2pm-4pm at Ross House, 247 Flinders Lane, Melbourne. Cost: $10

Part of the Express Skill Share Series – An Emerging Writers’ Festival Umbrella Program

Let performance poet, Nathan Curnow, introduce you to some of his favourite spoken word tracks. There will be discussion around the difference between writing for page and stage, and how to incorporate performance elements such as movement, pitch, speed of delivery, use of props etc. There will also be time for starting new pieces or for eating chocolate biscuits.

Featured on ABC’s The Bookshow and in the Melbourne Writers’ Festival, Nathan Curnow’s new book of poetry based upon his stays at ten haunted sites around Australia is forthcoming with Puncher & Wattman. With further assistance from the Australia Council he is currently in the middle of writing a new play.

Booking Information Book your place now using our online Paypal shopping service - just click the "Add to Cart" button. If you don't own a Paypal account, click the credit card option and pay using your Visa or Mastercard. Or book by phone on 03 9663 4155.

2pm-4pm at Ross House, 247 Flinders Lane, Melbourne. Cost: $10

Part of the Express Skill Share Series – An Emerging Writers’ Festival Umbrella Program

This workshop will be all about the world of independent and small press publishing. You will learn how to get involved, what it takes to set up your own press, planning what to publish, where to sell your publications and pitfalls to avoid.

Lisa Dempster is the publisher at Vignette Press, an indie small press producing quirky books and magazines. Titles include the kooky ‘The Mook’ and Mini Shots mini-magazines. She runs a blog about independent publishing at locusbooks.wordpress.com and has had her writing published by several independent publishers.

Booking Information Book your place now using our online Paypal shopping service - just click the "Add to Cart" button. If you don't own a Paypal account, click the credit card option and pay using your Visa or Mastercard. Or book by phone on 03 9663 4155.

11am-1pm at Ross House, 247 Flinders Lane, Melbourne. Cost: $10

Part of the Express Skill Share Series – An Emerging Writers’ Festival Umbrella Program

Getting published as a freelancer is really all about pitching. Unless you're a writer who already has a high profile you'll almost certainly need to pitch for every article you write. In this workshop, you will learn about compelling opinion writing (short sentences, clear opinion, wit, evidence), the angle of the piece, timelines and structure. We’ll also look at the process of writing an opinion piece, including researching, writing, condensing and tightening, and then you’ll learn how to pitch – this includes finding the right editor, what the pitch should contain and why word limits and deadlines are critical. Other topics covered in this workshop include building your profile, keeping your editors happy and thinking about your next gig.

Ben Eltham’s book The Citizen's Cook-Book will be published by UNSW Press in 2009. He writes regularly for publications including NewMatilda.com, Crikey.com.au, Artlink, Mess+Noise and The Courier-Mail. He is a former Queensland Young Writer of the Year.

Booking Information Book your place now using our online Paypal shopping service - just click the "Add to Cart" button. If you don't own a Paypal account, click the credit card option and pay using your Visa or Mastercard. Or book by phone on 03 9663 4155.

11am-1pm at Ross House, 247 Flinders Lane, Melbourne. Cost: $10

Part of the Express Skill Share Series – An Emerging Writers’ Festival Umbrella Program

In this workshop, Jo will tell you how pictures and words can be combined to make a greater synthesis. You will wrestle with some of the basic mechanics of comic book structure, narrative, the types of transitions, character design and consistency, what to show and what to say, and so on. Please bring along sketchbooks, character designs and any comic ideas you have been working on.

Jo Waite has been a comic artist for more than 20 years. She has been paid to draw comics and cartoons for many community based organizations and refused to be lured from comics into any more sensible and lucrative work. Her comics have appeared in various small press compilations, Tango the giant romance comic anthology, Heat, Going Down Swinging, and she has printed her own comics, zines and diaries since 1987. Her mini-comic “One Sock the Lovesick Devil” is up to issue #5, and a new book called Kickstart details some of her adventures with Centrelink.

Booking Information Book your place now using our online Paypal shopping service - just click the "Add to Cart" button. If you don't own a Paypal account, click the credit card option and pay using your Visa or Mastercard. Or book by phone on 03 9663 4155.

Express Media provide tailor-made workshops to schools, councils, libraries, festivals and other organisations.

We can come to you with professional tutors best suited to your requirements.

We can provide workshops in these areas and more:
*Fiction
*Poetry
*Spoken word
*Zine making
*Comic making
*Journalism
*Scriptwriting
*Publishing
*Design
*Stencil art
*Filmmaking
*VJing

Or seminars on:
*A career in writing
*Applying for funding
*Marketing and publicity
*Event management

We also work with a number of performance poets and spoken word artists who can perform at your event.

There's more information below or contact Bel Schenk at artisticdirector@expressmedia.org.au for a full brochure, or quote.

"Thank you for publishing my poem in Voiceworks. You made me feel like a real writer not just another angst-ridden teenager.”
Damien, aged 16 Blackwood, SA

The contents of Voiceworks depend almost entirely upon the unsolicited contributions of young Australians. We do not censor the work that we receive unless it contains racist, sexist or homophobic material. We believe that by encouraging young people to read the range of work published in the pages of Voiceworks magazine that we are enabling young people to recognise the difference between literary merit and shock value, between poorly written and well-written.

By giving young people the chance to read widely and well, we empower them, and provide them with the ability to make informed choices for themselves.

In 1998, the Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs released a report exploring the portrayal of youth in the media. The report found that young people are constantly vilified by the media, that youth issues are reported in a way that generally denigrates young people, and that the voices of young people are missing from media coverage about themselves. Even when young people are the topic of discussion in the media, all too often they are the subject of debate rather than being allowed to speak for themselves.

Nor is the media solely responsible for such oversights and distortions. The arts community invariably see young people solely as potential audience members rather than equal participants and creators. There are exceptions, such as Victoria's St Martin's Youth Arts Centre, and Corrugated Iron Youth Arts in the Northern Territory, but these institutions are usually dismissed as mere 'training grounds' rather than being home to young people who are practitioners of the arts in their own right.

One of the main goals of Express Media is to ensure that young people receive more than just token representation in Australia's artistic and media communities. Although Voiceworks is our must visible project, we also strive to achieve this goal through the provision of a range of workshops, mentorship schemes and special artistic events.

If you would like Express Media to visit your school or library, or you would like to be added to our events database and be kept up-to-date on all express media workshops and projects please contact the office on (03) 9663 4155 or info@expressmedia.org.au.

Although based in inner Melbourne, we have a range of tutors and contacts in many areas, and would be delighted to assist you in planning a workshop program tailored to the needs of your students.

Workshop topics we have presented in the past have included:

- Zine making
- Poetry
- Spoken word
- Writing and producing a school newspaper
- So you want to write a novel?
- Song-writing
and many other topics of interest to students and other young people.

Express Media's standard rates are very competitive. Some packages include a subscription to Voiceworks and a pack of the last 12 months back-issues, as well as the tutor’s fees and project management costs.

ENCOURAGING CREATIVITY & VALUING YOUNG PEOPLE

“I was most impressed with the high quality of writing in Voiceworks magazine and have used passages as models for my senior English students. Students have also been informed of the possibility of submitting work for publication. Hopefully they will.”
Ms Wendy van Kalken,
S.O.S.E. Coordinator,
Mitchell Secondary College, Wodonga

Voiceworks magazine is an ideal way of encouraging young people to write creatively and well. Instead of their work having nowhere to go other than the short circuit to your desk and back, you can encourage them to submit their best stories, poems and artwork for publication in the magazine. Your students will receive an invaluable boost to their self-esteem by having their work published in the pages of Australia’s leading youth culture magazine. They will also be paid professional rates for their work, showing them that their work is valued as highly as that as their adult peers. Please see the Voiceworks page for our submission guidelines.

Calling all writers, The John Marsden Prize has now opened!

Poetry and short story winners under 18 will receive $500 each. 18-24 year olds in first place will gain $2500 for short story and $1000... >> read more

Express Media invites young aspiring writers (under 18) to join the Voiceworks Readers' Group!

Meet other like minded teens, talk to published writers, workshop your ideas and pick up... >> read more

Join us for the launch of Voiceworks #77 - Postscript on Friday July 17 from 7.30pm at FAD Gallery - 12 Corrs Lane, Melbourne.

It's a magazine. We're launching it! What more can we say?... >> read more