Founded in 2018, Voices of Women (VOW) is a writing, live performance and digital program for women, and by women. It was created to engage diverse and First Nations women writers, actors and musicians to celebrate and share their stories to change lives, connect women across all walks of life across Australia, and challenge prejudice and stereotypes.
Powered by a company of diverse female actors, musicians, writers, producers, filmmakers and artists, VOW has run six annual international literary competitions, produced 27 live performances, and released two feature films and 12 short films. Artistic Director, Lliane Clarke, was awarded the Carla Zampatti Arts and Culture Medal, Multicultural NSW for the ‘Entanglement’ program in 2022.
The Entanglement competition created a feature film and short films that have garnered international recognition including New York Short Film Independent Cinema Awards, Flickerfest Short Film Festival in Sydney, Dublin and Zagreb International Film Festivals and Sydney Womens International Film Festival. The film was launched at Government House by Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC KC and launched in New York by Australian Consul-General to New York The Hon Nick Greiner AC in 2022 and shown at the United Nations Women Deliver Conference in 2023.
VOW runs workshops to support women writers across the country, supports a Composer in Residence creating innovative new Australian music, and publishes the Voices of Women podcast. The program enables the Voices of Women team to listen and gather stories to support women who have something to say, or who may have been told they have nothing to say or to keep quiet, and to explore their creativity.
The program impacts young and mature women, many of who include first-time writers or workshop attendees, by building their:
- self esteem and resilience
- problem solving
- team work and sharing, community building
- personal empowerment and courage
- mental health and wellbeing
WHAT WOMEN SAY :
“I felt nobody was listening to me! I feel so much better that I’ve shared that story – that I’ve got it out! I feel stronger now.” Emily O’Brien, workshop attendee
“I can’t tell you the impact of seeing something I had written come to life. Ripped the rug out from me!” Kirsty Jagger, author
“Knowing that my story was accepted into this program was a turning point for me as a writer.” Susan Francis, author of The Love That Remains, Allen and Unwin, 2019.
“Being accepted into this program was a life changing event for me in many ways. It gave me such confidence and since then my writing work has developed in a way I couldn’t have imagined.” Edilia Ford, Sydney, corporate escapee, pursuing a life as a writer.
“As a mother and wife, I have developed a sense of being a non-entity. To have this experience was so emotional for me. I felt success as an individual human being that I haven’t felt ever and it gave me the strength and drive to go back to some of the other things I had started writing and think, maybe I’m OK at this and I should get some of it finished.” Adele Strange, teacher, wife, mother, emerging writer.
“Why do I write? I write because I would burst if I didn’t. In the writing, be it memoir or fiction, I finally make sense of some part of my life, past or present that was subconsciously begging for attention.” Val Clark, author, workshop attendee, Outback Writers Centre, Dubbo
For writers it is a chance to hear a piece they have created come alive in the hands of professional and trained actors and storytellers. The format is for stories written in the first person point of view – monologues, narratives, soliloquy. Writers can be mentored through workshops or assessments to develop their pieces.
For actors it’s a chance to give voice to stories of women, not staged, not costumed. It comes from a Readers Theatre tradition, with short narratives read with authenticity and character conviction in amongst the audience.
For the audience it is a chance to be washed with and immersed in stories and storytellers in ways that we have forgotten or are rare, in unexpected places.
It is distinguished by FIVE PILLARS:
1. DIVERSITY: Voices of Women is committed to diverse stories and diverse actors from all women in Australia, and strongly seeks stories and performers from First Nations, culturally and linguistically diverse communities, from women living with disability, women from LGBTQI+ communities, and women living in regional, remote and metropolitan areas.
2. WRITING COMPETITION IN FIRST PERSON VOICE: All women writers are invited to submit short pieces in the first person present – narrative, monologues, soliloquy. All writing organisations and writers collectives are encouraged and welcome to take part. The project can be tailored to specific communities. Stories can be fiction or non-fiction and are curated by the editorial team lead by Artistic Director Lliane Clarke.
3. SPOKEN WORD: The pieces are performed in public by trained actors in Rehearsed Readings from the tradition of Reader’s Theatre. Why rehearsed readings? Read about the inspiration behind this form here.
4. AUDIENCE IMMERSION IN SURPRISING VENUES: All performances are in intimate spaces, unusual, unexpected with audience immersed amongst the storytellers. The audience experiences the stories in an acoustic environment which can also involve elements of music. Voices of Women also encourages women visual artists and has collaborated with several visual arts organisations.
5. WORKS RELEASED ON FILM: the stories are performed in filmed outcomes, or podcasted. A selection of works may be published by online by our publishing collaborators.
Voices of Women acknowledges the Gadigal and Wangal people of the Eora nation as the traditional custodians of the land on which we produce and share stories. We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of country throughout Australia and recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and culture. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present.