History and Achievements

The Bush Curlews was first formed in February 2007. Over the years our membership has fluctuated but one key element remains: The Bush Curlews is a dedicated group of multi-faceted writers committed to encouraging one another. 

Our talented poets and story writers gather weekly to participate in fun writing activities which entertain as well as inspire each of us to expand and strengthen our skills. Also, informative bi-monthly newsletters are issued to all of our members.

Due to regular participation in our weekly meetings, members find inspiration and are able to develop their skills. This leads to exposure to more literary avenues, giving experience and adding to each author’s documented records. Two of the members have compiled their writing into booklet form.

In 2012, Carole Phillips, a regularly attending member, had her short story “Secret Family Business” published courtesy of the Siriol Kate Giffney Estate through its administrator and regular supporter of the Bush Curlews, Dr Kett Kennedy. The occasional publication was supplied to each of the local schools, the Excelsior Library, the Information Centre and to the residents and staff of Eventide and the Dalrymple Villa.

Every year the Bush Curlews celebrate their club's formation with a birthday party. The 2012 get-together was particularly memorable as members played games such as “Pin the beak on the Curlew”, “Pass the parcel” and “Team Scrabble”. For the 2013 party the attendees gathered around the table to participate in various word-based board games, but due to the significant difference of scores between the two Scrabble teams in 2012 that particular game has been banned!

The Bush Curlews are members of Writers Queensland and have recently contributed to the on-line Queensland Writers Centre Blog: Thinking out Loud, Writers Group profiles and our annual competition is listed in the well known bi-annual publication: Australian Writers Marketplace – a must-have for every writer.

Our group has purchased a small collection of Creative Writing educational CDs, adding to the club’s small library of educational manuals and anthologies. 

We have collaborated in numerous community projects such as writing plays about local history, attending book launches and various writing workshops, and we have participated in joint meetings with other local clubs. Every August our dedicated members hold a stall at the Charters Towers Neighbourhood Centre Community Day in Centenary Park to promote our group.

This blog was created by the Bush Curlews in late 2012 after a couple of the members attended one of many great writing workshops, Food Tales hosted by the Queensland Writers Centre and the State Library of Queensland.

Our website has taken a little while to come together, but has since proven to be an excellent avenue for our members to have their writings published on line, and was also a very handy source for downloading entry forms for our 2013 Literary Awards Competition.

The Bush Curlews have two more channels open to us to publicly share our literary skills & accomplishments. Once a month, the Bush Curlews executive team contributes an approx. 200 words “Curlews Corner” article in the local newspaper, The Northern Miner. Meanwhile the Bush Curlews have their own segment on the Charters Towers E-Village website, with new stories and poems published on-line on a regular basis.

In late 2012 the Bush Curlews were approached by WITS (Writers in Townsville) for a joint-project. An anthology of stories and poems written by writers groups based in North Queensland will be launched in October 2013 during the Queensland Writers Week. (For more information on this project read the post “Writers of North Queensland work together”).
In early 2013 a few lucky members of the Bush Curlews had the opportunity to attend a couple of Townsville-based workshops.

On 3 February 2013, two representatives from our Club attended a Manuscript Assessment Workshop. The informative workshop was hosted by WITS and was presented by Carla of the Townsville Writers & Publishers Centre. It was a great opportunity to enhance our literary skills and to meet and interact with other writers from across the region.

On 16 March 2013, three club members attended a workshop hosted by the Queensland Writers Centre. During this workshop titled: “Unleashing your Creative Genius”, budding authors from all over North Queensland learnt how to overcome the dreaded writers block through various and somewhat personalised techniques. The Bush Curlews look forward to participating in more workshops throughout the year.

During the Ten Days in the Towers 2013 celebrations the Bush Curlews were asked to provide the entertainment for diners at the Charters Towers Civic Club. Several of our members, some have never used a microphone before, combated stage fright & presented their poems & short stories to a wonderfully attentive and fully-packed dining hall. It certainly brought our authors out of their shells and into the limelight. 
(Read more about this event on the post “Bush Curlews entertain diners at the CT Civic Club”).

On 26 May 2013 the Bush Curlews added a new twist to their annual Literary Awards Presentations. Instead of the traditional Monday evening the ceremony was held on a Sunday. After a delicious luncheon, attending writers participated in some short writing challenges. Members from writers groups based in Townsville, Home Hill and Ayr traveled to Charters Towers for our event. The day was a huge success and the Bush Curlews plan to continue this new format for their future annual awards ceremonies. 
(For more information on this event read the post “Writers of North Queensland flock to Charters Towers”).

Our writers group never knows what to expect as the year unfolds. Around every corner there is a new path to yet another literary-based adventure. 


Written by Maria Caesar 
Club Secretary
Bush Curlews Inc


June 2013

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