Storytelling permeates through our society through stimulating narratives, be it in traditional fictional novel form or short creative works like blogs and even TikTok.
As part of the Festival of the Fantastic in Australian and Japanese Arts, the University of Tasmania is hosting Worldbuilding and Writing Wizardry, which taps into the growth in interest in creative writing.
Event organiser and Humanities Lecturer with the College of Arts, Law and Education Emerald King said the workshop would bring University of Tasmania Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing Lucy Christopher together with internationally recognised author Isobelle Carmody.
Isobelle Carmody is an award-winning Australian speculative fiction writer, who is known for the Obernewtyn Chronicles and Kingdom of the Lost series.
Dr Christopher is an international best-selling author of books for children and young adults and launched her latest book, Release, in Hobart recently. Release is her debut psychological thriller for an adult audience.
“Creative writing is one of the fastest growing areas of English at the University of Tasmania,” Dr King said.
“Tasmania itself is an island full of stories, and this is reflected in the popularity of the family history units, and the University’s support for events like the Tamar Valley Writer’s Festival and the Hedberg Writer in Residence.
“The Festival of the Fantastic, which includes this discussion, aims to create a dialogue between Japan and Australia across a wide range of arts including fine arts, illustration, textiles, and the written word.
“It’s great to be able to bring together these authors to share their insights into creative writing and worldbuilding.”
Dr King said there was a weekend of cosplay photoshoots and fantasy workshops conducted earlier in the year in Hobart, with additional events in Sydney, Brisbane, and Yokohama, which tapped into the creative narrative.
“Any kind of communication has a narrative and learning how to craft this is important for short form works like TikTok and longer form creative works,” she said.
“Indeed, a major part of apps like TikTok's popularity is BookTok which revolves around readers recommending, reviewing, and creating fan art and cosplay from their favourite books and stories. There is room here for everyone to play.”
Worldbuilding, Writing and Wizardry is on Friday, November 25, at the Hunter Street Centre for the Arts from 6-7pm.
Register to attend in person at bit.ly/3tQGv1c or you can attend online at bit.ly/3OsobFb.