Lamplight Residency with Markus Zusak, Gail Jones and Carol Major

Join us for the fourth of our online Varuna residencies and enjoy the warmth and support of the Varuna experience – the camaraderie of fellow writers, unique professional development opportunities, and the chance to use this unexpected time at home to build connection with other writers and sustain your creative project in 2020.

This program is currently only available to Varuna Alumni, those who have previously received a Varuna Invited Residency or Quick Response Residency, or those with a significant publication record.

This week-long online residency includes:

• Two one-hour online sessions (one-on-one) with Varuna Writing Consultant Dr Carol Major to talk about your current project

• An online Q&A session with Markus Zusak, international bestselling author of six novels.

• An online Q&A session with critically acclaimed award-winning author Gail Jones.

• Daily facilitated professional networking opportunities with your peers throughout the week, including the opportunity to share work, talk about process, and receive feedback about your work.  

• And finally, a virtual dinner with your peers on the Saturday night with a recipe from our beloved chef Sheila Atkinson to cook at home if you choose.

Places limited to six only. 

Participants need to allow at least 1 hour at specific times every day for programmed sessions, with the expectation that you will spend at least three hours dedicated writing time each day (although this is flexible according to your own personal circumstances). 

Participants will need a reliable internet connection, and a computer or mobile phone with a webcam and microphone.

The cost of the program is $395.

Program dates: Monday 8 June – Saturday 13 June 2020.

To book your place, please visit TryBooking. For program enquiries please contact amy@varuna.com.au.

Markus Zusak

Markus Zusak is the international bestselling author of six novels, including The Book Thief and most recently, Bridge of Clay.

His work is translated into more than forty languages, and has spent more than a decade on the New York Times bestseller list.

All of Markus’ books – including earlier titles, The Underdog, Fighting Ruben Wolfe, When Dogs Cry (also titled Getting the Girl), The Messenger (or I am the Messenger) – have been awarded numerous honours around the world.

In 2013, The Book Thief was made into a major motion picture, and in 2018 was voted one of America’s all-time favourite books, achieving 14th position on the PBS Great American Read.

In 2018, Bridge of Clay was selected as a best book of the year in publications ranging from Entertainment Weekly to the Wall Street Journal.

Gail Jones

Gail Jones is one of Australia’s most celebrated writers. Her work has been translated into twelve languages, longlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the Orange Prize, and shortlisted for the IMPAC Award and the Prix Femina Étranger. 

The Death of Noah Glass won the Prime Minister’s Literary Award, was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award and the Victorian Premier’s Award for Fiction.

Dr Carol Major

Dr Carol Major has been a professional writer for over thirty years and works with writers across all narrative forms. Her skill is in drawing out the writer’s vision and matching it with crafting tools. She is originally from Scotland, later educated in Canada and now lives in the Blue Mountains of Australia, a location she feels holds the ingredients of all three landscapes in one place.

Narrative voice is also a passion: who is telling this story to whom about what, and most importantly, why? What is the motive to tell? She believes it is a key ingredient in creating an authentic narrative voice.

Carol is the oracle. She has an intuitive understanding of what a writer is doing and needs. She sees the bigger picture, sheds light on characters hiding in the dark and rekindles the imagination.

Dr Leah Kaminsky,

Winner of the 2019 International Book Awards Literary Fiction & Historical Fiction

Carol instinctively grasps the vision behind the work and reflects it back to the writer, generating confidence and resolve. Her knowledge of writing craft, her mastery of form, and her insights into creative endeavour are invaluable.

Vicki Laveau-Harvie

Winner of the Stella Prize 2019

Every writer dreams of finding someone like Carol Major. Her insight, wisdom, passion and uncanny way of penetrating the very heart of your work is deeply valuable for a writer at any stage of their career, or any stage of their project. Like the very best therapists, Carol knows exactly how far to push, how much to challenge, and how to support you to make your work the best it can possibly be. Carol's input into my novel The Children's House (published by Penguin Random House in 2018) was profoundly important. She understood exactly what I was trying to achieve - perhaps better than I understood it myself - and how and where I was failing in that aim. Carol's words of wisdom, and her brilliant insight, helped me to raise the novel to another level - and to become a much better writer. I cannot thank her enough and look forward to more conversations with her as I embark on my new novel.”

Alice Nelson, author of The Children’s House and The Last Sky.  

Amy Sambrooke, Creative Director, Varuna the National Writers’ House & Blue Mountains Writers’ Festival

Amy has worked in the cultural sector throughout her career. Prior to joining Varuna, Amy spent 8 years at the Whitlam Institute developing community and school programs and managing communications, marketing and outreach for the Institute's public policy work and high-profile events program. Amy has worked as a producer and reporter for 702 ABC Sydney as well as in commercial radio. She has also worked as an arts publicist and media trainer.

Veechi Stuart, Executive Director, Varuna the National Writers’ House & Blue Mountains Writers’ Festival

Veechi's career has taken her on many adventures, including working as a journalist, writer, editor, publisher and business consultant. Before working at Varuna, Veechi worked as a columnist at the Sydney Morning Herald and as Publishing Manager for Woodslane Press. She is the author of over a dozen non-fiction titles, including bushwalking guides for both the Blue Mountains and Sydney.

Sheila Atkinson

Sheila is Varuna’s chef extraordinaire and has become legendary in Australia’s writing community for her wonderful meals for Varuna guests. While running her restaurant in Katoomba many years ago, she was asked to cater for meals for Varuna guests. For two years she did both jobs, eventually selling her restaurant because she loved the Varuna job more. Sheila's many professional lives have included being a makeup artist for television, an organiser of arts festivals and a restaurateur.