Copyright Agency First Nations Masterclass with Ellen van Neerven
Led by award-winning writer, teacher and Indigenous poet Ellen van Neerven, this small online class for First Nations writers uses reading as a tool to sharpen artistic vision. Each week, the group will look at and discuss exemplary extracts from contemporary Australian and international First Nations authors across genres and intersections.
This program is generously supported by the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund.
These readings will also serve as inspiration for short weekly writing exercises. Each writer will be encouraged to produce their own work to share with the class and will have the opportunity for feedback.
In the final three weeks, each writer will be asked to produce a longer piece in a genre of their choice to workshop with the group. Constructive and thoughtful feedback will be provided by the group and guided by Ellen. Feedback from Ellen will encourage further development of the piece.
This course will be taught by Zoom over a ten-week period, in two-hour blocks from 4-6pm on an agreed weekday. The group will use the writing platform WetInk for sharing work and extended discussion.
There will also be an online Q&A session with Billy-Ray Belcourt, writer, poet and academic from the Driftpile Cree Nation.
There will be six participants in this class.
How to Apply
Entry to this course is by application, and is open to First Nations writers only. Writers will be selected based on the creative potential of their work, commitment to craft, openness to collaborating with peers, and the balance in the group.
Course fees (normally $1,500) are subsidised by Varuna and set at $395 for the 10 weeks.
Applications are now closed.
Dates and Course Format
The Writer’s Process: First Nations Writing will be taught online over a ten-week period in two-hour blocks from 4pm to 6pm on an agreed weekday (which will be Wednesday, Thursday or Friday). The group will use the writing platform Wet Ink to share work and engage in extended discussion.
Week 1: Introduction
Week 2: Poetry on Place
Week 3: Docupoetry
Week 4: The Short Story
Week 5: The Novel
Week 6: Essay & Memoir
Week 7: Biography & Reportage
Week 8: Workshop 1
Week 9: Workshop 2
Week 10: Workshop 3
This program is generously supported by the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund.
Ellen van Neerven
About Ellen
Ellen van Neerven is a Mununjali writer, editor and educator based in Meanjin. They have over ten years’ experience working with First Nation writers and are passionate about creating change through writing. Their key writing interests are in poetry, creative non-fiction, and fiction.
Ellen’s award-winning books include Heat and Light (2014), Comfort Food (2016), Throat (2020) and Flock (ed. 2021). Throat recently won Book of the Year, the Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry and the Multicultural NSW Award at the NSW Premier's Literary Awards.
Billy-Ray Belcourt
About Billy
Billy-Ray Belcourt is a poet, writer and academic from the Driftpile Cree Nation. He is an Assistant Professor in the Creative Writing Program at the University of British Columbia. A 2018 Pierre Elliot Trudeau Foundation Scholar, he earned his PhD in English at the University of Alberta.
Billy-Ray’s debut book of poems, This Wound is a World (Frontenac House 2017), won the 2018 Griffin Poetry Prize and the 2018 Robert Kroetsch City of Edmonton Book Prize.
Billy-Ray will be presenting a one-hour Q&A session as part of this course.