NYWF Daily Wrap-Up - Saturday

Photo by Sarah-Jane Edis

If It’s Good Enough for 9 Year Olds is probably the most just, unbridled fun I’ve had in an event this festival. We use the story writing techniques Matt Roden employs with kids at Sydney Story Factory and write all sorts of hysterical stuff. There’s a lot of laughter and silliness and it feels really nice to write like kids. As a group, we rewrite The Odyssey, but in SPACE, with Sandra Bullock as Odysseus. I turn to the person next to me, and together we write an epic adventure involving a sentient orb of light that claims the LGBTIQ crew members from Sandra’s ship for seemingly homophobic reasons (don’t worry, there’s a happy ending). It’s not until the end that we actually introduce ourselves (Hi, Yen!). 

After this a friend of mine who I haven’t seen in YEARS messages me…

 “ARE YOU IN NEWCASTLE?” 

“I am… are YOU?”

He’s here for Crack Theatre Festival, and we have lunch and massive catch ups because this is TiNA, and these are just the sorts of things that happen here. It’s wonderful, but I do miss the Funny Ladies panel I was meaning to attend. Whoops. 

I sometimes think back to my first NYWF in 2011. I knew almost no one, and I bravely (I think) went to panels alone, worked out busses alone, stayed in a hostel alone and introduced myself to tonnes of people and met lots of lovelies who I now know and love. It’s not really like that any more. I have the security blanket of friends and familiar faces, I don’t always step out of the comfort  zone or go to panels on a whim. So as an antidote to that, after lunch I set off on an alone time adventure. I catch the bus up town to the Hunter Design School for A Captive Audience where various authors discuss if they have a responsibility to use their writing for good, or just entertainment. I’m not sure they answer the question, but it is a great panel. 

After this I have a disagreement with a bus timetable and decide to walk back to town. This takes 30 or so minutes, which is tooooooo long. But anyway, that’s what happens when you get stubborn with an inanimate object. After a frantic search for a last minute thing for my costume, which is unsuccessful, I head to My Favourite is Problematic. Based on the tumblr blog of almost the same name, writers read HILARIOUS pieces about their favourite celebrities/TV-shows/books/words and why they are problematic. I have a particularly soft spot for this topic and it made me really happy to see other people telling funny jokes about the terrible things we love. 

Of course, after this it is time to head home to get ready for the NYWF Intergalactic Ball. I solve my costume problem and don my fresh to death Lumpy Space Princess outfit along with Ziggy Stardust and a Vulcan. 

The Ball is the best I’ve been to. By far. For sure. I think it’s just a perfect combo of great venue (the back room at the Cambridge), stellar DJs, sweet theme and decent bar. I’ve never seen so many people dancing so consistently for so long at an NYWF ball - there is never a down moment on the dance floor. The circles of people move and shift, sometimes I’m dancing with friends, sometimes by myself, sometimes with strangers. And I know it’s because I’m drunk but I can’t help but see the metaphor in this. NYWF is a freeing, wonderful experience. I’m never as brave as I am when I’m here. Sometimes I’m surrounded by friends, moving from venue to venue in an obnoxiously loud group. Other times I’m travelling up Hunter street on the bus by myself, and still other times I’m introducing myself to new faces, getting to know new people and generally interacting with the world.

We dance, we sing, we laugh, we drink. There’s a really inclusive, fun atmosphere in the room. Everyone knows they can be silly here, everyone knows it’s ok to dance to Beyonce and have super sweaty hair and to scream when bad 90s pop comes on. It’s all ok. In fact, it’s all great. 

I'll be doing a daily wrap up every day at the National Young Writers' Festival, you can read them here or at www.youngwritersfestival.org where you'll also find a tonne of other cool content.