An anthology of short stories entitled Water Stories was launched on February 27 at the Blue Parrot cafe on Macleay Island.
The anthology sprung from workshops held for southern Moreton Bay island writers to create and share powerful stories that celebrate and heal. They were given by by tutor and Australian author, Natalie Sprite at the Lamb Island sporting club and the Macleay Island progress hall.
Ms Sprite's previous successful project, People on the Water was also a professional development project for local Island writers.
Participant Robbie Kirk of Macleay Island said the workshops were well attended by aspiring authors and including members of the Macleay Island Inspirational Writers group.
"The writing course was different from the usual courses on offer in that Natalie led the group through a meditation then we wrote for a time without lifting our pens from the paper. Afterwards what came from my consciousness was often experiences that I hadn’t thought about clearly, or I had squirreled away because of fear," Ms Kirk said.
"Natalie created a safe place for us to share our writing and believe me it wasn’t all 'woe is me'. The classes were fun, and my writing has improved tremendously as a result.”
Lamb Island resident and profession photographer, Russell Dorries photographed 10 authors for the biographies in the book. For Russell and many of the authors this was the first time they have seen their work in print.
Ms Kirk said the authors shared their stories through reading excerpts from the book at the launch.
Macleay Island's Mary Veitch wrote song lyrics while attending the writing workshops and she sang to an audience of about 70 people.
The book and workshops were financed by an RADF grant and sponsors for the project were Kim Richards MP, Spar supermarket Macleay Island and Pub Paradise. Most of the books have been sold.
