Oasis Magazine - Cairns & Tropical North Queensland Issue 22 - Feb|Mar 2018 | Page 16

TROPICAL WRITERS LAUNCH latest anthology Tropical Writers are inviting people who love reading to a free public launch of their latest anthology at the Cairns City Library meeting room on Saturday, 3 February at 11.00am. Titled Free Fall and featuring fifty works by northern writers, this is the seventh anthology produced since Tropical Writers formed as an association to support local writers in 2004. In the foreword to the collection, Adjunct Professor and Patron of Tropical Writers, Stephen Torre, writes: “Many of the greatest works of literature have been shaped by the emotive and imaginative power of place . . . these regional writings in turn have an influence in shaping the emotional and intellectual perceptions of tropical communities and those who visit them.” The anthology entries are as diverse as the tropical environment itself, a mix of styles and subjects in realism, autobiography and memoir, science fiction and fantasy, mystery, thriller and poetry. “ It would be difficult to find a collection of recent writing so charged with appeal, or so abounding with literary and stylistic inventiveness,” says Stephen Torre, “with the added bonus, of those of us who live in the tropics, of fascinating glimpses here and there of our own world and our own culture.” Tropical Writers are also the hosts of the biennial Cairns Tropical Writers Festival, next due on 17-19 August 2018. An exciting program of local and visiting writers and publishers is currently being crafted. Mark calendars now. Monthly meetings to support the craft of writing, and other public events throughout the year, are signs of a growing membership for Tropical Writers. Membership is open at http://www.tropicalwriters.com.au/ One such event is the Stories of Saga Land and the Vikings lunch in Cairns, with visiting author Kári Gíslason, on Friday 16 February 2018 at the Shangri-La Hotel on the waterfront. This will be followed by a weekend writers retreat with Kári on the Tablelands. More information and online bookings are on Eventbrite. Free Fall, the anthology by Tropical Writers sponsored by the Cairns RSL Community Benefit Fund, is available at the launch, or at Collins Booksellers in Smithfield All enquiries: 0437 366 651 16 | w w w. o a s i s m a g a z i n e . c o m . a u The anthology launch on Saturday 3 February will feature readings by some of the local authors, followed by refreshments. All welcome to this free event. More information and online bookings are on Eventbrite: https://goo.gl/JD1ovL