The Australian Association of Writing Programs

This is to notify all Swinburne Postgrads that they ae welcome to attend the Lilydale two day  colloquia where our PhD candidates present their progress reports on the PhD by Artefact and Exgesis. This year it takes place on September 17-18th. We are privileged to have Dr Paul Magee from the University of Canberra to delivery a guest address and read from his poetry. We are also planning an informal gathering after the close of day 1 for the PhD candidates to read exerpts from their artefacts. We require rsvp for catering purposes. This can be done to Nadine White on NWhite@swin.edu.au, once we distribute the program of presentations.

This is just to allow those of you who may wish to attend and have some distance to travel to perhaps arrange to share cheap local accommodation overnight in either Lilydale or Ringwood. Some of the Victorian students and those attending from Interstatehe tend to gather at the Yarra Valley Motor Inn which is about 20 minutes walk from Campus and offer twin share accomodation and meals.

We also try to dine locally in town that evening also, but this is very informal and arranged just prior to the colloquium.

I know Dan will be planning on attending and is looking for an accommodation buddy to split the cost.  Maybe if you are thinking about this, you could email me and I can keep a list that may provide motel sharers for each interested attendee. Because we have  TAFE and Higher Ed students our residences are rarely available for hire/rent for these events.

If you do not wish to/ or can't attend both days, you are welcome to attend only one. It is great way for our valued Masters students (and potential PhD candidates) to get up to speed on the language, acronyms and academic jargon thrown around so competently by our PhDers! You can also hear the issues, problems and gripes of attempting this hybrid PhD.

Watch this space for more info in the coming weeks.

Any writing students visiting Melb at this time from other institutions are also welcome to attend. The train ride fromthe CBD is roughly 50 minutes or  a quick drive up the Maroondah highway.

I'll be there.

Cheers.

DZ.

I will try and be there. It requires time off work and $500 and justifying taking that away from my four kids. But hey, we're talking PhD!  Cheers Perry

Hey Perry,

Mate, please, please turn up. Would so love to finally meet you. You'll love the place, promise. Ah, when you're a big professor, give the kids a few thousand a piece and tell them it's for that time daddy had to go to Melbourne for a couple of days. hehe.

-- DZ --

...AND an excellent couple of days it was!   It is terrific to see Carol and others garnering collegiate support.

Some wonderful things happen in relative isolation from the ‘broader academy’ and it is terrific when events and cross fertilization occurs across universities et al. All universities need to understand and affirm the value of supporting attendance at such events as professional development and 'research training'.

Mark Carthew

To Dominique Hecq and Keybnote speaker Paul Magee. Both academics were fantastic mentors at the colloquium. Paul's laid-back afternoon chat in the sunshine made me even less sure of my contribution to knowledge, now that we have problematised knowledge itself... oh well back to Aristotles Rhetoric for me and might even visit Bahktin et al again.  Thanks Paul, just what I need more reading at this stage!

 Thanks to Dominique for inviting the poets to read from their work as it broke the day up and allowed for brief respite from concentrating and trying to assimilate all the ideas being presented in the various papers.

 It was also great to have the new Head of Academic Group (life and Social Sciences) at Swinburne, Steven, attend in his capacity of supervisor to a PhD candidate by artefact and exegesis. To have a senior academic leader outside our discipline, actually understanding our craft, art and process makes the atmosphere in the academy so positive, now if only he can learn to compose songs like the wonderful UTS Dean at AAWP last year!

Glenice:

I was very impressed by the inspiring and supportive atmosphere of this Colloquium. So many stimulating papers on such diverse topics. I also enjoyed the relaxed, but thought provoking discussions around the coffee pot. Congratulations to all those who put so much time and effort into making this particular colloquium such a success.

A fantastic event, I thoroughly enjoyed the presentations (anyone know when the video is to be uploaded?). It's a pity we don't have more opportunities like this. Now, I had better go re-visit Aristotle. It has been too long, old friend.

To my Master's group, if we are still set for that co-authored paper, I think Stefan and Roger would be ideal as the final two authors.

-- DZ --