorabool Writers’ Craft. I was provided with a visual prompt – a local landmark – and wrote a story based on this as well as doing online research and talking to local people. My extra engagement in February was a workshop with Moorabool Writers’ Craft, looking at writing from prompts. The group meets on Saturday afternoons, which was the early hours for me – again, it was a really wonderful group, just a pleasure to work with them. I ended the session with a reading of the new story, and they’re now working on their own pieces for the anthology, which will be published later this year!
What surprised you about the residency?
I wasn’t expecting the broader contact with local writers that the City of Literature put in place. That was a real bonus! I kept in touch with one of the writers, which resulted in a very satisfying series of exchanges.
What did you learn that you’ll use in your work back ‘at home’?
Well, the writer I kept in touch with is Nathan Curnow, who was involved in an interesting project, The Ghost Poetry Project, which I then referenced in the workshop I did with Moorabool Writers’ Craft about prompts. So there are these specific things I discovered which I’ll continue to share in workshops and so on. And then, while I was writing my short story, which is set in the town of Bacchus Marsh, Nathan happened to tell me about the Bacchus Marsh Strawberry & Cherry Festival, and I decided to put that into the story. I’m a big fan of doing in-person research, of going exploring and finding the unexpected that way, but the residency involved going about it – research, immersion – in a completely different way, and that’s certainly something I could use again. The whole experience was so positive, really rewarding, and fun!
What’s next for you?
I’m working on a couple of short stories to contribute to anthologies due out in the coming year. My next book is likely to be a collection of short stories, which I expect will include my ‘Bacchus Marsh’ story!
You can find out more about Alison Moore’s work (including novels and short stories) at www.alison-moore.com.
Photo by Aniisu K Verghese Ph.D. on Unsplash
Benjamin Bailey is a student at Nottingham Trent University who is undertaking a placement with Nottingham City of Literature.