Wednesday, June 29, 2011

FAREWELL TO NIKESH MURALI


High on the list of benefits of belonging to a Writer’s Group is the opportunity to link up with other
writers. Regardless of their level of writing experience or genre, people come along prepared to
share their work & their knowledge with other members. The generosity among writers never fails
to amaze me. Sharing your successes or rejections with friends’ results in a bond of fellowship.

For the past four years we have had the pleasure & privilege of having Nikesh Muralli as a member
of WITS. Nikesh is a very accomplished writer & has run several workshops for us. Writing, like all
art forms needs to be nurtured, and so we continually strive to improve our understanding of the
craft.

Sadly, now it is time for Nikesh to move on. We will miss his particular brand of humour, his ability
to offer honest criticism & encouragement & his willingness to always listen to & help out a fellow
writer. For the time being (maybe a year or so!!!) Nikesh will continue to manage our blogsite.

From tropical Townsville to the frozen depths of Canberra , Nikesh, surely you could have picked a
better time of the year to move. We’ll miss our late night coffee sessions, but since you are only an
email away your good friends in the north will no doubt still be running their work by you. We wish
you every success & remember the eyes & the ears of WITS will be upon you.

Monday, June 6, 2011

FAREWELL TO GEMMA


Last Wednesday night we said a sad farewell to Gemma who is heading back to the UK. Their
gain our loss. Still social media makes it so easy to keep in touch. Not quite the same I know. But
hopefully once Gemma finds herself a new writer’s group (& now that she realizes the benefits to be
gained ) we may be able to establish WITS as a sister group.

Heritage Day

Every year WITS has a stand at Heritage Day. Townsville provided us with the perfect day. I swear
you could not get better weather anywhere. Thousands of local people came out to enjoy the
community displays.

The park where this annual event is held is located at the front of the old West End Cemetery.
What better place to commemorate our heritage & to celebrate life in general; past & present
intermingling.

With banners in place & a heap of brochures we four who had volunteered to man (person) the
stand munched on chips, drank coffee & enjoyed the carnival atmosphere. Sadly due to stuffy
restrictions we were not allowed to play on the jumping castle. Maybe next year.