Last year was a huge year for the QUT Literary Salon. With new workshops such as Speaking with Confidence and You’re the Voice: Performance Poetry Workshop, as well as the continuance of their engaging and amazing salons, the Lit Salon continued to open the door for emerging writing students and encourage their growing confidence.
The 2019 team, led by co-presidents Lauren and Rusty, closed off on a successful and bustling year by introducing the new co-presidents – Hannah and Anahita – who are currently in the process of curating their team. Drawing on the achievements of the previous teams, previous successful workshops and monthly salons, the QUT Literary Salon is excited to continue their contribution to the Brisbane writing scene and share the works of our students’ extraordinary talent.
What is the QUT Literary Salon?
The QUT Literary Salon is a monthly reading series showcasing QUT student writers alongside well-known national and international writers, at a venue open to the broader literary community. It is an independent, student-run organisation that focuses on bringing up and coming writers of QUT into the local writing spotlight.
The Salon—with its distinctive emphasis on pairing emerging student work with that of established writers—also regularly collaborates with major industry publications and festivals, and serves as a vital community-building space where student cohorts from different years and degrees mingle, collaborate and perform their work, in the company of established writers.
Normally meeting on the third Monday of every month, the Literary Salon offers students the chance to read in public in front of a supportive audience. For many students, it is their first chance to read their work aloud and have a taste at introducing their work into the Brisbane writing scene. The audience is comprised of both their peers and the general public, along with established writers that guest read on the night.
The QUT Literary Salon values:
- Offering students the chance to read in public for the first time, with a supportive audience comprising both their peers and the general public, alongside established writers
- Creating a supportive and inclusive platform for creative writing students.
- Maintaining the Salon’s position as a vital student platform that connects emerging writers with the greater literary community, and local Brisbane community too.
- Ensuring that selection is fair and unbiased by employing a de-identified editorial process led by a group of student peers (the salon team).
What’s to come in 2020
The team is pleased to announce that their salons will continue to be hosted at The Bearded Lady in West End and the first theme of the year will be announced very soon – so keep an eye out! There will also be opportunities for feedback and presentation coaching with the Literary Salon editors so that readers can receive support leading up to their big night.
The salon’s workshops were well-received last year, and in response, the team wanted to continue to offer the opportunity for learning in a fun and collaborative environment. Their first event of the year will be a poetry workshop with the QUT Art Museum, on Wednesday the 19th of February (during O-Week). Poets on Paintings is an engaging workshop, where guests will have an opportunity to write an ekphrastic poem, exploring an artwork of their choice featured in the exhibition Anne Wallace: Strange Ways. We can’t think of a better way to get the creative juices flowing before heading into a busy semester and wish to see students from all disciplines attend as this event is not exclusive to writing students.
