A unique opportunity to see inside a successful writing group. Maybe writing isn’t such a solitary pursuit as it might seem…
Longstanding local writing group, the Ramekins, have a heap of books between them and even more hours of workshopping and conversations.
Come and find out how the Ramekins came about, how the sessions work, the aims and the challenges, what makes a successful writers group. And most importantly: why 'the Ramekins'!
Tickets: $10 (General Admission)
Biff Ward
A founding member of Ramekins, I have benefited from fifteen years of an ongoing writing group. I initially worked through the writing of my memoir, In My Mother’s Hands (Allen & Unwin in 2014) and was short-listed for some prizes. I then workshopped In 1974 with Rammies which won a novella prize with Griffith Review in 2017. My second memoir, The Third Chopstick: Tracks through the Vietnam War has recently been released. It was hard to ‘get it right’, so it went back and forth to Rammies over many years. I am retired and writing is my thing, alongside some save-the-earth memberships and activities. I am grateful to live in Canberra on Ngunnawal Country.
Dianne Lucas
I have been a member of the Ramekins writing group since it started fifteen years ago, working primarily on my memoir, Coolamon Girl, which was published by Ginninderra Press in September 2021. With the enthusiastic encouragement of our group, I am now working on a second memoir, which, hopefully, won’t take as long as the last one. As well as tentatively embracing the persona of “writer”, I am a mother, partner, grandmother, vegetable gardener, quilter, and a member of the ACT Civil & Administrative Tribunal, where I sit primarily on Energy & Water (Ombudsman) hearings.
Jenni Savigny
Jenni is an original Ramekin. Her self-published memoir, I Wish, was a slow seven year bake and she is now cooking up someone else’s life story. Outside of writing hours, Jenni works in digital storytelling under the name Gen S Stories, and loves her garden, family, dogs, and wild places.
Robyn Cadwallader
Robyn lives among the fabulous bird life and wine growing areas of regional ACT where she tends a veggie garden, orchard, chooks, dogs and a few alpacas. She has been a member of Ramekins writing group for almost thirteen years, and with the support of the wonderful women in the group, has written three novels and edited a collection of essays on Australia’s appalling asylum seeker policies. A survivor of academia, she has also published an academic book about virginity in the Middle Ages and a collection of poetry.
Karen Viggers
Karen heard about the Ramekins through a friend and was keen to join as she had always worked in isolation – that’s why writers do, isn’t it? Being part of the group has been inspiring and enlightening and has helped her work through many hiccups in the writing process. What she likes best about Rammies is that it is supportive, respectful and reassuring, and she loves the camaraderie and generosity of fabulous women. Karen has written four novels and is currently working on her fifth.