home salon writing writers university of adelaide contact Salon Events... The Christmas Edition wordfire literary salon was held on the 4th December 2006 at 7.00pm in the Crown & Sceptre, King Wiliam Street, Adelaide. With Christmas as a theme, it was no surprise that the readings were especially intense. From headless reindeer biscuits and a mother departing to America with the speed of a bird, Nicholas Jose dropped us into Iodide Street, Broken Hill before, for a few highly charged minutes, the audience shared Yahia Al-Samawy's cell on death row in Saddam Hussein's Iraq - what a rare privilege it was to hear Yahia read his work, an unforgettable experience. Stephanie's fluent and emotional reading of Yahia's work in translation was exemplarary. rob walker (sic) diverted us with a shopping trip to Ikea, and a moving tribute to his grandfather 'Spud' which can be accessed on the writing page (click here ), while Anna Solding restored something of the wonder of childhood Christmases. Emergency Crank Radio's set started out small with ukulele and sweet vocals and ended wearing big boots Dancing In The Dark. The song Paris should be played and played and played...they were great! All the readers contributed hugely to the enjoyment of the evening and thanks too to Crooked House who got things off to an interesting musical start. That's it for 2006, but we'll be back with Fringe Wordfire in March. In the meantime, Happy Holidays! The December Wordfire readers were: Nicholas Jose Nicholas Jose grew up in Adelaide. He is the author of several acclaimed novels, including Nicholas Jose 'The Rose Crossing', ' The Custodians' and 'Original Face', as well as short stories, essays and a recent memoir, 'Black Sheep: Journey to Borroloola'. He has lived in various parts of Australia and around the world, including China, where he worked for five years. His books have been widely published and translated. He was president of Sydney PEN, 2002-2005, and is active as a teacher, editor and mentor of new writing. His book Paper Nautilus, which has sold over 60,000 copies, has just been reissued by Wakefield Press, and is the Adelaide Big Book Club's book of the month for December. To visit Nicholas's website click here. Yahia al-Samawy Yahia al-Samawy is a well-known and respected Iraqi poet. Yahia al-Samawy He has published several volumes of poetry in Arabic and has received major awards and accolades, including the prestigious Prize of the Arab Union for Poetic Creativity. He travels regularly to the Middle East for writers' festivals and gatherings, most recently in 2005 to the Janadiriya in Saudi Arabia. Yahia was born and educated in Iraq. He was imprisoned and tortured under Saddam Hussein's regime. He fled and spent years in exile in Saudi Arabia before migrating with his family to Australia. He now lives in Adelaide with his wife Wejdan and their children Shayma, Ali, Najed and Sarah. Yahia al-Samawy's books Nuqoush ála jidha' nakhla (published in Arabic) and Two Banks with No Bridge were published in 2005. rob walker rob walker rob is a South Australian writer and educator. He teaches music and drama in a state primary school in the southern metropolitan area of Adelaide and lives on a small farm in the Adelaide Hills. His website is here. Jan Owen says: "rob walker combines sharp perception, compassion and humour to create crisp intersections of time and place. Airy shortcuts, sensuous imagery, and a warm sympathy combine in poems that range from insect life to human relationships, from landscape to love." rob's books will be available at a special price of $18.00 on the night. Heather Taylor Johnson Heather Taylor Johnson Heather Taylor Johnson came to Adelaide to become a student of Creative Writing at the University of Adelaide. Seven years later and she's still here, still a student at the University of Adelaide. She now has an Aussie man and two little Aussie boys so she feels pretty Australian herself. She is one of the poetry editors for Wet Ink and has been inspired to write a new poem for this event. Emergency Crank Radio "Emergency. Crank. Radio. Three words that are used by the US Federal Forestry Department to signpost public safety devices for the use of summer fire watchers and lost hikers. You can see this band as following in the footsteps of Jack Kerouac, lonely fire watchers on Big Sur, waiting to spot the tell tale plumes of smoke, living off cans of pork and beans and fighting off boredom. Or perhaps in the context of a cry for help: victims of relationship breakdowns and starry eyed ne'er-do-wells looking for the big break. They formed in someone's kitchen, rehearsed in someone's lounge room, and abused someone's stage, just the once. Viva the ECR!" Emma Carmody Emma Carmody - click here to enlarge Emma is a first year PhD candidate in creative writing and French at the University of Adelaide. In addition to writing and translating poetry, which is the focus of her PhD, she is currently working on a series of papers on translingual creative writing - otherwise known as creative writing in a second language. Alice Sladdin Alice Sladdin - click here to enlarge A M Sladdin, a Friendly Street Poet, won Adelaide University's 2005 Bundey Prize for one of her M A poems and is undertaking a Phd novel. She operates a gallery-bookshop in Saddleworth, en route to the Clare wine district. Sam Franzway Sam Franzway Sam Franzway is a traveller, ex-circus-clown and a writer for children and young adults. His early works include ' Beetle Bug', 'Beetle Bug Goes Driving' and 'The Battle of the Bears and the Squirrels'. Unfortunately, due to a lack of demand for six-year-old authors, these were never published. Since then he has studied at Adelaide and Flinders Universities, reviewed books and even been published a couple of times. He has a book coming out with Scholastic in 2007. Anna Solding Anna Solding Anna Solding is always busy writing. During the past five years, while working on her PhD thesis in creative writing, Anna has had short stories published in a variety of literary journals and collections as well as being awarded the odd prize for her writing. She has co-edited the collection Cracker!, the magazine Wet Ink and the live literary journal Animate Quarterly. Earlier this year she was awarded a LongLines mentorship at Varuna, the Writers' House to develop her second novel manuscript. In her spare time she has also produced a couple of beautiful children. But she hasn't quite managed to finish her PhD yet. Crooked House Crooked House Crooked House is composed of free-range guitar and violin with a definite Romantic ethic in the lyrics. Cynicism and optimism improvise transcendental sounds. Crooked House will be performing from 6.45pm to 7.30pm or thereabouts - miss it, you'll regret it. Top