It’s often the case that a career in writing is summed up in one of two stereotypes: the recluse alone at their desk, or the ‘Hunger Games’-styled warrior battling their way to a publishing deal.
Popular as those images are, they’re light-years away from the reality in Australia. Where the imagery of the cut-throat industry might work in the behemoths of the US publishing houses, in the close-knit Australian literary scene, it simply doesn’t work as a long-term career strategy.
And while it’s true that writing is easier without the chaos of other people demanding attention, spending time with writers is too much fun not to do everything possible to create and maintain a community. We love a chance to catch up on all the news, and to hone our craft.
Alan Baxter - image © Kylie ThompsonIt’s hardly surprising, then, that Brisbane author Peter M. Ball, and his hard working team of superheroes from the Australian Writer’s Marketplace and the Queensland Writer’s Centre were the most loved people in Brisbane over the weekend.
Peter and the team were responsible for hundreds of local, national and international writers converging on the State Library of Queensland for GenreCon (30 Oct – 1 Nov) – a conference about the craft and business of writing.
I’m not sure that calling GenreCon a conference is fair. The word ‘conference’ tends to imply dry conversations and the urge to hit the mini bar. It doesn’t fit with a free-for-all conversation. Conferences are often about authority figures and experts telling you what to do and how.
Kim Wilkins - image © Kylie ThompsonBut the beauty of GenreCon lies in the idea that everyone has something to teach us. The Australian writing community prides itself on being an inclusive space and the GenreCon team have worked tirelessly to make sure that everyone has an equal voice, regardless of their sales figures.
The idea is simple – you can learn as much from Kate Forsyth, Australian writing royalty, as you can from Graham Potts, whose first novel is due for release in January 2016. Though their experiences are different, both bring valuable insight to the conversation.
Mary Robinette Kowal, an American author with a knack for crafting fantasy extravaganzas, summed it up best: it didn’t matter what conversation she saw, or who was talking, she spent her weekend taking notes and learning. It’s a far cry from that warrior-chic ideology.
Writers love a good party, and when you get them all together, insanity is bound to ensue. There’ll be stories whispered about the karaoke, and in-jokes about the glamour and grunge-themed Saturday night shindig for a long time to come.
CS Pacat, Kylie Scott & Marianne de Pierres - image © Kylie ThompsonThe chance to celebrate achievements with friends seems as much a part of the GenreCon dynamics as the learning opportunities. The joy of such a comparatively small industry in Australia is that sooner or later, most people get to know each other. It’s incredibly hard, probably impossible, to maintain the outlook that someone else’s success makes your own less possible when you’re bouncing around, cheering for someone you know and adore as they reach a milestone.
‘Community, not competition’ seems like the unofficial mantra of the Aus-literary scene, and writers helping writers is an idea that clearly works for everyone involved. A weekend devoted to letting writers off their pedestals and into conversations clearly has a profoundly positive effect for writers at all stages of their careers.
If you’d like a taste of the shared wisdom of GenreCon 2015, the #GCOz hashtag on Twitter is awash with conversation snippets and book recommendations.
JM Donellan - image © Kylie ThompsonGenreCon itself looks set to make a triumphant return in 2017, and though in the post-Con hyperactivity it seems impossible to imagine an equally amazing gathering of minds as we saw this year, if anyone can make it happen it’ll be the AWM team.
