General News
19 March, 2026
Creative sessions captivate
TERANG-Based author Pam Swanborough believes everyone has a story to tell as she sets out to host a series of writing workshops in the town.
Ms Swanborough launched the first of a series of monthly writing workshops, dubbed The Writing Room, in Terang on Saturday.
She said the concept to host the workshops followed on from the success of the Noorat Writers Festival last year, where she had interviewed local authors as part of the Noorat Writers Group.
“We had around 15 people with questions about writing, their own work, their own projects and what to do next,” she said.
“It was exciting because they were so interested – not just having a beer and going home.
“As I was getting ready the day before I wondered if people would be interested in a writer’s course, but seeing the enthusiasm made it clear there was an appetite.”
The first workshop saw a diverse group of people gather to share their ideas and learn about writing the past.
“Everyone has a good story – there were some amazing stories coming out,” she said.
“I designed some writing exercises to give people a chance to think about what I said and piece it together with it fresh in mind.
“It was very interesting – we had some interesting observations, by and of people.”
Ms Swanborough said she was not surprised to see such a strong local interest in literature.
“I think that, statistically, Wannon is one of the oldest electorates in average age with among the lowest academic achievements,” she said.
“It’s a population of people who left school at 15 to work on the farm – not because they weren’t clever enough to pursue formal education, but it’s not how people lived and not what their families needed of them.
“There’s a kind of assumption about people being practical, pragmatic and not interested in books.
“It’s nice to know there was no writing workshops here and offer it on the chance people are interested – and they are.
“One person said they had never thought much about writing, but saw the workshop was on and wanted to come along to support it.”
Ms Swanborough joins the ranks of those who have embraced the cultivation of arts and culture in the town, which she said was essential in developing healthy communities.
“On my way to the workshop I saw people in the avenue with easels,” she said.
“This is what keeps towns alive – if you do research into how to reinvigorate a dying country town, it’s never another industry.
“It’s always cultural because it builds community, builds outside interest and brings people in.
“People don’t join a community because there is a new shop – they do because there is some kind of special, cultural thing happening which they want to get into.
“I was conscious there wasn’t a strong writing network, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t stories to tell and people to tell them.”
It wasn’t until around 2019 that Ms Swanborough became more interested in writing following her retirement.
“After I retired I went to a writing and editing course” she said.
“I wrote a story, which I submitted to a writing competition, and I won Best Regional Writer from Writer’s Victoria.
“It was the second story I had ever written.”
She then took an opportunity to complete an Associate Degree in Professional Writing and Editing from RMIT during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I really loved it – I wanted to be in a classroom,” Ms Swanborough said.
“It was a great mix of people fresh out of school, people my age and everything in between – people from different backgrounds, it was a lovely mix of different points of view and interests.
“But then COVID-19 happened so it was all online.
“It was such a different experience, it wasn’t what I wanted but as part of the course you could finish your book and get it in front of a publisher.”
Her attentions turned to completing a novel she had begun as part of her enrolment into RMIT which would go on to become a critical breakthrough, Red Gifts in the Garden of Stones.
“I had submitted it to a few publishers before it was ready, I was being impatient, which was a learning curve,” Ms Swanborough said.
“They came back with comments saying the book was brilliant or quite good, but not commercial.
“I self-published it and was named among the Kirkus Review top 100 indie novels of 2025, which was kind of cool – they review around 30,000 books, so it’s a major recognition.”
Ms Swanborough will be hosting four more workshops in Terang over as many months.
“The next three workshops are about the basics of putting a novel together,” she said.
“The first is voice, character and point of view. The second is structure and plot. The last is publishing and getting work out there.
“The last one is on world building, which would be great for people who write fantasy, science fiction or dystopia, or ancient pre-history.
“You can come to all or just one. They’re all stand-alone.”
The next workshop will be held on Saturday, April 11 from 1pm-4pm at the Country Women’s Association Hall in Terang.
For more information or to book visit https://twofeathers.press/the-writing-room-all-workshops.
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