1997 School Magazine

@iris @rammar ~cbool imrisbane 1997

Writer in Residence: Silvana Gardner

M embers of the Faculty and students alike were pleased to welcome back Silvana Gardner, who enjoys a richly-deserved national and international reputation as a poet, artist, and writer of stories. She has published many highly-acclaimed books of verse, short stories, and stories for children, and her art- work is represented in several prestigious per- manent collections in the Queensland Art Gal- leiy, the National Galle1y of Victoria, and nu- merous private collections. Silvana's lively en- gaging personality, her quick wit, and her imaginative talents combined to make her workshop sessions a creative experience that was enjoyed and appreciated by all students involved in the residency, from Year Eight to

exercise could be suitable to unlock or reveal to the students what they themselves are already capable of. This year, rather than concentrate on the craft of writing, I improvised exercises which would allow the girls, after analysis, to dis- cover the conceptual importance, either overt or hidden, in their own writing: how to soar from the commonplace into writing which could be useful and inspirational. Since there w~re only two sessions with each group and school life thick in between, my expectations were limited. But, to my delight, many girls did explore further their important concepts. The exciting progression

Silvana Gardner

was that the girls themselves set their own direction, obviously important to them, since they laterally chose it. Much discussion on association of words, with examples, was aired. For the few who still puzzled on 'conceptual importance', diagrams on the blackboard explained how a word, an idea, shown by a dot, can become a star with rays pointing directions for other ideas. How the writer, shown as a rough circle, can collect one or two rays and master them to become a perfect whole. The mind needs to

Tv.relve. Some excerpts from her report follow: "My 1994 writer in residence with the Brisbane Grammar girls filled me with excited anticipation. I looked f01ward to meeting again students who were Juniors in 1994 and now, are Seniors. I wondered how their love of literature, especially poetry, had grown, what different paths had been taken, how points of view had changed; I was not disappointed. All the girls whom I encountered in 1994, have progressed impressively, well beyond their years . Their confidence and maturity to

explore language, ex- periment, analyse, re- assured me. If they chose to practise the di scipline later on, some fine writing could be produced. I was also looking forward to meeting the new groups. To learn wha t could happen af- ter our discussions, whether the informa- tion I gave, could in- spire them to write, or, at the ve1y least, inter- est them. My approach to writing workshops is always dictated by the needs of the particular

limberup, todetectop- portunities for themes which are important to us and hopefully to others. This exploration of one's mental processes to arrive at an impor- tant subject, was quite exciting for me, since I, also, had to investi- gate my two lines for future development. My participation in writing workshops is much more than stu- dents' performance. As an author, I see it as a sharing of imaginations which can bring won-

Silvana witb members of tbe senior group

derful surprises in tow. It is a privilege to have helped the girls manifest them.

group. Flexibility is the key. Apart from preliminary introduc- tions, readings, general discussions on converting experience to literature, I'm open to the group's particular need at the time . Thus, I never enter a new group with preconceived formulas or xercises. After discussions, I usually get a 'feel' for what

SILVANA GARDNER

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