These short stories were selected by Voices of Women to appear in the short film Clearway (Corona).
Several stories also appear in the Voices of Women Podcast.
FILM
Kirli Saunders, Ngununggula
‘We’ve been helping our goodjagah (small children) find mirren (belonging) in all of their spaces so that the millions of eggs in ovaries that move through our lessons might carry our stories. We’ve been undoing the shame taught to us and remembering ourselves with words,’
Kirli Saunders is a proud Gunai woman with ties to the Yuin, Gundungurra, Gadigal and Biripi people. Kirli is the Manager of Poetic Learning and First Nations Cultural Liaison at Red Room Poetry. She was awarded ‘Worker of the Year 2017’ at the NAIDOC awards in the Illawarra/ Shoalhaven region and has been nominated for a National NAIDOC 2018 award. Kirli founded the Poetry in First Languages project.
Alison Crooks, Christopher
‘Christopher, Christopher! I told you not to leave the playground.’ A mother’s anxiety is heightened as her son goes missing at a waterpark.
Alison is a Darwin-based blog and podcast writers who often draws on her educational background working with First Nations, refugees and migrant communities for her writing.
Grace Cardillo, Be Kind to Your Service Staff
‘If you want to enjoy your gluttonous stupor tonight, then these are my rules!’ What happens when a waitress snaps and has a few words for her customers?
Grace draws on her experience in hospitality to create short stories, has been published in Fast Fiction magazine, and has a play ‘Faulty Tables’ and a series of children’s books in development.
Suzy Wilds, Breathe Just Breathe
‘His face went this strange bright red colour; seriously he looked like a tomato about to explode.’ A young 16 year old girl faces the future with an unexpected announcement by her doctor that she is pregnant.
Suzy is a Nursing Unit Manager and enjoys writing stories and exploring issues around women.
Katrina Samaras, Changing Buses
How do you change direction when the bus route’s rubbish? It would take a heroine in mesh and shining armour, like Joan of Arc, to rescue you. Wouldn’t it?
Katrina won the MiNDFOOD short story writing competition in 2016 and has had several short plays staged in Sydney and Wollongong. She won Popular and Judges’ Choice in the lllawarra Short & Sweet Play Festival in 2018 and 2019.
Claire Hampson, Beginnings
Events take a dramatic turn at high school girl Eleanor Capriccio’s house party, while her new friend Nic takes a fresh look at love.
Claire is an English Language Teacher in Sydney and a member of the Northern Beaches Writing Group, with short stories published in several anthologies.
Deanne Mamet, Opening Day
The grand opening of Jenna’s upmarket hairdressing salon should be an event for great excitement, but the arrival of her ex-wife threatens to derail the most important day of her life.
Deanne teaches Drama and English, was a finalist in the Pen2Paper Competition (Austin, Texas) Stringybark Open Competition, and Rockingham Short Story Competition.
Emma Grace Clarke, Woman Kin
‘Women with words are dangerous weavers, filled to the brim with poisons distilled with periwinkle and a sparkling spite.’ What are the secrets held by women throughout history and why does humanity flourish as well as rot within its own disdain for the strange?
Emma is an emerging Melbourne-based writer, fascinated by the actions of our ancestors. Her poem “The Letter Q” was published by Incisors & Grinders.
Lliane Clarke, Silted River
‘Open-mouthed Sydney rock oysters gaped up at me from the silted lulled mud, fully submerged, hiding, hidden. Underneath the Anzac Bridge at Rozelle Bay, Parramatta River, Baramada River, Gadigal Wangal land. This is not the first epidemic we have had here.’
Thank you to the First Nations women who provided their wisdom and experience on ‘Silted River’: Deborah Lennis, Inner West Council, Jannice Packer, Inner West Council, Tracey Cameron and Gayle Kennedy. Lliane is an author and journalist, was a Publisher at New Holland Publishers, runs non-fiction author mentoring workshops at Writing NSW, writes short stories, poetry and essays, is studying Master of Arts (Creative Writing and Literature) at Deakin University, works in Communications at NIDA in Sydney and is the Director at Voices of Women.
PODCAST
Rowena Wiseman, The Lolita Express
‘Be grateful. You’re special but you’re easy to replace.’ What happens when a 15-year old girl is groomed into a rich man’s playground?
Rowena Wiseman writes contemporary fiction, young adult, micro fiction and poetry, is the author of The Replacement Wife (HarperCollins, 2015), Bequest (Tenebris Books, 2014) and Searching for Von Honningsbergs (longlisted for the 2007 Australian Vogel Award). Her poetry is published in Quadrant magazine.
Alex Smee, A Trip to the Pool
‘I’m not scared of the cracks. I don’t believe there’s danger lurking in those empty spaces.’ Alex takes a walk into that shaky space just outside the world, where we think we’re alone and we avoid cracks in the sidewalk and odd numbers.
Alex has been writing creative content for online, radio and TV platforms for over a decade, much of that time as the ABC Open Producer for the West Kimberley. She was part of the team that established Broome’s first writers’ festival and now lives on Moa Island in the Torres Strait, where she continues to produce stories and publishes a regular blog.
Kerry Littrich, The Elephant in the Room
‘I lean close to breathe in the scent of her, to smell that private place where only a mother should nuzzle her child.’ Sissy has just one hour to connect with her baby daughter.
Ruth Melville, The Give and Take
Jess finds herself speaking of crimes and misdemeanours from a much earlier age, those belonging to a six, ten, twelve-year-old. Those, evidently, belonging to her.
Ruth’s fiction and non-fiction work has been published in Island, Tirra Lirra, Meanjin, the Big Issue and The Australian. Her plays have been produced for Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts, Brisbane; Sydney Fringe; Tamarama Rock Surfers; and as part of the Asylum project for Apocalypse Theatre Company. In 2014, Ruth was shortlisted for the Edward Albee Inscription Playwriting Scholarship.
Danae Sweetapple, Inconvenient
‘While my right eyeball behaves like an unreliable rap dancer who lives in a tunnel, my left hides at home … under blankets … in a cupboard … with the door shut.’ In a comedic take on ordering a coffee with her blind/vision impaired friend, Danae explores living with an ‘inconvenient’ disability.
Danae Sweetapple is a Australian Paralympic medallist, was Young Queenslander of the Year in 1992, has a Bachelor of Arts in Literature and Honours in Literature and a performance background.