A year-long online program exploring all facets of the art of writing prose led by some of Australia’s most prominent writers and arts practitioners.
Please read below for 2024 presenter information, program cost, schedule and important information.
Please note there will be no single sessions available this year. Applicants must apply to be part of the cohort under one program pass.
MARION and FNAWN are excited to announce that HIDDEN NERVE 2024 is now open for applications!
Structured after Francine Prose’s Reading Like a Writer, each presenter will take you through each element of prose-writing - starting with words, then sentences, then paragraphs, and so on. Each of these literary artists will share their own perspectives with the cohort on their unique approach to these elements.
Applications close 11:59M AEDT 4 March 2024.
“Don’t all writers have a hidden nerve, call it a secret chamber, something irreducibly theirs, which stirs their prose and makes it tick and turn this way or that, and identifies them, like a signature, though it lurks far deeper than their style, or their voice or other tell-tale antics?”
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
How to choose the perfect word?
How to make a sentence sit up and sing?
What do gestures tell a reader about a character and the predicament that they are in?
Through this online program comprising 9 x 90-minute monthly sessions, participants will learn from some of the most exciting Australian writers working today about the art of writing prose. The topics will include everything from word choice and how sentences work, to illuminating character and building dramatic tension through gesture, and more.
The program also includes a session on close reading during which writers will discuss work by writers they admire, providing detailed analysis. HIDDEN NERVE 2024 will be delivered by a range of writers including prolific authors of significance as well as writers and thinkers with a unique perspective. HIDDEN NERVE is designed to be of most benefit to writers who are actively working on a prose project and are committed to developing their practice.
READING LIST
Those attending HIDDEN NERVE may wish to read the following texts, the first of which inspired the program’s design:
2024 PRESENTERS
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Eugen Bacon
-
Paul Dalgarno
-
Lisa Fuller
-
Julie Janson
-
Kris Kneen
-
Siang Lu
-
Inga Simpson
-
Nardi Simpson
-
Karen Viggers
COST OF PROGRAM
MEMBER PROGRAM PASS:
$365 for members of MARION, the First Nations Australian Writers Network (FNAWN), or Canberra Society of Editors (CSE)GENERAL PROGRAM PASS: $460
for those who are not members of MARION, the First Nations Australian Writers Network (FNAWN), or Canberra Society of Editors (CSE)MARION offers 2 semi-subsidised places in all programs which provides a 75% discount of program price. No personal details need to be disclosed, just email Katy Mutton via ceo@marion.ink these are available on a first come first served basis.
Successful applicants will receive payment information by 5 March. Payment needs to be made by 11 March to secure a spot in the program.
Schedule
SESSION
DATE
THEME
FACILITATOR
#1
6pm Thursday 21 March
WORDS
Paul Dalgarno
#2
6pm Thursday 18 April
SENTENCES
Nardi Simpson
#3
6pm Thursday 23 May
PARAGRAPHS
Julie Janson
#4
6pm Thursday 20 June
NARRATION
Siang Lu
#5
6pm Thursday 25 July
CHARACTER
Eugen Bacon
#6
6pm Thursday 22 August
DIALOGUE
Karen Viggers
#7
6pm Thursday 26 September
DETAILS
Kris Kneen
#8
6pm Thursday 24 October
GESTURE
Lisa Fuller
#9
6pm Thursday 14 November
CLOSE READING
Inga Simpson
IMPORTANT THINGS TO KNOW
All sessions will be held at 6.00pm to 7.30pm AEDT /AEST sharp.
The online platform will be Google Meet.
The sessions will be live and, for privacy purposes, will not be recorded.
The program is for writers of both fiction and nonfiction.
This is not a workshop scenario – the presenters will not be providing feedback on participants’ work. While there will be ample time for questions, the focus will be on hearing each author explain and explore an area of the prose-writing craft based on published work.
A private (and hidden) Facebook group has been created to build community and aid sharing of knowledge - for access details, please contact Zhi on creative@marion.ink
This year we are delighted to announce that MARION is partnering with FNAWN who have generously supported the HIDDEN NERVE program.
The First Nations Australia Writers Network is the peak body for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander writers, poets and storytellers, advocating and lobbying on their behalf, supporting ongoing development opportunities, in order to sustain and enhance First Nations Australia writing and storytelling. FNAWN believes in the sovereignty of First Nations writers and their communities, and works to foster writing from around the continent.