IN PICTURES: Writing community gathers for launch of short story and poetry anthology

The Albany Town Hall was packed with more than 170 people on August 7 for the launch of Voices of the South: Albany-Kinjarling and the Great Southern. The anthology features 75 short stories and poems from 51 writers, compiled and edited by Albany author and 100.9 FM Arts Magazine producer Roger Guinery. Guinery said he was “thrilled” for the authors who were published for the first time, saying “they have all dug deep to share their feelings of love and passion, yearning and grief”. “It means so much to them,” he said. “They can see their stories and poems alongside the works of authors renown. “And with their talents on display, who knows what can happen next? “It feels great that we made more than $2000 for the hospice on the night.” Albany Advertiser editor Eliza Kavanagh and author Jon Doust presented $100 vouchers for Paperbark Merchants to the four winners of the Creative Albany awards. John Beeson’s poem Four Crowded Nights won most interesting, and Giles Watson took home the best knowledge of country award for his poem Red Moort. The encouragement award was split between two winners with Kerry Cox’s short story Brothers with Arms and Zoe Kerr’s Pilots Stranded both getting a nod. Guinery said he was “astonished” by the response to the anthology with the resulting compilation taking the reader “to faraway places”. “I am astonished by the level of interest shown across the writing community, and the quality and variety of the short stories and poems,” he said. “In the end, I had to knock back more authors than I included.” Albany Community Hospice will receive $10 from each book sale, along with money from the event’s ticket sales. Voices of the South: Albany-Kinjarling and the Great Southern can be purchased or ordered from Paperbark for $29.95.