Writing in the West; Pitfalls and Benefits: Guest Post by Sj Finch [15.07.2010]

Earlier this year indigo journal’s managing editor Donna Ward sent a message to fans of the Indigo facebook page. The journal had failed to secure a grant from the Department of Culture and the Arts (DCA) and is not going to continue past its sixth issue. The DCA’s main reason for doing so – I’m lead to believe – is that the journal has a policy of only publishing West Australian writers. The DCA would much rather a product that’s nationally or internationally viable.

Here in the West, people in the arts community like to tell themselves that the west is not enough. ‘Melbourne,’ they say. ‘Fair Melbourne is where the publishing houses grow glorious, and the streets are teeming with an intelligent and stylish readership.’ I don’t know Melbourne, so I won’t disagree necessarily, but I do think you have to be pretty blind to not realise that the Western Australian writing scene has been surging up these past five years. I also believe it’s a simple grass-is-greener case. You’re not necessarily going to be better off as a writer or as a publisher in a new environment. Wherever you are, you got to do that same hard work if you want to make it in this crazy biz.

In a conversation I had with Alisa Krasnostein, head of Twelfth Planet Press, a small speculative fiction publishing house in Perth, she told me that she initially got into small presses thinking that they were a good stepping stone. But what she’s been increasingly finding is that major presses – as well as struggling to survive – are more likely to provide coffee table books and novelty reads than actual reading content. Small presses are not just an transitional period for emerging writers. They’re now essential. Writers and editors can deliver well-crafted and well-loved content without pandering. And as small presses generally have the time to give their readership close contact with the author and the publishing house, readerships are loyal, active, and can sometimes cross over to become authors. I jubilantly agree with Alisa. I think it’s an exciting time for new writing and art. As mass communication and technology makes everything more accessible, and cheaper to produce, the writing community at large multiplies, becoming many micro-communities – writing has never been more vital and more present.

I digress. I was asked for a report on the WA writing scene, not a rant about small presses and reader-writer relationships. And yet this rant seemed inevitably given that in the West – in a completely non-parochial sense – we are grassroots and promise. With my background as the editor of dotdotdash magazine, I’ve seen a lot of proactive talent from many different organisations. The aforementioned Aurealis award-winning Twelfth Planet Press, powered by Alisa, is publishing among many exciting projects this year, acclaimed horror writer Rob Hood.

The good folk at Fremantle Press are currently organising/hosting numerous events tied into Fremantle Poetry Month, one of which was the launch of the book New Poets, a collection of works from Scott-Patrick Mitchell, J.P. Quinton & Emma Rooksby. They also have a fairly wonderful blog. Love is my Velocity, although originally an indie club night and mostly a record label, intermittently publishes numerous literary artefacts of choice – a collection of short story and artwork collaborations from emerging talent called First Page; a series of A3 Riso posters collected a paper bag aptly named Riso; two issues of The Love is My Velocity Cookbook, which are a series of collaborations between local artists and bands, pairing up artworks with homemade recipes from local indie bands. There are pockets of creativity. Underground writers is a local online literary zine run by five exuberant university students.

The Three Day Blow is another literary zine distributed freely to local independent cafes and book stores. The Perth Zine Collective have collated together over 40 local publications that are completely independent – written, conceived and printed by the authors themselves. There is also WA’s burgeoning spoken word scene – the Perth Poetry Club gathers together fine readers every Saturday; a venue called Double Lucky in Leederville is also hosting weekly poetry readings; and lastly, there is Cottonmouth, who have recently released The Cottonmouth Anthology, which collated together over a year of incredible readings from many talented writers and speakers. But sadly, it also tied in with Cottonmouth’s indeterminate hiatus from the spoken word scene.

Which brings me back to Indigo journal – both Cottonmouth and indigo journal shared in common the fact that they had relatively unparalleled success, hosting launch events that were joy and literature, that were pure, unabashed glances of a creative community. First fleeting loves. They were part of what inspired me to try my hand WA’s literary community; they made me realise how essential and good it was as a university student to form a community, to become independent and proactive with our literary careers.

In answer to the question as to how to write in the west, I will say the process is the same as anywhere nowadays. Get independent! Get independent right now! Support independent publishing, either learn how to physically and professionally create the story and the collection of poetry that you want to, or seek out independent literary journal and publishing houses and build relationships with them. Most people that work in creative journals and independent publishers earn very little, and simply do it for the love – they are waiting for the chance to help polite and eager new authors. Most, if not all, successful authors begin with support from local publishing houses, editors, and journals.

Of course, success is not a permanent thing; it’s ever-striving. It’s terribly sad that the organisers of Cottonmouth have seemingly moved on to other projects, and that indigo journal is currently unable to continue, but it’s a consequence of time. At some point, new blood is needed to keep the wheels turning. What I’m saying is that the scene has space for you; jump into it.

Sj Finch is currently the managing editor of dotdotdash, a local creative journal begun by Curtin University students that publishes artwork, short stories, poems, creative non-fiction essays, and interviews from Perth and beyond. He began PhD study earlier this year, and is still freaking out about how little he knows about his proposed topic: Kierkegaardian theories of original sin as they relate to Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov. But it’ll be okay, cause his supervisors have got his back. www.dotdotdash.org

If you’d like to support Indigo journal, please visit the website for more information. http://www.indigojournal.org.au/

WritingWA’s website (an essential resource for West Australian writers)

Comments are closed for this post.