Speakeasy Review

Words by Sean Stockham and Jess Miller

What came to Humanities 133 a few weeks ago? Well, there was an alien. That’s for sure. Riots, break ups, wars. I guess a more pressing question is what didn’t come to Humanities 233? If the answer is you, then I hope you were parasailing across the Antarctic while teaching Spanish to whales, because not many Fridays could top this one.   
            Justina Ashman opened the afternoon, taking us to a dystopian future where sexual oppression and political homophobia have led to horrifying psychological practices. We were witness to the tedium and torture of minimum wage work with Kayla Gaskell’s words; we caught a glimpse of our own identity in Lise van Konkelenberg’s sculptural art, and of our own scalding emotional reverie in Taeghan Buggy’s poetry.
            Then came the first break. Snacks and conversation; some stayed and talked to the readers, whilst others roamed outside, trying to remember we’re still at Flinders. Or to get coffee. Mostly to get coffee. We’re writers after all.
            Starting off the second set, Richard Falkner immersed us in a tantalising world of fate and responsibility. The room turned dark and foreboding as Cameron Lowe created a terrifying alien before our eyes. Riana Kinlough took us all the way to China, to the tense beginnings of a werewolf’s first full moon.
            The third break saw some of us high on caffeine, others finishing off wine bottles. People bought Speakeasy Zines, wanting to know more about the writers. Laughing, drinking and finally settling down for the final set.
            Amelia began by raising Edgar Allan Poe back from the dead and giving us a new take on his old Raven classic. Sean Stockham thrust us into an underworld where we walked on the sky, and saw far into the future. Ebony concluded the amazing afternoon with romance, giving us a deep look into the yearning of a new love.
            The sets were over then. All stories and travel done. We could go home, or get dinner. Still, most people stayed, talked, made new friends and caught up with old. Once again, writers had a chance to share their work and, most importantly, tell a story.

            If you were one of the unfortunate people who chose teaching Spanish to whales over attending our event, not to worry; just bring them along to our next public event, which will be announced soon. You’ll have a whale of a time!

The Speakeasy Zine is open for submissions for Issue 5! If you're a Flinders undergrad with creative leanings and want to see your work IN PRINT and lovingly crafted, send us an email at the address at the bottom.

Our submission guidelines are as below:

We only accept submissions from Flinders University undergraduate students, and we prioritise submissions from members of the Speakeasy community, especially those who have read or performed at Speakeasy events.

We accept poetry and prose (including short fiction, flash fiction, and creative non-

fiction) of any genre or sub-genre (speculative, humour, contemporary, satire, magical realism – whatever floats your boat!)

For prose we ask that you try to keep your submissions under 1000 words. There is no minimum word limit.

For poetry there is no minimum or maximum line count, but shorter is sweeter! We don't have the means to publish any epics. 

We do accept multiple submissions, but more so if you’re submitting poetry or flash-fiction.

The deadline for submission is Sunday October 18

Email your submission to speakeasyzineflinders@gmail.com 

Speakeasy at the Wheaty

Picture your ideal night out. Does it involve short stories, possibly being performed through a microphone out the back of a pub? Are you imagining pizza, cider, wine—the chance to both own a handcrafted zine and win some sweet books in a raffle? Are you, by any chance, picturing yourself at the Wheatsheaf?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, there’s a good chance you attended Speakeasy Flinders’ first public readings night for 2015. If you didn’t, I regret to inform you that you missed out—big time.

We boasted a number of Wheatsheaf newbies this year, all stars at our campus event back in April, as well as many of our star-studded regulars and three marvellous postgrads taking time out from their busy schedules. The night began with Speakeasy stalwart Sean Stockham, who juxtaposed light-hearted and serious in two beautifully written pieces on bees, love and mythology. Next up was rising star Taeghan Buggy—whose poetry is just as fabulous as her performance skills—followed by postgrad Houman Zandi-zadeh in the first interactive performance Speakeasy’s had in a long time. Houman’s piece exploring the treatment of women in Iran (performed along with our Speakeasy presidents Lauren and Alicia) was a wonderful, though-provoking way to cap off the first set.

The interim brought pizza and the chance to purchase a copy of our Speakeasy zine! Bursting with contributions from our lovely Speakeasy participants, from prose to poetry to review to comic, this collection of hand-decorated pages has it all. Do you get the feeling we’re proud of it? Because we really, truly are.

The second set brought a quirky, magical realist mix of pigeons and French literary theory from Jess Miller, whilst Callum McLean’s anecdotal memoir of his experience in China was both expressively written and painstakingly honest. Lise Van Konkelenberg gave a stunning, original performance about the Book of Creation, which was followed by our second postgrad reading: a hilarious rumination on life, death and bees, expertly performed by Piri Eddy.

Our third and final set consisted of a first-year, an Honours student and a postgrad—a wonderful example of the talent existing across the Flinders Creative Arts year levels, which began with Richard Faulkner’s haunting tale of his Uncle at Gallipoli. Justina Ashman’s excerpt from her short story ‘The Last Living Girl in Paris’ made us all desperate for more, whilst Mel Pryor, as our very last and esteemed postgrad speaker, wound together an intimate tale of her relationship with her father amidst a rural Australian landscape.

A very special and enormous thank you must of course go to our Speakeasy presidents, Lauren Butterworth and Alicia Carter, and to our fantastic MC Callum McLean. More thanks still goes to our Speakeasy zine team: Justina Ashman, Sean Stockham, Callum McLean, Jess Miller, Riana Kinlough and Simone Corletto. This event was made possible through their huge enthusiasm and hard work.

We roamed from Paris to China to Turkey to Iran; we laughed and drank and talked and we were merry. Most of all—and this, if nothing else, is why Speakeasy is so wonderfully important—we got to celebrate our undergrad writers. On a personal note, as Assistant Director of Speakeasy it is immensely exciting to see these fresh faces amongst the veterans. Speakeasy depends, after all, not only on the work of its leaders but also (and perhaps much more importantly) on the support of its speakers, contributors and audience.

After this event, I’d say the future is as bright as it has ever been.

words by Jess Miller

Speakeasy at the Wheatsheaf

Good news, everyone! Speakeasy is having its first public event of 2015 at the Wheatsheaf Hotel on June 18! We’ve got short fiction, poetry, SLAMs, dramatic monologues, and plenty of banter. It’s our first public event of the year and we’ve got a stellar line-up featuring special guests, Melanie Pryor, Piri Eddy, and Houman Zandi-zadeh, as well as our brand spanking greenies and award winning regulars. Come for the readings, stay for the beer and pizza! Bring your friends, your mum and your willingness to be blown away by our ability to fit all that talent into such a small space!

Announcing the Speakeasy Zine!

The Speakeasy Zine is back!

The Speakeasy Zine is a publication created by Speakeasy readers to showcase the wonderful prose and poetry that is created by Flinders creative writers. It is an old-school zine, crafted lovingly with bits and scraps and photocopied into a work that celebrates the diversity of creative work of our readers. If you would like to submit a piece of prose or poetry, or an illustration, review or interview, please contact us. The submission guidelines are below:

Speakeasy Zine Submission Guidelines

·         We only accept submissions from Flinders University undergraduate students, and we prioritise submissions from members of the Speakeasy community, especially those who have read or performed at Speakeasy events.

·         We accept poetry and prose (including short fiction, flash fiction, and creative non-fiction) of any genre or sub-genre (speculative, humour, contemporary, satire, magical realism – whatever floats your boat!)

·         For prose we ask that you try to keep your submissions under 1000 words. There is no minimum word limit.

·         For poetry there is no minimum or maximum line count, but keep in mind we probably don’t have enough paper to print your entire epic homage to Beowulf.

·         We do accept multiple submissions, but more so if you’re submitting poetry or flash-fiction.

·         The deadline for submissions is Monday May 18

·         Email your submission to speakeasyzineflinders@gmail.com

Lots of love, your friendly neighbourhood Speakeasy Committee

Speakeasy Back on Campus

A crowd gathers on the lawns of the Humanities Courtyard, trailing a string of colourful bunting. They bundle together, grinning and squinting into the setting sun as Speakeasy Co-director, Lauren Butterworth, readies her camera. Students, teachers, friends – a community of creative writing enthusiasts at Flinders University. A click. A flash. Just one moment of delight from one delightful evening.

But wait, let me set the scene. It’s Friday April 10, the last day of classes before the mid-semester break, and somewhere on campus excitement is brewing. Speakeasy is back at Flinders for the first event of 2015.

 It’s 2pm and, as the first few people trickle through the door, one thing is obvious: the Humanities 101 tutorial room has been transformed. Chairs have been pushed to the back of the room and the floor is covered in an eclectic myriad of blankets, cushions and bean bags; the whiteboard is now a wall of Speakeasy history, covered in the posters of past events; multi-coloured fairy lights are strung above, not-at-all-precariously kept in place with gratuitous sticky-tape; and, off to the side, people are already congregating around a table of food and drinks. Speakeasy is here.

Sean Stockham opens the event with some emotional whiplash that characterised the sheer diversity of the afternoon—beginning with his self-described ‘depressing’ piece of creative non-fiction that mused on death and grief in humans and dogs, and then moving to a tongue-in-cheek sestina about Die Hard. Three first-time speakers follow: Richard Falkner dips into history, exploring his uncle’s experience at Gallipoli, Taeghan Buggy’s poetry gives the audience some vivid imagery to soak in, and Jordan Early’s humorous narration rouses many a laugh during a piece of contemporary fiction that deals with serious themes of body image and self-worth. Susan Double’s usual blend of science and creativity rounds off the first set with a rich and descriptive non-fiction piece about the life cycle of salmon. As congratulations are given and snacks are retrieved, the quality and variety of work from speakers both new and old is already making an impact.

                                                     

Simone Corletto opens the second set with a vibrant sci-fi romp that touches on speculative explorations of sex and gender. Kayla Gaskell follows with rich characterisation in her short fiction piece ‘The Americans’, and Carina Pearce’s short story elicits several shocked laughs with its combination of humorous character voices and graphic violence. Jess Miller closes the set with a combination of the familiar and the surreal in her short story, ‘Capello’, which brings a touch of the apocalyptic to a fictional AFL match.

                                       

                                         

CJ McLean begins the third and final set by transporting the audience to Oxford, England, with a reflective exploration of the ups and downs of a relationship. Lise Van Konkelenberg embodies characters, with expert use of accents and dialect, in what was not so much a reading as a performance, and Jason Smith follows with emotional and passionate performances of his slam poetry. Justina Ashman concludes the afternoon’s readings with a humorous short piece about haunted apartments and the trials of dealing with modern day ghosts.

                                          

                                        

The readings are followed with the customary door-prize raffle of books, books and more books, and the exciting announcement of the resurrection of the Speakeasy Zine. Thanks are given to the Speakeasy Committee, the two Co-directors Lauren Butterworth and Alicia Carter, and of course to the talented and diverse group of readers who shared their work.

After the last word has been spoken, the fun carries on as people chat animatedly about the readings and about writing in general. It becomes abundantly clear that the cosy atmosphere of Speakeasy is not due to the lights or the posters or the blankets—it’s the people. Speakeasy is a community characterised by creativity, openness, and enthusiasm for reading and writing.

And that brings us back to where we started. In the blinding light of the setting sun, a group of writers, listeners, readers and thinkers brought together by free food and a shared passion for creativity and literature, staring into the lens of a camera. A click. A flash. An afternoon of thousands of words distilled into a single photograph.

Words by Justina Ashman 

Speakeasy on Campus

Speakeasy is back for 2015!

We are super excited to announce our next Speakeasy event on campus. Join us on April 10 in Humanities 101 for an afternoon of stories, poetry, food, wine and fun. 

If you'd like to read some of your creative work, email us at speakeasy.flinders@gmail.com. You don't have to read to attend. Come along and check it out, get to know your fellow Flinders creative writers before we head off for the semester break.

A Speakeasy Picnic

In November we met under the shade in the Humanities Courtyard to hear some words from Speakeasy readers old and new. Here's Jess Miller's musings on the day:

I think back on 2014 and remember the end of the semester with the most fondness. So much was happening! I and most of my friends were finishing our undergraduate degrees! Yet what I loved about that last week wasn’t handing up that major assignment or leaving that tutorial room for the final time—it was actually the year’s last Speakeasy campus event.

I’m sure it sounds like I’m saying this just for effect, but let me assure you that I’m being completely earnest about this.

It was a perfectly sunny Friday afternoon, for one thing. And for another, a fantastic amalgamation of year levels, student spectators and the odd academic had gathered on the grass to hear the talent (and bravery), as Flinders Creative Writers performed their short stories.

It was impressive to hear the scope of genres across the day, from fantasy to romance to crime fiction. In fact, there was such a variety of readers that it became necessary to stretch our legs at half-time. And with the expanse of the Humanities courtyard to play with, what better than a game of croquet, brought along by our lovely Speakeasy co-director, Lauren?

With free food and wine in our stomachs, it was a joy to both listen and perform; even afterwards, with the speaking podium put to rest and the drink bottles empty, nobody felt like leaving. It’s really a testament to the relaxed, friendly atmosphere when at the end of it most of us only left to catch our last available buses.

A somewhat belated (but still valid) thank you to Lauren and Alicia for putting on yet another highly successful Speakeasy event—may the next one brim with even more success! (And more croquet! Obviously, come to hear the creative writers, but also, come on guys, it’s croquet.)


Words by Jess Miller

Indaily Summer Edition

It's summer. Classes are somewhere behind you, through the vague of Christmas pudding and New Years wine, and next semester seems a lifetime away. The sunshine is alluring, the beaches are calling. There are picnics to be attended and television series to be binged. But there's something missing. You can't quite put your finger on it. What is it? Could it be the pleasant mind tingle of a crisp, delicious piece of prose? Hmm. That might be it. Well, the stimulation you crave is right here. Allow Indaily's Speakeasy Summer fill that short fiction void. You know you want it.

Michelle Bini, The Broken Season:
http://indaily.com.au/flinders-news/2015/01/09/speakeasy-broken-season/

Jess Miller, Capello
http://indaily.com.au/flinders-news/2015/01/06/capello/

Wendy Otero, Solace
http://indaily.com.au/flinders-news/2015/01/02/speakeasy-solace/

Cheryl Bradley, Postcards of Harvey
http://m.indaily.com.au/flinders-news/2014/12/30/speakeasy-postcards-harvey/

Callum McClean, A Summer of Ice
http://m.indaily.com.au/flinders-news/2014/12/26/speakeasy-summer-ice/