Room for Mountains Writers

 I recently had the pleasure of attending the official opening of the WestWords Western Sydney Writer's Rooms, also known as Katoomba: The Den 24/7

The well-appointed writer's space is situated in the basement of Gallery One88, and was officially launched on Saturday 16th December, before a large gathering of local writers and artists.

Welcome to country was beautifully spoken and sung by Uncle Lex Dadd, after which, local author Libby Gleeson – one of the original founders of the institution - gave an introduction to the history and purpose of Westwords and the writer's rooms and writing programs established under its auspices.

Well known local authors, Tohby Riddle and Jennifer Rowe – known for her works as Emily Rodda, amongst other things – also addressed the crowd.

Though officially a 'basement', the writer's room is a large space, well decorated with local artworks and furnished with a number of large, comfortable writing desks. Information about access, fees, membership, and services (including free wi-fi), can be found at the Westwords website.

The space is set up in co-operation with the owners of Gallery One88, and can be accessed 24/7 by writers who have signed up with Westwords for a weekly, monthly, or six monthly membership.

The Blue Mountains is an area awash with creativity, being home to many writers and artists of varying degrees of fame or notoriety.  For those of you who might be seeking the fellowship of other aspiring writers in The Mountains, it can also be found at such places as The Blue Mountains Writers who meet at Springwood on the first Sunday of each month, or a less formal group of writers who meet at Katoomba Library from 1pm to 3pm on the second Sunday of each month (if interested, turn up with a pen and some paper, and say hello - we don't bite)  Examples of some of the work from this group can be found on the Library page Writers in The Mist as well as on other pages of this blog, or these blogs - Offerings from the Wellspring and Musings from The Mountains.

Varuna House is another dedicated writers space that is worth keeping in contact with, as they host a number of interesting events every year, as well as offering scholarships and programs to assist aspiring writers, while the NSW Writers Centre offers lots of useful resources, as does the Australian Society of Authors.

We all carry a folder full of stories around inside us - let some of your stories out to play.  Better still, take them out in the company of other writers, like the ones you will find in the writer's groups, or at the writers rooms.  Writing only seems like it should be a solitary art until you have had the pleasure of working with other like-minded people, and discovering that you are not alone - we are all makers of stories, and the right writing company may help you find stories you did not know you had.